AI and blockchain combined for smart cities

 

One of the clear benefits to blockchain applications are the decentralized factor. One application is to use a federated learning algorithm. With this being decentralized, the algorithms get the benefits of collective machine learning across the multiple data owners. This trial is being used in Munich, Germany to assist commuters in finding a parking spot. This innovation is created by Fetch.ai. This is designed to work with the decentralized machine learning network in smart infrastructures. The area being used is titled M-Zone. This was engineered to use multi-agent blockchain services with AI. The goal is to optimize the local parking resources in commercial real estate properties. A positive by-product of this is a reduction in the city’s carbon footprint. This is accomplished by the AI system search for the nearest parking spot to the user’s destination, booking it for the user, and providing the user directions to the parking spot. When the user leaves, the fee is calculated and paid. This is another example of applying technology to improve the user’s life and our environment. 

 

BLOCKCHAIN is a decentralized digital ledger consisting of records called blocks that is used to record transactions across many computers so that any involved block cannot be changed retroactively, without the alteration of subsequent blocks. This is especially beneficial for logs which cannot or should not be altered or to add a layer of cybersecurity. 

BLOCKCHAIN is useful for applications requiring logs which may not be adjusted, automated processes, and cybersecurity.

 

Please contact us when we may be of assistance with showing you when and how to apply blockchain to your business, products, and processes.

Charles Parker, II; Principal Scientist; MBA/MSA/JD/LLM/PhD/DCS (IP)

charlesparkerii@gmail.com

810-701-5511

 

Cup of java with your blockchain

 

Blockchain started as the backbone for BitCoin. This new technology has, however, proven to have many different applications due to its base function. Having the decentralized ledger allows for the data to be recorded once and not changed and accessed by the appropriate parties. The security features may also be upgraded with encryption. One application for this has been the supply chain. One company leveraging this has been the Orang Utan Coffee company. The company and coffee, licensed and distributed in the UK, use this to allow retailers and consumers to trace the coffee to its Indonesian roots. The person, to access this, has to only access an app (Farmer Connect’s Thank My Farmer). The full product cycle is included in the blockchain, from the field, processing, to the final product sold globally. Growing the coffee beans, the process of getting this to market is complex, however, this has been encapsulated into the blockchain. This also provides the company and clients a new level of transparency into not only the regions of their coffee, but also the intricate process of harvesting, roasting, and shipping. 

 

BLOCKCHAIN is a decentralized digital ledger consisting of records called blocks that is used to record transactions across many computers so that any involved block cannot be changed retroactively, without the alteration of subsequent blocks. This is especially beneficial for logs which cannot or should not be altered or to add a layer of cybersecurity. 

 

Please contact us when we may be of assistance with showing you when and how to apply blockchain to your business and processes.

Charles Parker, II; Principal Scientist; MBA/MSA/JD/LLM/PhD/DCS (IP)

charlesparkerii@gmail.com

810-701-5511

Airlines as a good candidate for blockchain usage

 

Blockchain is very useful in many industries for many reasons. The industry has seen this applied to the supply chain for manufacturing concerns, and automobile manufacturers, and other uses. This is completely applicable across many industries with other uses. What makes this so useful are its features which have been present since the beginning. These include the un-alterability of the data and chain. Once the data is in, the data can’t be changed, notwithstanding a power-intensive successful attack. This also allows for encryption to be used for further security.

One industry that has not overly-accepted this application has been the airline industry, an area where this is a great fit. One area of operations with this would be maintenance. This area is more important than ever. A maintenance issue with a car has the driver simply pulling over and waiting for a tow truck. The airplane with a maintenance issue has a much more critical outcome, depending on where the issue occurred and its criticality rating. Blockchain certainly has used with this. Maintenance on the airplanes is on-going and may include an overhaul. Blockchain can be used to update the maintenance logs as these occur. As these are regularly updated and added, the time spent on routine inspections would be lower and would not be able to be changed once in the blockchain. This also provides immutable proof the maintenance occurred and the data is direct.

Blockchain is a decentralized digital ledger consisting of records called blocks that are used to record transactions across many computers so that any involved block cannot be changed retroactively, without the alteration of subsequent blocks. This is especially beneficial for logs which cannot or should not be altered or to add a layer of cybersecurity.  

 

Please contact us when we may be of assistance with showing you when and how to apply blockchain to your business and processes.

Charles Parker, II; Principal Scientist; MBA/MSA/JD/LLM/PhD/DCS (IP)

charlesparkerii@gmail.com

810-701-5511

Blockchain to improve clinical trial integrity

 

The year 2020 will certainly be unforgettable for our lifetime. When someone mentions 2020, we will look back and vividly remember the food and essentials shortages, people becoming infected in record numbers, and other interesting events. One area of particular attention has been on the vaccine. We will remember the mad dash to get the vaccine created, approved by the FDA, and distributed. The critical step within this flowchart is to have the proposed vaccine run through the double-blind trials to compare its success rate with placebo. With this race to the cure, there may be pressure placed on the company and researchers to use a statistical grey area to make the data appear in a better light than the actual data. To lessen the opportunity for this to occur, blockchain may be used. For this use case, the clinical trial data would be entered as it is retrieved. As each block of data is entered into the chain, it becomes part of history and can’t be changed, which is a clear benefit of blockchain. After the clinical trial data has been recorded it can’t be changed or updated to improve the results, unless there is a rather extensive attack perpetrated successfully. When the results are close to being approved and the vaccine only needs a few more positive results, the undue pressure to adjust a few results for approval and millions of dollars in revenue may be present. With a fully functioning blockchain in place, this is not an option and improved integrity.

