A little perspective

The quotation below comes from the article, https://www.winnesota.com/blockchain , and gives a little perspective into the current problems associated with adopting blockchain technologies. Personally I can totally understand why companies such as UPS are not rushing into blockchain. There would be more reasons than just the ones highlighted below, but this extract lists a few of them.

Blockchain and Transportation: What are the risks?

Just as the widespread application of any technology comes with its risks, the transportation and freight industry’s foray into blockchain technology presents some potential issues.

Some, like Daimler Trucks North America’s Director of Business Development, Lori Heino Royer, see the advantages of blockchain in trucking but identify some potential risks.

Heino Royer believes that blockchain’s immutability could backfire, as all data entry at its outset is subject to human error. She also mentions that if a company’s private key were to get damaged or misplaced, the blockchain would become unverifiable and there would be a massive loss of data.

Most other concerns stem from a belief that blockchain adoption in trucking and logistics will be just another imperfect technological adaptation.

Some entities in the industry are wary of mass adoption of new technology, as they have witnessed failures first hand.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) has been the standard system in the logistics industry for over 30 years, and the industry still lacks an overall EDI standard. Instead, there are multiple different versions of the technology, causing a messy chain of inconsistencies from company to company which contribute to many of the issues we’ve touched on in this piece.

The Keys Moving Forward

As organizations like BiTA continue to grow in membership and influence, it will become increasingly important for universal standards to be both created and adopted by member organizations.

If this process continues to develop as it has to this point, many of the concerns with blockchain’s application throughout the industry should naturally subside.

The future for blockchain in the world of transportation and logistics is bright.

In fact, according to Morgan Stanley:

“The revenue opportunity for blockchain within the freight and transportation space could end up being as much as $500 billion.”

To put things into perspective, that’s about double the current market cap of cryptocurrency as a whole, meaning we’ve barely seen the tip of the iceberg.

Morgan Stanley estimates that the $500 billion revenue opportunity will encompass elements of the industry like global truck brokerage, freight forwarding, truck fuel spend and supply chain management software

Cheers

Rhama