Deloitte, one of the ‘big four’ auditing and consulting firm announced this month that it has completed a pilot project which involved distributed ledger technology (DLT) networks in the shipping industry.
According to a joint statement on its website, the pilot was carried out by in partnership with Kerry Logistics Network Limited and CargoSmart Limited, both major supply chain players headquartered in Hong Kong.
The organizations have “successfully connected multiple distributed ledger technology (DLT) networks for a platform to enhance efficiency for the shipping industry worldwide by digitizing document exchange between forwarders and carriers, as well as improving the traceability of shipping documents,” a section of the release read.
The aim of the pilot was to develop a transparent digital system which uses DLT to easy the exchange of logistics information used in global trade and finance. The traditional method of exchanging and verifying these documents are considered inefficient and time-consuming.
The project had completed a proof-of-concept (POC) in December of last year which it noted can be used across the different DLT and cloud networks commonly used by participants in global trade and finance.
Paul Sin, Deloitte’s Asia Pacific Blockchain Lab Leader noted that “document digitalization is…a groundbreaking step in the transformation of the logistics industry,” adding that “DLT speeds up approvals, provides updated and secure data for informed decisions, [in addition to facilitating document coordination]”
Kerry Logistics, which has a network covering 53 countries and territories, is focused on supply chain efficiency. The company’s Director of Information Technology, Wilson Lee said that the POC agenda of the next digital age in our industry.
Sin said that after the POC, Deloitte expects greater benefits from DLT applications for shippers, forwarders, carriers and other players at large in the future.
Deloitte has helped enterprises adopt blockchain technology through the efforts of its EMEA blockchain lab established in 2016. Last November, the firm partnered with Chicago-based Attest Inc. to produce a government level blockchain identity management system.
Solomon Sunny is the market reporter for Smartereum, one of the global leaders in Ethereum, blockchain and currency news. He produces technical price updates on digital currencies and writes recent developments about blockchain.
