In a follow up to their January announcement, Maersk and IBM announced the creation of TradeLens, jointly developed by the two companies to apply blockchain to the world's global supply chain.
TradeLens is the result of a collaboration agreement between Maersk and IBM, a blockchain-enabled shipping solution designed to promote more efficient and secure global trade, bringing together various parties to support information sharing and transparency, and spur industry-wide innovation. As part of the TradeLens early adopter program, two companies also announced that 94 organizations are actively involved or have agreed to participate on the TradeLens platform built on open standards.
The TradeLens ecosystem currently includes more than 20 port and terminal operators across the globe join the global APM Terminals' network in piloting the solution. This accounts for approximately 234 marine gateways worldwide that have or will be actively participating on TradeLens. Customs authorities in the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Australia and Peru are participating, along with some customs brokers. Participation among beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) has grown, and freight forwarders, transportation and logistics companies are also currently participating.
TradeLens uses IBM Blockchain technology as the foundation for digital supply chains, empowering multiple trading partners to collaborate by establishing a single shared view of a transaction without compromising details, privacy or confidentiality. Shippers, shipping lines, freight forwarders, port and terminal operators, inland transportation and customs authorities can interact more efficiently through real-time access to shipping data and shipping documents, including IoT and sensor data ranging from temperature control to container weight.
Using blockchain smart contracts, TradeLens enables digital collaboration across the multiple parties involved in international trade. The trade document module, released under a beta program and called ClearWay, enables importers/exporters, customs brokers, trusted third parties such as Customs, other government agencies, and NGOs to collaborate in cross-organizational business processes and information exchanges, all backed by a secure, non-repudiable audit trail. During the 12-month trial, Maersk and IBM worked with dozens of ecosystem partners to identify opportunities to prevent delays caused by documentation errors, information delays, and other impediments.
Standards discussions are actively underway with openshipping.org and work to align the TradeLens APIs with UN/CEFACT standards is in progress. The TradeLens APIs are open and available for developer access and feedback from participants in the platform. The TradeLens solution is expected to be fully commercially available by the end of this year.
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