IBM is expressing its interest in using blockchain technology in Cannabis tracking in Canada. IBM is one of the forerunners in leveraging block chain technology. The company has formed partnerships with over 400 clients worldwide and across several industries including design and implementation. Block chain application enables businesses to save costs, identify new streams of revenue, reduce risk and cut costs.
IBM’s collaboration with Walmart and several other important food retailers help enhance food safety by increasing transparency in the supply chain. IBM has seen similar success with automation of private equity at Northern Trust and introducing effective triple blind privacy in data held by Canadian banks through exchange networks with identity attribute.
Now IBM has put forward the possibility of block chain application for tracking Cannabis that is legally distributed in British Columbia. IBM has reportedly approached the government of British Columbia over the matter.
The technology giant suggests that block chain is ideal for capturing cannabis history in the most transparent way throughout the complete supply chain. The company aims at ensuring safety to consumers, while maintaining regulatory control from seed level to final sale.
This move from IBM is a timely one as the westernmost province of Canada is preparing a regulatory framework for making cannabis and its byproducts distributed legally.
Earlier in April 2017, the government introduced a legislation to make recreational cannabis regulated and legalized from July 2018. On passing of the Cannabis Act, there will be standard rules that regulate cannabis use, production and selling.
Block chain technology has the capacity to introduce a very high level of trust in the supply chain. This is mainly because of the key attributes of the technology which include transparency, immutable nature and distributed format.
IBM is not the only organization to leverage block chain for use in various industries. Many industries including health care, education, finance and humanitarian have found good use of the application. With its experience in serving such industries, IBM firmly believes that a similar impact can be brought about in cannabis distribution.
IBM maintains that the application of block chainin food safety and pharmaceutical distribution can be used effectively for cannabis regulation too. The core function of all these supply chains remains the same, which is assuring safety and health of consumers, avoiding fraudulent maneuver s and counterfeiting. The technology enables creating a transparent foundation over which regulation can be based.
According to IBM, government of British Columbia can benefit from the technology as it helps in controlling various important aspects of the supply chain including sourcing pricing and selling the products. The transparency and efficiency assists in reducing or completely eliminating sales of cannabis in the black market to a great extent.
IBM is not the only company to introduce block chain into supply chain management. Companies like Syncfab have also evinced interest in the technology and introduced their own block chain token.
In October, IBM had announced its collaboration with Stellar, a block chain startup and Kickex, a payment company to provide block chain integrated solution in global banking service. The technology will aim at minimizing transaction costs and increasing payments across borders for consumers and businesses.
