Blockchain is no longer a buzzword thrown around by mainstream institutions as meaningful and fully operational pilots and programs have emerged at Blockchain Expo Europe 2022 in Amsterdam.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, a number of mainstream companies across industries began exploring ways to use blockchain technology to improve processes and products.
After two years of social distancing and working from home, it’s time to reap the rewards of sewing seeds, as evidenced by some startling updates from major corporations using blockchain technology.
The world of business consulting, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, and the energy sector are all offering viable, blockchain-powered solutions that have seemingly proven the broad spectrum of utility promised by the emerging technology.
Cointelegraph was on the ground for the event and managed to touch base with several speakers who showcased how their companies are using technology to drive innovation.
EY, the global business consulting firm, has been working hard to build enterprise-grade blockchain capabilities for the past three years. Federico De Poli, who leads the global development of EY OpsChain functionality, outlined how the firm has spent more than $100 million over the past three years to develop a fully functional product solution.
Driving enterprise adoption is critical, helping clients navigate a new environment, building privacy tools focused on security, and helping companies run business processes on the Ethereum blockchain.
As De Poli explained, the company’s proprietary EY Opschain and EY Blockchain Analyzer are the two main tools using blockchain technology.
“The Opschain product is our business suite of products. We have traceability which is our most used tool which is being used in production by several clients in different industries. We have a contract manager which is being used in the first trial – a tool which helps us to make digital contracts between parties. does.”
EY’s Public Finance Manager allows governments to track the expenditure of funds, proving the widespread usability of blockchain solutions.
Healthcare and pharmaceutical companies were also present at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center. Alex Popa, Associate Director of Blockchain for Pharma Supply Excellence, MSD (Merck), outlined a pilot that aimed to solve the multifaceted healthcare network problem.
Plagued by expensive, inefficient and vulnerable systems, blockchain technology offers practical solutions to these problems. MSD has conducted a pilot using hyperlaser fabric, a vexing industry problem, counterfeit drugs, to allow patients in Hong Kong to verify the authenticity of drugs from their source.
Jessica Lee, head of blockchain at Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Commercial North America, also demonstrated a pilot use case for a value-based healthcare system using blockchain technology to share data privately, securely and transparently.
Sabine Brink, Blockchain Lead at Shell, gave a fascinating presentation focusing on digital innovation in the energy sector. The growing use of blockchain technology was a key way to drive transparency in energy.
The firm is engaged in a number of blockchain-powered projects that are deployed on public blockchains to address the long-standing trend of working in silos in the energy sector. A major highlight was Shell’s work supporting Avelia, a sustainable, blockchain-powered aircraft fuel tracing platform that aims to decarbonise air travel.
With business travel accounting for 90 percent of airline emissions, Avelia serves as a sustainability as a service product for corporate flyers and airlines to book and claim sustainable aviation fuel.
“Power is being distributed and decentralized, and it’s hard to imagine it being organized in a centralized way. There’s no other way to do it globally, and blockchain has a huge role to play.”
Conversations with conference delegates and speakers highlighted apparent advances in developing viable blockchain solutions across industries. The technology has driven innovation across the industry, and mainstream companies are doing their part to drive new use cases and solutions for blockchain-based systems.
