How the Blockchain will revolutionize logistics

Communication flows and logistics are essential aspects of human existence as they form the backbone of the transfer of goods, services and value.

As international trade and logistics continue to grow, more efficient methods are being developed to enable effective service delivery and value transfer. However, the Blockchain has a much greater disruptive potential to disrupt the logistics industry in areas such as transparency and effective monitoring.

A world-class industry
John Monarch, CEO of Shipchain, notes that the logistics sector is the one that employs the largest number of people in the world. He explains that with the expansion of this sector over the millennia, it was necessary to innovate especially in terms of scalability to cope with the growing demand of a growing human population. This is what is still happening at the time of writing this article, with the fourth industrial revolution.

Monarch told Cointelegraph:

Connected devices around the Internet of Everything (Internet of Everything) need a higher level of security. Blockchain technology is unmatched in this regard because it offers the best protection through decentralized registers, advanced encryption, intelligent contracts and reduced intermediaries. This will help tackle corruption, ransomware, theft, bonuses and traceability issues. "

He concludes that once Blockchain networks begin to take their first steps into the mass market, they will save the international trade industry at least $ 50 billion a year. And at maturity, the Blockchain could save the logistics industry $ 500 billion annually.

The real role of the Blockchain
Blockchain professional Aleksandar Matanovic tells Cointelegraph that it will work as a tool to improve the industry's processes through its unique properties.

Matanovic states:

As in many other industries, I do not see the Blockchain as a tool to increase efficiency, there are much more efficient systems than those based on the Blockchain. I see this as a way to make systems more transparent, more robust and less dependent on intermediaries.

The importance of effective monitoring
BitLand's chief operating officer, Christopher Bates, explains that one of the key issues in the chain of custody is when assets change owners or custodians. Bates then cites the example of a car:

When making a purchase, it is very important to know if a car has been a victim of a major accident and if it has suffered damage to the frame or structure, he says. "If there was an accessible and immutable file that took into account the history of cars, there would be no way for a seller to sell a car that was extremely damaged."

Mr. Bates also points out that land ownership has many problems around the world. One of the most common problems is when a parcel of land is sold in duplicate or in triplicate, that is, one person will sell land to several people while only one of the sales (if he there is one) is really legitimate. In some places, land titles are kept on paper or are tracked by only one person. In these cases, it is often impossible to be familiar with the chain of custody and people manipulate property records for personal gain.

The Blockchain will enable accountability
Since the shipping of anything is a transfer of ownership sequence, having an unchanging record of the chain of custody operation does not allow one to lose sight of who is responsible for a property. during each transfer. Existing transportation services often track packages along their route, but these methods are imperfect. Bates adds:

The problem is that since they are editable, the shipping records can be hidden or erased completely to the detriment of people in general. Governments are able to conceal secret budget spending by clearing shipping records or preventing the issuance of documents. On the one hand, governments will say that it is for national security, but on the other hand, taxpayers who fund these budgets deserve transparency in spending.

Blockchain technology combines chain-of-custody control with archive transparency. This creates an ecosystem that deters malicious actors, because they eventually make themselves known through the transparency of the system.

Bates concludes by noting that anyone who claims to be in favor of decentralization should be extremely happy every time a government decides to implement Blockchain technology of any kind. This means that the government is moving towards transparency, whether it is aware of it or not.