Blockchain is no longer a buzzword thrown around by mainstream institutions, with meaningful and fully operational pilots and programs highlighted at Blockchain Expo Europe 2022 in Amsterdam.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, several major companies from various 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 harvest the seeds, according to some surprising updates from major corporations using blockchain technology.
Business consultancies, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, and the energy sector are already offering blockchain-powered solutions that have proven a wide range of applications promised by emerging technologies.
Cointelegraph was on the ground for the event and was able to interact with several speakers who demonstrated how their companies are using the technology to drive innovation.
EY, the international business consulting firm, has been working hard to build enterprise-level blockchain capabilities for the past three years. Federico De Poli, who leads the global development of EY’s OpsChain function, explains how the firm has spent more than $100 million over the past three years building a complete work product solution.
It was key to driving enterprise adoption, helping customers navigate a new environment, building security-focused privacy tools and helping companies run business processes on the Ethereum blockchain.
De Poli explained that the company’s proprietary EY Opschain and EY Blockchain Analyzer are two of the main tools that use blockchain technology.
“Opschain products are the products of our business suite. Our most used tool used in production by many customers in different industries is traceability. We have a contract manager that is used in the first test – a tool that helps us make digital contracts between parties.
EY’s Public Finance Manager allows governments to track financial expenditures, ensuring the widespread use of blockchain solutions.
Healthcare and pharmaceutical organizations are also present at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center. Alex Popa, co-director of Blockchain for Pharma Supply Excellence at MSD (Merck), explained a pilot aimed at solving problems related to multi-faceted healthcare networks.
Plagued by expensive, inefficient and vulnerable systems, blockchain technology offers practical solutions to these problems. MSD has piloted a controversial industry issue, counterfeit drugs, using Hyperledger Fabric to allow patients in Hong Kong to verify the authenticity of drugs from their source.
Jessica Lee, Johnson & Johnson’s Johnson & Johnson Business North America Head of Blockchain, also demonstrated the use of blockchain technology to share data in a private, secure and transparent manner for a value-based healthcare system.
Sabine Brink, blockchain at Shell, presented a compelling presentation focused on digital innovation in the energy sector. A key takeaway is that blockchain technology is growing to promote transparency in energy.
The company is engaged in several blockchain-powered projects on public blockchains to address the energy sector’s long-term tendency in silos. A key focus is Shell’s work supporting Avelia, a blockchain-powered sustainable aviation fuel search that aims to decarbonize air travel.
Stating that 90 percent of airline emissions are due to business travel, Avelia works as a service product sustainability for corporate flyers and airlines to capture and demand sustainable aviation fuel.
“Energy is becoming decentralized and decentralized, and it’s hard to imagine it being managed in a centralized way. There’s no other way to do it globally, and blockchain has a big role to play.”
Discussions with conference representatives and speakers highlighted the clear steps taken in developing blockchain solutions that work in all industries. The technology has driven innovation across industries, and major companies are doing their part to drive new use cases and solutions for blockchain-based systems.