UPDATED 13:12 EDT / FEBRUARY 26 2019

BLOCKCHAIN

Accenture builds sustainable trade ‘Circular Supply Chain’ blockchain to trace and track goods

Global professional services company Accenture Plc announced Monday the launch of what the company calls the Circular Supply Chain: a blockchain distributed ledger that connects sustainable trade practices with producers, suppliers, processors, wholesalers and consumers.

The system combines digital identity, payments and blockchain tracking to directly reward small-scale growers and suppliers for engaging in sustainable and “green” practices while providing transparency across the entire supply chain.

“Our identity capabilities are already empowering millions of users around the globe to access essential services like healthcare, banking and travel,” said David Treat, a managing director and global blockchain lead at Accenture. “Our circular supply chain capability combines these components with blockchain and expands its application to places and things, which is allowing us to rethink global supply chains.”

To build this service, Accenture partnered with credit giant Mastercard Inc., cloud services company Amazon Web Services, blockchain infrastructure provider Everledger Ltd. and the nonprofit humanitarian aid organization Mercy Corps.

According to a report from the Nielsen Company LLC, as many as two-thirds of consumers desire to buy from sustainable brands who use green and environmentally friendly sourcing for products and services. However, it’s hard for consumers to properly identify and connect with small-scale suppliers engaged in these practices.

The Circular Supply Chain by Accenture is designed to bridge that gap by allowing consumers not only to identify brands engaged in sustainable practices but also to reward them with “tips” made with direct payments.

Using digital identity practices, the Circular Supply Chain blockchain will make certain that products on shelves can be traced back through the supply chain transparently. The history of the product is recorded on the blockchain indelibly using unique identifiers for each step in the process of its production from raw materials to final product.

This supply chain service, using blockchain technology, has been explored by big enterprise to show that diamonds and minerals are sourced ethically — by companies such as De Beers Group and Open Mineral AG — and has also been used by IBM Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to prevent foodborne illnesses.

“Our blockchain-enabled work aims to facilitate more connected, transparent and sustainable supply chains, which bring about trusted collaborations among stakeholders,” said Leanne Kemp, Everledger’s founder and chief executive. “[A blockchain] provenance platform ensures supply chain integrity alongside a global movement to drive the agenda on sustainability and reimagine tomorrow’s marketplaces.”

The platform designed by Accenture is aimed at bringing that integrity to small farmers in an industry where the complexity of supply chains threatens their existence as products get placed on shelves by giant retailers. According to Alan Donald, senior director of technology for development at Mercy Corps, that’s a major issue affecting the industry right now.

“One of today’s most critical challenges is strengthening the resilience of the world’s 500 million smallholder farmers who collectively feed one in three people on Earth yet often have a hard time feeding their own families,” he said.

Farming and supply is not the only industry Accenture’s supply chain technology is determined to connect with. The company seeks to also empower actors in banking, retail as well as consumer goods and services.

Photo: Pixabay

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