Blockchain is a decentralized digital ledger consisting of records called blocks that is used to record transactions across many computers so that any involved block cannot be changed retroactively, without the alteration of subsequent blocks. This is especially beneficial for logs which cannot or should not be altered or to add a layer of cybersecurity.  

 

Please contact us when we may be of assistance with showing you when and how to apply blockchain to your business and processes.

Charles Parker, II; Principal Scientist; MBA/MSA/JD/LLM/PhD/DCS (IP)

charlesparkerii@gmail.com

810-701-5511

Blockchain to the rescue: Applied to food supply chain

 

Blockchain’s uses are applicable across industries. These may be in operational areas and mission-critical. One aspect of this, which is beneficial, is the blockchain cannot be changed. This also allows for the transactions to have an audit trail and the ability to trace the transactions back. One common use case for this is the supply chain. A very simple example of this would be a business baking cakes. For a certain batch, the compliance department needs to know from which companies the flour was sourced, and where the flour was processed. Without the blockchain tracing this in a permanent format, the operations manager would need to go to accounting, ask a few questions, accounting would need to look through the general ledger and sub-ledger, seeking the entries for the flour. The accounting or operations may then need to make a judgment call, based on timing, who may have sold the specific flour used. In certain instances, the business does not want to make a decision based on judgment or guesses, but on clear facts. Using the former tends to be very messy and creates yet more problems.

One of the industries where tracing the products and services is critical would be defense contracting. The products, parts, and equipment that are part of the larger equipment are required to be sourced from reputable, approved sources. These products are highly technical and work with confidential data. These may not leak or otherwise divulge the subject data.

One business using blockchain for this function is Thales. Thales is a French aerospace and defense contractor. Recently, the business opened a new production and maintenance site in Spain. This site is using blockchain to trace all the parts and products moving through the facility. While this is prudent, especially given the industry, this also works to comply with NATO and other Ministries of Defense requirements. This facility manufactures several types of sensitive equipment, including radio communications, aeronautics, and naval equipment. With this equipment, the ability to trace the components from the supply chain is paramount. Any part from a suspect supplier would have detrimental effects.

Blockchain integrated into shipping

 

Shipping goods and services can be a rather taxing process in its own right. If the product is smaller, and the contents are not on the warning list (e.g. dry ice, and lithium batteries), shipping is not a horrible task. With larger objects, this may be more of an interesting chore and task to including the crating, insurance needs, and other forms to complete. Adding a layer of complexity for this would involve international shipping or importing and exporting these. There are international laws, the laws for the recipient’s state, and the infamous paperwork. The import/export process tends to be data-driven.

To attempt to alleviate a portion of the work and pressure associated with the issue, companies in Japan are investing resources into a new blockchain app. The intent is for this new trade data management system is to make the process more efficient, which translates into savings for the business. This is drawing enough serious, significant attention for seven companies to invest in. The companies are of significant size and stature, to include MUFG Bank, Toyota Tsusho, Kanematsu, Sompo Japan Insurance, Toklo Marine, and Nichido Fire Insurance. With blockchain, the data is secure and immutable, which the businesses are seeking to remove the opportunity for any external tampering and unauthorized access.

This use case is perfectly suited for the blockchain. The platform is designed to manage the shipping, and insurance documents used by the companies to ship internationally. This application makes data handling efficient and secure. The company wisely did conduct a proof of concept (PoC) test for the service. This indicated up to a 50% improvement in processing times.

 

Immutable News Releases; SPoF removed!

News releases are an interesting medium of communication. The business has news-worthy information and wishes to pass it along to everyone interested in one post, in comparison to emailing the information 51k times. This is an economical version for communication, documents the event or the announcement, and allows others who might be interested in the future, unbeknownst to the business, to read this at a later time.


The question arises though, what if a bad actor wanted to change or adjust a press release? This may be malicious and an act of defacing the post and website where this is located. While these are published, a breach where these reside could create issues. One simple and effective way to resolve this is blockchain implementation. The application of technology removes the single point of failure (SPoF). These platforms would provide the verification for the press releases, along with full transparency. Notably, the transparency aspect removes the potential for communication issues.


One company embracing this has been Verizon. The company is launching its application, termed Full Transparency. This blockchain-based, open-source app is engineered for newsroom-oriented products. The app also provides for a greater level of accountability and records any subsequent changes. Transparency has recently been more of an issue as this ties in with accountability. This has, when applied, improved corporate credibility. Since the news releases are placed within the blockchain, these are authoritative in nature. This use case also shows different industries may use blockchain for various applications, other than the only cryptocurrency.

Blockchain and mangoes go hand in hand, like peas and carrots

 

Blockchain over the many years since its inception has been used primarily for one use-cryptocurrency. With its immutability due to the blocks and each being recorded after 51% of the block members' approval. As time has passed, more industries have started to research this for their own use case.

As the protocol is not application-specific, there are many industries this is perfectly in tune with. With the wide variety of uses, it's no wonder this has been researched in the food industry. Transparency and traceability are significant benefits here. Recently, a mango producer has embraced the blockchain platform. The PoC (proof of concept) testing for this lasted 2.5 years. The blockchain application was co-funded by the Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia (CRCNA), in partnership with Trust Provenance, blockchain subject matter experts, mango producer Manbulloo and Growcom, an industry group.

The blockchain in this instance includes data from all of the systems, including critical information within their supply chain. With this application, the real-time data (e.g. time, temperature, and location) were included in the blocks, approved, and placed into the blockchain. With the transparency factor, the data could be accessed by the member through a dashboard. With this data all in one place, Manbulloo is able to check in one area for the secured information. Previously, every organization in the supply chain had its own version of record-keeping, which created additional costs and redundancy. Another benefit is once this is placed in the blockchain, it is immutable or not able to be altered or adjusted.