Blockchain has been touted as a digital technology with transparency capabilities that could help mitigate fraud and improve data accuracy, especially in supply chains. But a key challenge remains: What if the information entered into a blockchain is intentionally inaccurate?
While a blockchain is intended to contain a complete, transparent record, it is still possible for someone to intentionally misrepresent information in the blockchain, which then become part of the permanent record. This presents a big problem at a time when supply chain ecosystem members are hungry for as much accurate data as possible about the location and condition of specific shipments.
Ambrosus Ecosystem, a Layer 1 blockchain network with more than 750 nodes around the world, is looking to address this challenge, and its latest tool in the effort is the tiny Emerald Circuit EC01 IoT Tracker, which captures a range of environmental data on shipments and securely transmits it to the blockchain.
Ambrosus CEO Lang Mei told Fierce Electronics recently, “Data is a big part of IoT, but given that data that can be modified or misrepresented… how can you be sure that the location data you see in the blockchain is actually accurate? In the IoT, someone can fake their certification to enter information in the blockchain, or can manipulate information. You can tamper with the device, or hack the firmware or the server. There are many points of failure.”
But now the company is offering through a beta program the IoT tracker, which Mei described as “a device which directly writes the data from the IoT with encryption to the blockchain.” The Emerald Circuit device works exclusively on the Ambrosus Ecosystem blockchain.
Emerald Circuit’s product data expands on that description, saying “EC01 sensors are capable of measuring temperature, humidity, acceleration, and lighting level — this data is uploaded onto the Ambrosus Layer 1 blockchain , which means that all measurements and alerts remain private and secure. The device also manages and secures the sensor’s identity and transmissions… A secure chip is embedded in the electronics to prevent any hardware tampering. Connectivity is provided via a Bluetooth chip and an NFC antenna. There is enough local memory for storing months of records, as well as to support complex logic dealt by the chip, including data encoding and signing, but also alarm generation and management.”
Mei’s hope is that a device like the IoT Tracker will help speed adoption of blockchain technology across supply chains in different industries, a migration that he acknowledged has moved slowly thus far. The company recently has started to make progress on its efforts, including participating in a deal last year to help the German-Swiss Wine Association adopt a digital platform to support its supply chain.