Abu Dhabi Ports has partnered with its Belgian counterpart to begin a blockchain-powered supply chain pilot project, the company revealed in a press release.
Silsal, as the project is titled, uses an electronic blockchain ledger system to provide full cargo visibility and streamline trade flows and supply chains. If tested successfully, the Silsal project expects to automate the exchange, identification, and acknowledgment of cargo documents between Abu Dhabi ports and Belgium’s Port of Antwerp. Each stakeholder acts like a node of a blockchain network who gets to access and acknowledge the real-time supply chain of the shipped items.
Silsal Blockchain Pilot Explained
In the pilot, which will be conducted during the fourth quarter of this year, the Silsal project will run a Proof-of-Concept test in which it will handle international documents to the Port of Antwerp using blockchain technology. These documents will likely be verified by all the stakeholders interconnected with each other through a secure link over an electronic ledger. Once acknowledged, the record will be permanently stored in a block that will remain accessible by the network’s participants — anytime, anywhere.
The use of blockchain to innovate traditional monitoring and record-keeping systems expects to improve the costs, time, and integrity of the international trades. A similar practice is already taking place across the supply chains of other industries, particularly in commodities. Shipping companies like FedEx have also joined the blockchain bandwagon by lining up their private supply chain initiatives.
Dr. Noura Al Dhaheri, CEO of Maqta Gateway, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Ports, explained the potential of their project while speaking at GITEX Technology Week. He said:
“We realized early on that blockchain technology can provide the very things necessary for reliability and integrity in the increasingly complex global supply chain. Silsal’s first international step today, working with the Port of Antwerp, is a manifestation of Abu Dhabi Ports’ commitment to secure Abu Dhabi’s global standing as a premier logistics, transport, and trade hub, and support the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030.”
Digital Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi Ports is also building more undisclosed DLT projects in a partnership with Abu Dhabi Global Market, the International Financial Centre in Abu Dhabi. The region aims to become a digitally transformed area in the next five years by developing solutions on the top of innovative technologies which, in addition to the blockchain, include artificial intelligence and IoT.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
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