Top 10 blockchain use cases by industry

Over its short history, blockchain technology has achieved tremendous success, proving its usefulness and efficiency not only in the field of digital payment systems but also in many other sectors of the global economy. In this article, you will find 10 of the most striking blockchain use cases by industry.

#1. TradeLens (logistics)

TradeLens unites all shipping logistics into a single information network

In 2018, the Danish shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk Group partnered with IBM to launch TradeLens Hyperledger Fabric blockchain to manage and optimize overseas freight. The network unites all participants in the logistics processes (including transport, equipment, containers, and cargo) into one ecosystem, which contributes to the efficient, transparent and safe exchange of information between all parties, including the end-user.

In addition, TradeLens also automates many logistics operations and a significant part of the workflow associated with bulk cargo logistics, including such things as receiving a bill of lading, processing papers at customs, transfer of ownership, financial transactions, etc. For this, the network uses smart contracts and Internet of Things technologies.

The principle of operation of the TradeLens blockchain platform is quite simple:

1. IoT sensors are attached to cargo, containers, vehicles, and equipment involved in logistics processes. Such sensors track temperature, humidity, geolocation, speed and other indicators. These data are recorded in the TradeLens network and become available to other participants if they are related to them.
2. IoT sensors can communicate with each other in real-time. For example, when a container sensor enters a dry cargo ship, it transmits information about itself (number, owner, place of delivery, etc.) and content (name of goods, invoices, purpose, etc.) to the container ship sensor). Thus, a dry cargo ship always "knows" what and where it is taking.
3. The data that the sensors transmit to the blockchain network are used to optimize and automate workflow, customs procedures, financial transactions, checks and other interactions. Thanks to this, TradeLens greatly speeds up and simplifies logistics processes.

It should be mentioned how we use blockchains in the wine industry. The main goal is to resist counterfeiting and track the supply chain.

#2. Vechain (supply chains)

 Partners of blockchain startup VeChain. Source of the image: forocoin.net

VeChain is a comprehensive BaaS solution for supply chain management, product quality and history tracking, process certification and other services. Any business can use this solution to launch its application, which will collect information about specific products and transmit it to all interested parties, including end customers.

For example, Shanghai Waigaoqiao Direct Imported Goods Co (DIG), the largest wine importer in China, used VeChain technology to launch an authentication system for elite wines, that is, to combat counterfeiting. In this project, all wine bottles are equipped with near-field (NFC) chips, which serve as identifiers for each specific wine bottle. Any user can use this identifier to verify that the wine is authentic, to find out who produced it and where, and how it was delivered to China.

Here is a complete list of companies using VeChain technology.

#3. VAKT (oil and gas trade)

Mission and principles of work of VAKT

VAKT is a blockchain-based platform for oil and gas trading. The system digitizes post-trade document processing and covers deal summary, confirmation, contract, logistics and billing. In addition, the system is integrated with the sister platform komgo, which deals with trade finance in the form of letters of credit.

At the start, VAKT was used only by the creators - BP, Shell and Equinor. Later they were joined by Chevron, Total and the Indian holding Reliance Industries. In addition to them, traders Gunvor, Mercuria, Koch Supply & Trading are now participating in the project. Among the platform's shareholders are the banks Societe Generale, ING and ABN Amro. In 2020, Saudi Aramco announced its desire to use VAKT.

VAKT now handles over 90% of North Sea oil deals and plans to expand to other markets.

#4. IBM Food Trust (foodstuff)

Which Large Companies Use IBM Food Trust. Source of the image.

IBM Food Trust is a SaaS foodstuff traceability solution. The platform provides an opportunity to unite farmers, transporters, processors, wholesalers, distributors, retailers and other participants in the food industry into one ecosystem, who will together collect information about food products and provide it to stakeholders, including end consumers.

It works as follows: when a farmer harvests a crop, he sorts it and packs it into containers with RFID tags, which collect real-time data on the location of the goods, temperature, humidity, travel speed, and more. In addition, RFID contains information about the farm (name, owner, location), harvest date, expiration date, shipping details and information about where and how the product was processed.

This information is recorded in the blockchain and can be shown to interested parties, for example, a buyer who wants to make sure that it is a truly environmentally friendly product and that it entered the country legally. IBM Food Trust can also be used to track consignments that are, for example, contaminated with E. coli or other parasites.

#5. Exonum (government services)

How blockchain real estate registration works. Source of the image.

In April 2016, the Chinese blockchain diversified company Bitfury Group signed an agreement with the National Agency of Public Registry of Georgia to launch a pilot project that will test the possibility of transferring the land registry to the blockchain. The experiment lasted for over a year, showing excellent results:

●     The transparency of obtaining property rights to real estate and land has increased. The number of cases of fraud has decreased.

●     The time required for paperwork has been reduced. Now the registration of real estate transactions in Georgia takes one day.

●     Now it is possible to verify the authenticity of regular paper documents by accessing the blockchain registry.

Moreover, the experiment turned out to be so successful that Georgia decided to expand it to some other government services, and Bitfury made an open source enterprise-level blockchain framework out of this project, which was named Exonum.

