Transportation Executive Boosts Blockchain Standards

On April 25, Rob Carter, who is the chief information officer at FedEx, gave a public talk in which he stated that there needs to be uniform standards in the blockchain industry. The American company he works for runs one of the largest delivery services in the world.

Carter was speaking at the Blockchain Global Revolution Conference in Toronto, Canada, and he stated that the creation of uniform blockchain standards would help improve their use in supply chains. He further noted how blockchain technology has the potential to greatly improve shipping processes.

He said that delivering a package overseas requires lots of information. It also requires lots of paperwork, such as certificates of origin, and certain items, he says, require licenses. He added that, currently, this information is in both digital and paper format, but that eventually it will become mostly if not entirely digital. When this happens, he believes, blockchain technology will be perfect for managing all this information.

FedEx right now is a member of an organization called the Blockchain in Transport Alliance, which also includes as members some of the world's largest international delivery services, such as UPS and DHL. In September of 2018, FedEx also joined Hyperledger. This is an open-source project that was created to help improve blockchain technology and its use across industries. According to reports, FedEx's association with Hyperledger will help the company develop high-quality blockchain applications as well as related hardware systems and platforms.

FedEx is not the only delivery company actively involved with blockchain technology. Last month, fellow Blockchain in Transport Alliance member UPS launched a new blockchain platform in collaboration with Inxeption, which is an E-commerce technology firm. The platform is called Zippy, and it is intended to create improvements in merchant supply chains. According to reports, the platform lets UPS' merchants follow the complete supply chain, starting from a product listing all the way to the product's delivery. This ensures that certain sensitive data is only accessible by the buyer and the seller, such as contract-specific rates and pricing.