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Blockchain has been incredible for the supply chain industry. We found a few stories in the past month that has truly impressed us. News from India and across the globe. PepsiCo Blockchain Trial Brings 28% Boost in Supply Chain Efficiency Food and beverage giant PepsiCo has conducted a blockchain trial that brought a 28 percent boost in supply chain efficiency. Dubbed “ Project Proton ,” the trial set out to examine if blockchain could address “industry challenges” in programmatic advertising. PepsiCo’s project partner and media agency Mindshare announced the news Monday, saying that it assisted in the trial, which carried out a programmatic end-to-end supply chain reconciliation using Zilliqa’s blockchain platform. The effort compared a control budget with one for the test to gauge the effectiveness of the technology. The trial was conducted in March in the Asia Pacific region. The partners now plan to run a second phase with the addition of payments to publishers and more performance metrics. Read More 100 organizations join World Economic Forum blockchain supply chain initiative The World Economic Forum (WEF) announced a new initiative “Redesigning Trust with Blockchain in the Supply Chain” to ensure blockchain is deployed in an “interoperable, responsible and inclusive way”. There’s much to gain in terms of efficiency, transparency and interoperability. The 100 organizations include World Food Programme, Hitachi, Maersk, Mercy Corps, Korea Customs Service, Llamasoft and Ports of Los Angeles, Oakland, Valencia and Rotterdam. With an emphasis on shipping, the WEF project may overlap with three major existing initiatives: Tradelens from IBM and Maersk (Maersk is part of the WEF initiative), the Global Shipping Business Network which includes CargoSmart and five of the top ten container shippers; and Kuehne + Nagel the world’s largest shipping freight forwarder is working with Accenture on a project. Read More FedEx, DHL & UPS Explore Blockchain in Supply Chain FedEx partnered with two other shipping giants, DHL Express and UPS, to become a part of the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA) and employ the technology to track goods and prevent counterfeits in their supply chains. Rob wants the public to use distributed ledger technology instead of the existing digitalized documentation transfer systems since they can’t present real-time data. If the shipping world was to implement and assume a mandated solution, then an even and smooth space would be created to benefit the entire industry while moving slowly away from the branded and proprietary systems. The three companies in question are also using blockchain to carry out their shipping services. Read More From coffee bean to cup: Starbucks brews a blockchain-based supply chain with Microsoft Starbucks is working with Microsoft to develop a blockchain-based supply chain tracking system and mobile app that will allow customers to track the supply chain journey of the beans they buy and the coffee they drink. In March, Starbucks announced a "digital transparency plan" that would let it verify their coffee beans as 100% ethically and sustainably sourced. Last year, Starbucks worked with more than 380,000 coffee farms to ensure ethical sourcing. However, digital real-time traceability will allow customers to know more about their coffee beans, the company said. Starbucks is among a growing number of produce retailers to let customers trace their food's journey from farm to store shelf. Read More Telangana proposes to set up country’s first “Blockchain district” in Hyderabad With Blockchain estimated to generate $3 trillion a year in business value by 2030, the government of Telangana is gearing up to leverage this opportunity by developing a conducive ecosystem for Blockchain in the state. In this regard, the government released a draft Blockchain policy last week. “Hyderabad, the capital city of Telangana is uniquely positioned to take a leadership role in the development of blockchain technology due to the critical mass of industries leveraging blockchain technology located in Hyderabad (financial services, insurance, pharmaceuticals and life sciences, supply chain and logistics etc.), access to talent, support of entrepreneurship, and collaboration with enterprises,” the policy document states. The state wants to make Hyderabad one of the top 10 Blockchain cities of the world and has decided to create India’s first 'Blockchain District', which will be a physical area within Hyderabad and with the aim to create the world's best blockchain technology ecosystem. Read More Vodafone, Jio To Deploy Blockchain Solutions To Curb Spam Calls Now Vodafone and Jio users will get relief from spam calls and messages as both the companies begin to roll out blockchain-based solutions in partnership with Tanla Solutions and Tech Mahindra, from May end. This development comes in after it was recently reported that Tech Mahindra launched its blockchain solution to protect over 300 Mn mobile subscribers from unsolicited commercial communication (UCC) also known as spam. It designed the solution in compliance with TRAI regulations last year to help the telecom providers prevent unauthorised access of subscribers’ data. Amid the debates about blockchain technology, India is now looking to implement it across various verticals. The initiatives come at a time when the World Economic Forum has predicted that blockchain could account for as much as 10% of global GDP by 2025. Read More Alibaba Announces Blockchain Technology Integration For Its Intellectual Property Protection Alibaba is all set to integrate the technology of blockchain into its very own Intellectual Property Protection system comprising global brands and enterprises. Alibaba is a world-renowned Chinese MNC which has its specialization in e-commerce, internet, retail, and technology. The news first surfaced through reports published by a local news medium called Sohu on 23rd May 2019. Read More