In addition to the Georgian case, Exonum was also used in Ukraine for the sale of state property at the SETAM auction, Russia (Synergy University) - to eliminate fraud in the verification of academic certificates, the USA - to optimize DevOps and software development processes.

These and other cases of using the Exonum blockchain are described on the project website.

#6. Everledger (diamond trade)

Short presentation of the Everledger application in the diamond industry

The diamond industry is one of the largest mining industries in the world economy, which also makes a large contribution to the GDP of many African countries, as well as, unfortunately, to the wallets of criminal gangs. According to GeoJournal, up to 20% of all diamonds in the world are mined illegally. In addition, precious stones are one of the main tools for money laundering and terrorist financing.

Everledger is a project that tries to solve these problems. System with which you can identify any gem and track its history - from mining to the final buyer, has been created on its basis. The essence of the project is to assign a unique identifier to each stone and enter into the network information about the morphology, spectroscopy and crystal growth structure, as well as information about who and how mined and processed it.

Since these characteristics are unique for each diamond (morphology, spectrum and growth structure are unique for each deposit), this, if necessary, will allow tracing the origin of any diamond. For end users, this happens by scanning the ID with the app.

#7. ION (person's identification)

A concise introduction to ION (Identity Overlay Network)

On June 10, 2020, the commercial launch of Microsoft's open-source project ION took place (Identity Overlay Network). It is a Bitcoin blockchain-based network that aims to provide a simple decentralized identification (DID) of a user's identity using something like a fingerprint or Face-ID.

The essence of the project: the user creates a profile in ION with personal data (name, surname, passport data, driver's license, SSN) and binds them to biometric parameters. After that, the system assigns a unique identification number to the profile, which can be used to verify identity on the Internet, for example, to obtain a loan or KYC procedure.

The peculiarity of ION is that during verification, the user does not need to disclose personal data. He can simply indicate his identifier, the system will verify the user's identity and / or give the go-ahead for the desired action.

Given the prevalence of Microsoft products and the company's desire to implement ION in all of its services, this project could become an industry standard.

#8. MediLedger (healthcare)

The value and capabilities of the MediLedger blockchain project. Source of the image.

A platform to support the supply of pharmaceuticals in accordance with the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) and other US industry standards. MediLedger is used by: drug maker Gilead Sciences ($ 20 billion in revenue), pharmaceutical company Pfize ($ 52 billion), distributors Genentech ($ 17 billion), AmerisourceBergen ($ 150 billion), McKesson ($ 214 billion, serves 50% of US hospitals and 20% of doctors).

In essence, MediLedger is a platform where you can find a supplier of pharmaceutical products, verify their authenticity and close a deal. But unlike other similar platforms, MediLedger uses blockchain to protect and verify data. Here are the possibilities it gives:

●     Storing immutable data on transactions and accounting in the blockchain. Enhances security and provides proof of compliance with industry requirements.

●     Enforcement of cross-industry regulations without disclosing sensitive personal and business data. This simplifies the certification and authentication of raw materials and medicines, prevents counterfeiting from entering supply chains and helps to simplify contractual relationships.

●     Protection and management of sensitive data. In order to share personal data, a permission-based private messaging system has been implemented within the network (indicate what information you want to transfer and send it to counterparties or make it public).

●     Access to proven trading partners and suppliers.

#9. IIN (banking, payments)

Brief description of the innovative interbank network IIN from JP Morgan. Source of the image.

In 2017, JP Morgan, with the participation of ANZ and Royal Bank of Canada, launched the Interbank Information Network (IIN) interbank system based on the Quorum blockchain. The IIN network was created to optimize interbank and cross-border transactions, store transaction data and automate workflow. In particular, the IIN allows banks to track the details of any failed payments, enter missing identifiers, and correct erroneous data.

At the time of launch, the interbank network included JP Morgan and their main counterparties, over the past three years, the network has expanded to more than 400 institutions in 78 countries, including 75 of the largest banks in the world.

In fact, IIN is already an industry standard.

#10. Zilliqa (advertising)

Zilliqa blockchain solution for PepsiCo. Source of the image.

In 2019, the Mindshare media agency network, in partnership with Zilliqa Research, MediaMath, Integral Ad Science and the Rubicon Project successfully tested the Zilliqa blockchain to optimize PepsiCo's advertising campaign. An experiment conducted in the Asia-Pacific region in March 2019, and showed that smart contracts also increase the performance of cost per impression ads by 28%.

The problem with digital advertising is that only a small fraction of the money spent by advertisers is actually spent on showing ads. Since most of the budget either ends up in the accounts of various intermediaries or goes nowhere since 50% of all advertising costs with cost per impression are a fraud.

As part of the test, the Zilliqa blockchain technology removed some of the intermediaries who are responsible for checking impressions and agreeing payments. These processes were automated through smart contracts, which gave a 28% increase efficiency.

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Thanks to its architecture, blockchain solves specific business problems. In some industries, it can speed up the workflow, somewhere to make the supply chain transparent, or improve customer interactions. One way or another, you should understand that new technologies make it possible to make your business more efficient.