20 Dec Blockchain & Logistics: An interview with Louis de Bruin
Louis de Bruin is Blockchain Leader Europe at IBM Digital Operations. Holland FinTech spoke with him about the future of blockchain in logistics.
1. As part of IBM’s European Blockchain Leadership Team, you endorse adoption of the Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger Fabric technology. What developments should we expect to see in 2018?
Developments on Hyperledger Fabric can be found in the Hyperledger Fabric wiki. You will see that Fabric 1.1.0 will be released sometime in the first quarter of 2018. Overall 2018 will be a year were we can expect focus on cross chain operability, scalability and security.
2. How could blockchain be used in the logistics industry? What benefits could it bring?
In the logistics industry, blockchain is becoming a key technology to address the burden of documentation handling. Internet of Things applications will go hand in hand with blockchain to reduce cost and time and allow participants in a logistics network to have access to the right information at the right time. This will reduce waiting times, manual checks and speed up the flow of goods from origin to destination, reducing idle time of assets and perishable products from being wasted.
3. In your keynote at the Fintech Vortex, you argued that customer engagement is a critical success factor in the insurance industry. Is this also the case for the B2B market in logistics? To what extent can technology be used to overcome this challenge?
Customer engagement is about creating information systems that are truly accepted. This is less a matter of technology and more a matter of having an approach that inspires all parties involved, not just customers to work in incremental steps with tangible results towards a solution. IBM uses an interactive design approach that makes this possible. And this approach works across all industries, be it insurance or the B2B market in logistics.
4. Finally, what is your favourite innovation in Fintech and why?
Realizing the potential benefits blockchain will bring, I am very excited by the recently announced effort between Stellar, the Klickex Group and IBM to develop a blockchain-based cross-border payments solution that will significantly reduce transaction costs and increase transaction speeds in 12 currency corridors across the Pacific Islands, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.