CIBUS Using Big Data on the Blockchain to empower consumers and restore trust to the Food Chain
Trust is an asset that cannot be traded easily. Once lost it is not easy to recover. It takes time to cultivate it. It is priceless. Especially in business where trust builds goodwill with consumers.
But trust can be manipulated. And for as long as the trusting party has no reference to a base trust attribute, it can be shifted to another level. Eventually, it may be lost.
The society is building a trust less ecosystem in which the tenets of trust need not catalyse the faith in a product. This is because the emergence of the Blockchain technology has taken the burden of trust from parties to a complex transparent algorithm that is fool-proof and cannot be tampered with.
CIBUS World is a Blockchain-based food ecosystem with a multi-pronged approach to empower the producer at the farm gate, the supply chain, the food processor, the retailer and eventually the consumer.
It links well to an aspect called Food Traceability. Food Traceability is defined as “(Food) Traceability is the ability to track any food through ALL stages of production, processing and distribution (including importation and at retail). Traceability should mean that movements can be traced one step backwards and one step forward at any point in the supply”. Source : http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/industry/safetystandards/traceability/pages/default.aspx (Accessed 05 March 2018)
The key words in the definition are “ALL STAGES”.
[Figure 1: Typical flow diagram of a food material life cycle from farm to fork showing points of potential traceability]
Imagine a packet of UHT Milk that you buy from your local supermarket. That milk was processed by a factory, packaged, warehoused and distributed using the supply chain. That is how it reached the supermarket from which you purchased. That is how it ended up in your tea, coffee or glass!
But that is half the story! That milk was supplied by a farmer. That farmer milked his cow. That cow is a breed. It was fed some feed. Some hay. Some processed feed. That processed feed was bought from a feedstore.
The Feedstore received t from a feed supply chain. It was produced by a feed processor. That feed processor used some ingredients which came from other processors. You can walk back a dizzying journey on the traceability map of the feed, and cow, and finally the milk.
That is a huge collection of data.
Some of that data is useful, others are just useless tones of information. Useless, perhaps, until something awfully wrong occurs and the milk has to be recalled!
Then there is panic as everybody scampers for a root-cause-analysis.
Without data, trustworthy, recoverable and useable data, it is a fruitless goose-chase.
But we never know when data may be useful. Or otherwise. In case of a crisis like a food safety scare that necessitates an urgent recall, it is important for the company concerned, or government agency, to isolate the products and effect a recall before extensive damage is wrought on the consumer.
CIBUS is building an ecosystem and one of the benefits of that ecosystem is CIBUS Trace.
That is Traceability, powered by the CIBUS Token economy and built on the CIBUS Blockchain above the Ethereum Platform.
[Figure 2: The CIBUS Pull Model shows how the consumer and producer interact with the ecosystem]
The benefits of this system are numerous. In summary, the ecosystem builds an organic link between the raw materials and the final product being served on the table. Each and every step of the way is coded and data is logged into ledgers in order to allow integrity of storage.
CIBUS builds an interaction with the data for the consumer using clever, and simplified, mobile phone apps.
All a consumer needs is an app on the phone/Phablet/Tablet. By scanning a QR Code, the information a consumer needs is codified and displayed. The consumer doesn’t interact with the tonnes of data.
All the consumer gets is a simplified interface with the important information about the ingredients, source, link to claims like “Bio” or “organic” or “allergen-free” or grain-free”.
Enter Big Data, data mining and data warehousing. Enter Blockchain technology. The technology offers information storage in a structured, historical, linked manner. That information is stored in ledgers that are replicated over countless computers. That information is continuously being updated and broadcast to new entrants into the “chain”.
It is bulletproof. It cannot be corrupted. It is accessible to anybody, anywhere. BUT nobody can tamper with it. Hacking one ledger invalidates it. It has no impact on the others. Smart contracts protect the platform from hacking while ensuring that the information is processed rapidly in order to enable quick decision-making if needed.
CIBUS takes the burden of data storage and warehousing from companies. That data is stored on the CIBUS Blockchain. The data is incorruptible, it is continuously being updated and it visible to those who wish to access it.
BIG Data meets Food Chain Supply and that is powered by the Food Chain enabler on the Blockchain: CIBUS.
The consumer benefits because of easy access. The food processor benefits because there is no place for fake news. Brands are protected and trust is built because consumers trust companies that are transparent about their sourcing and processing.
To power the benefits, CIBUS Token economy is the medium of exchange. Although initially, the US$ is used, with time, the CIBUS Token (CBT) shall be used. Consumers pay for information they wish to get from the QR code using the CBT. Companies pay to store their information using CBT. It is this power of the CBT that makes it a fraction of the costs. It is cheaper, easy and borderless. It is not limited by exchange rates, or banks, or printing of money. It is the token of trust to power the food chain on the blockchain.
Learn about the other benefits of CIBUS that is divided into a two-phased system. Phase one shall see CIBUS role out Cibus Trace, CIBUS Social, CIBUS Retail and CIBUS Trade.
Take part in our Token Sale with attractive Discounts at : https://tokensale.cibus.world
Author : Dr. Seronei Chelulei Cheison
To know more about CIBUS world or if you have any questions, look them up in our website: www.cibus.world or FAQ or send a support ticket or feel free to email us at: [email protected]