When it was clear many of us would be working from home, a majority decided their home office set-ups needed upgrading. There was a surge of online orders for office desks, chairs, lamps, and computer hardware. It has unsurprisingly caught suppliers large and small unprepared and exposed.
The gaping holes in their ability to track purchases from one end of their supply chain to the other have left much to be desired. They leave customers, who have spent a lot on their home offices, still waiting, without the consolation of being able to see where their orders are.
No one could have foreseen the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which has brought supply chains to their knees, disrupting economies and ecosystems across the planet. While it would be easy to point fingers at companies caught unawares, what’s essential is rebooting the global trade network by putting into practice the lessons we are learning now.
What has become clear over the last three months is a general lack of correspondence and data exchange built into our global supply chains. Staggering, considering the technology available nowadays, the fact that we can track food to our door, but not a shipment placed three weeks ago from a store around the corner is humiliating and needs addressing.
If there were any doubts over blockchain technology, the ability to improve the transparency of businesses with seamless integration has all but disappeared as COVID-19 wiped them away.
We should look at this crisis as a learning curve that can show us how to build transparent, inter-operable, and connective networks. We have fully developed technologies at our hands, and there should be no hesitation in accelerating this process. Blockchain is supporting efforts to fight the pandemic. This technology is providing medicines, equipment, and pharmaceuticals to areas of COVID-19 outbreak and much more.
It’s keeping economies moving with management for start-ups and ensuring timely payments for their products and pilots.
It’s even helping consumers track household items to improve the quality of life under lockdown conditions. The transparency and traceability of blockchain will better connect and strengthen supply chains in the world beyond COVID-19.
The World Economic Forum, in association with its international blockchain community, co-developed the Blockchain Deployment Toolkit, with a supply chain focus.
Designed to guide an organization through the development and deployment of new blockchain software. The deployment kit provides tools and resources to those undertaking blockchain projects.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is an important contributor to this kit made up of leaders from governments, companies, start-ups, academic institutions, civil society, international organizations and experts across the globe. With over four trillion products made and supplied and shipped around the world each year, we cannot afford to continue operating without blockchain.
With recent supply chain disruptions, new suppliers need to be on board with new technologies re-shaping a now outdated method of supply chain deployment. Companies around the world are already participating in new blockchain-enabled solutions to increase speed and efficiency for buyers, suppliers, and external validators, sharing relevant data to keep supply moving. The increased visibility into product location, movement, and recalls all the while providing validated and transparent information to those that require it.
Blockchain technology is not only saving lives with advanced and superior technology, but it’s also about saving businesses and reconnecting networks between companies.
COVID has affected all, and with blockchain technology, not only will these fences get mended but the possibilities of blockchain integration once these wounds have healed appears limitless, if only given a chance, it could change everything.
