Cargo community provider MGI has launched the world’s first cargo community system with integrated blockchain technology.
MGI partnered with electrical systems firm Thales to integrate blockchain into MGI’s Ci5 intelligent cargo system, enabling users to validate statuses of tracked goods through a consortium programme. Where Ci5 previously enabled cargo operators to share and exchange information securely, the implementation of cargo community blockchain technology as a secure validation tool will enable the additional participation of verified third parties, such as banks and insurance companies.
Alain Perez, Director of Information Systems and Operations at MGI, said: “The expertise provided by our partner, Thales, enabled us to incorporate blockchain technology into our cargo intelligent system, Ci5. It’s a brand new innovation for this type of system. Besides improving the security and traceability of transactions, blockchain technology essentially makes all the operators that use Ci5 trusted third parties.”
The Ci5 system is used to authorise the release of cargo imports, relying on the validation of goods’ statuses through the program. By ‘blockchaining’ the system, each change to a cargo’s status is tracked electronically and cannot be altered after the fact; thereby reinforcing both the intrinsic security of the tracking process and the verifiability of the supply chain. Any goods transaction which would generate a tracking status through the system is securely verified by a validation consortium consisting of the system’s client users.
Joël Derrien, Assistant General Director of Digital Services at Thales, said: “The blockchain technologies that Thales is working on is helping create decentralised, unfalsifiable and secure digital ledgers. The cargo community system we developed with MGI is a perfect example of how blockchain technology can help professionals looking for smooth collaborative communication without compromising data security and reliability.”
MGI has announced plans to integrate blockchain capability into other processes run through Ci5 over the course of 2019.
