Ask the Experts: Is Blockchain Technology the Key to Simplifying – and Building Trust in – Cross-Border Trade?

Supply chain operations are, in essence, an exercise in trust: I trust that my partners will get the right items to the right place at the right time and at the quality level that my customers and I expect. But that trust can be wavering given that most data is currently captured, aggregated and shared using “best effort” methods. No one knows for sure if the information they’re leveraging to make decisions or take actions is actually up to date and accurate.

The same is true in global trade. With a rising number of consumer and commercial goods crossing borders every second of the day, shippers and customers want to be sure that items arrive at the intended destination without delay. That, once again, requires trust to be built with the customs agents responsible for processing international shipments. The logistics involved with verifying the quantity, quality and accuracy of packaged goods is awfully cumbersome today. That’s why blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) solutions are quickly becoming popular among global trade organizations, as Alex Fryer, Intelligent Edge Solutions (IES) Regional Product Manager for Zebra in EMEA, and Jens Munch, Head of Global Trade & Supply Chains for IOTA, explain in the latest episode of the Your Edge podcast.

Listen now to learn:

• The difference between blockchain and DLT and why it matters to organizations eager to build more trust among trade partners.
• How DLT can be applied to facilitate both supply chain and cross-border trade logistics in a more simplified and trusted manner.
• How governments across Europe, Africa and other continents are using blockchain/DLT to expedite customs verifications for consumer and commercial goods.
• How Zebra and IOTA are working together to make blockchain and DLT more accessible and scalable for both government and non-government organizations (NGO) from a financial and technological perspective.
• How Zebra and IOTA are working with Zebra’s independent software vendor (ISV) and partner communities as well as end users (i.e. customers) to build DLT ecosystems that deliver immediate benefits to supply chain operations, particularly as it relates to transportation and logistics applications.
• Best practices when leveraging blockchain/DLT traceability for trade and border logistics.

Editor’s Note:

Want to learn more about how you can take advantage of the Zebra-IOTA solution to build trust in your data and organization? Check out these tools shared in Zebra’s Developer Blog.

You may also be interested in this recent webinar: DLT for Traceability in Supply Chains.