Provenenance uses blockchain to restore consumer confidence

The proportion of counterfeit and substandard goods in international trade has soared dramatically. The International Chamber of Commerce estimates that the total value of fake and pirated goods reached $1.77 trillion in 2015.

As more and more counterfeit and inferior goods enter the market, the hidden danger of using counterfeit and inferior goods is buried. Therefore, consumers have a very high demand for finding trustworthy suppliers and quality information.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) warns consumers to resist buying counterfeit and substandard goods, because buying counterfeit and substandard goods will not only cause them financial losses, but also may lead to illness, disability and even death. For example, according to the UNODC, some counterfeit medicines have been found to contain highly toxic substances such as rat poison.

However, food is another area where trust is critical. In 2008, baby formula laced with the plastic synthesis agent melamine sickened 300,000 babies in China, hospitalized 54,000 and killed six. There are also numerous food safety cases where rat poison and other dangerous chemicals have been substituted for legal additives.

Whether we are just concerned about the freshness of our food, want to buy a real Gucci, or want to know if Alaskan salmon is really from Alaska, trusting a company and their brand is the only thing we can do now because experience tells us that only their products can meet our standards.

Many mainstream brands have gone to great lengths to establish trustworthiness by making their production and shipping processes more transparent. Previously, many companies have tried to use tracking software to prove the value, freshness, and authenticity of their daily products. But shipping data or the authenticity of the shipping system alone is far from enough. Consumers can only rely on the data that is input into the system, which can also be falsified.

There are at least a dozen tracking systems in existence today. Although they can tell us how products are transported from manufacturers to stores and can also tell us information about online stores, from a consumer's perspective, why should we trust their data?

It's not the consumers, nor the government, who create and control all that information, it's the manufacturers, so if you have a question about the origin of a Gucci bag or the age of a salmon, don't be silly and ask them why they can't just misreport or completely falsify the numbers if it's in their interest to do so?

However, now we have Bitcoin. Everyone in the world can view the Bitcoin blockchain, and no matter what happens, everyone can see it clearly. What better way to record and share important information that is updated in real time? And the supply chain can finally gain people's trust.

Provenance is the first company to create transparency for all types of products along the supply chain. While some professional services companies like Everledger and Asrcibe use blockchain to track single product types, their approach to tracking diamonds and digital artworks is very different from Provenance, which tracks products throughout their entire lifecycle.

All three companies use the blockchain’s immutability to record information about their product shipments, but Provenance is the first to create a system to track the history of a product, from the manufacturer to the consumer. Every step along the way, including where the product was delivered, who had it, and how long it had been in their possession, can be tracked.

Consumers can access all of this information simply from their smartphones, and immutable information can be added to the blockchain, all of which goes beyond other traditional companies.

This level of transparency is meant to ensure that everyday customers aren’t misled, and it could easily become a competitive advantage. “You could say we’re going through a slight brand trust crisis right now, and we need a mechanism to help us transition to digital credibility,” founder and CEO Jessi Baker recently told Wired.

She explained that detailed reporting is key, citing an ongoing testing program that tracks how fish get from fisherman to consumer as an example.

Jessi Baker, CEO of Provenance, said:

Note when, where and how the animals were captured, and check with relevant agencies on their condition (such as whether they are organically certified products). Each transfer is tracked so that the final buyer can see the relevant data.

Her London-based company, which is well-funded but still in closed beta, has just released its white paper, which reads a bit commercial but is still interesting. Titled "Blockchain: A Solution for Transparency in the Product Supply Chain," this brief statement tells us how they are going to provide transparency in the product supply chain, and also explains in detail the relevant concepts such as blocks and private keys in the chain.

The Provenance white paper states:

"Public or private key infrastructure allows us to use digital documents in a way that prevents others from tampering with them."

While the white paper doesn’t specifically mention which blockchain they’ll use to store all this information, they recently told Coinscrum that they’re currently using the Bitcoin blockchain for tracking, and the Ethereum blockchain for contract certification agencies and third-party organizations.

After detailing the importance of decentralization in providing any real transparency, the white paper also explains the uses of blockchain, especially its auditability.

Provenance White Paper:

“Blockchain is different, it is designed to be fully auditable… Combined with the fact that every transaction is guaranteed to be authentic, a powerful and flexible data system can promote the resilience and human element at its core.”

Then they divided the six roles that their system would track:

1. Manufacturer

2. Manufacturer

3. Registrar (organization provides credentials and independent identity)

4. Standardization organizations

5. Certification bodies and auditors

6. Customers, Retail Stores and Our Buyers

Standards bodies and certification bodies are a welcome part of this process, as they allow for various types and levels of physical inspection. Provenance already works closely with some of them, and is looking at ways to register similar services itself in the future.

Some authentication services can be added to Provenance.

Whether public or anonymous (even consumers), every user at each step must register on Provenance. After registration, everyone will receive a private key to prove the authenticity of their identity, so that they are eligible to comment on the blockchain under their own name.

Provenance White Paper:

"Everyone has access to their own profile on Provenance with a private key. Profiles can be public or anonymous, depending on usage and personal consent. Some profiles have rich information, while others are just an anonymous ID."

As physical products move through the supply chain, they are precisely tracked. In addition, Provenance is also the first to develop new technologies to achieve more accurate tracking in real life.

Provenance White Paper:

“It is critical to confirm that there is only one physical product and digital counterpart to it, using technologies (serial numbers, barcodes, digital tags such as RFID and NFC, genetic markers) to identify and connect physical products and materials through their digital representation on the blockchain.”

To this end, the research team has been exploring some technologies, and they have come up with the use of unique QR codes and NFC tags as tags, which can be used to connect products and raw materials at the same time. This will not be a physical tagging project in the use of technology, but according to the white paper, the technology is still in the testing stage.

The book also ends with the benefits of fraud prevention and sustainability (circular economy) throughout the product lifecycle provided by Provenance. Tracking the individual components of goods such as electronics can make them more efficiently recycled, reducing waste and pollution in the world.

Provenance White Paper:

“Because of the existence of a complete life cycle record, future goods are likely to be greatly changed, which will fuel the economic cycle.”

Faced with so much jaw-dropping Provenance data, every person and every product is fixed in a unified, unchanging place. It is not difficult for us to believe that we have really entered the information age depicted in online science fiction novels and science fiction movies decades ago.

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Original article: http://bravenewcoin.com/news/provenance-to-restore-consumer-trust-with-the-blockchain/
By Luke Parker
Translator: Wang Er
BTC address: 16enj2bapYdzPfa2DWSVaT1g95MCXg2hHt
Editor: printemps
Source (translation): Babbitt Information (http://www.8btc.com/provenenance-blockchain)