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Thought Leadership
How blockchain and IoT
can help you track your assets
By Alexander van Tuyll van Serooskerken, Dennis Martens
and Mart Steenhagen, Supply Chain Quarterly
Tracking asset provenance poses a huge challenge for global supply chains and
insurance providers. Using blockchain and Internet of things (IoT) technologies in
combination offers a solution that could reshape future supply chains.
THERE ARE huge benefits associated with reconcile those different versions before a
being able to track an asset’s provenance, party is able to act based on that truth.
or its existence, ownership and control, from In the supply chain, blockchain can bring
point of origin to final destination. Identifying together importers, exporters, insurers, credit-
and verifying when and where handovers rating agencies, and logistics and supply chain
occurred, as well as the condition of assets at service providers to achieve a single view of
each point in the chain of custody, is not only the fi nancing of a shipment. It can also enable
helpful for improving supply chain visibility, ‘smart contracts’ – transactions and processes
but also for insurance purposes. that are automatically executed when specifi ed
This is especially true for high value assets, conditions are met – to achieve straight-through
which are often subject to fraudulent activity. processing (STP), or an automated workfl ow.
Shipping, insurance and other companies, The IoT is a network of connected ‘things’,
however, are currently struggling to validate, which can include people, objects, equipment
authenticate and track assets of all kinds as and devices. ‘Things’ in this network are
they move along the global supply chain. equipped with an assigned Internet protocol
The combination of two relatively new (IP) address so that they can transfer data over
technologies – blockchain and the Internet the Internet and communicate with other parties
of things (IoT) – holds great potential for or devices within the network. For example,
addressing this difficult problem. shipping containers could have sensors that are
connected through the IoT to gauge factors like
What are blockchain and the IoT? location, temperature, humidity, light, impact,
While originally developed to deal with door closed/open and more. These sensors
cryptographic transactions, a blockchain can be built-in or added to the container. In
is essentially a constantly updating and the same vein, conveyances such as trucks, rail,
incorruptible database that enables parties ships, and aircraft could be equipped with GPS
who might not trust each other or do not tracking devices that show the location of the
interact on a regular basis to have a shared vehicle. This information can be used to analyse
perception of the truth. Because blockchain in real time what routes make the most sense
technology is cryptographically secure and and when or where delays are likely to take
stores data indefinitely, data is virtually place given current traffi c or weather data.
tamper-proof, increasing transparency and
accuracy. Blockchains are also automatically Using blockchain + IoT for asset
kept in sync in terms of record keeping, provenance
therefore removing the risk of human error. It Blockchain’s potential for transparency
is a validated and transparent database that and accuracy paired with the power of IoT
cannot be altered by one party without the and data analytics could truly revolutionise
rest of the chain knowing. This aspect of the asset provenance. Recent advances in
technology solves the problem of multiple sensor technologies have made them
parties holding ‘siloed’ versions of the smaller and cheaper, and therefore more
truth on their own systems, and it reduces accessible. These sensors are able to process
the large number of processes required to a plethora of data in real time. That data
8 March 2018 | Logistics News
