EVP and COO Craig Harper to join Board of Directors
Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA), the largest industry-specific blockchain standards organization in the world, today announced its newest member, J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc., one of the largest supply chain solutions providers in North America.
In addition, Craig Harper, executive vice president and chief operations officer at J.B. Hunt, will serve on the BiTA Board of Directors to support the organization as it leads discussions on market changes and the commercial implementation of blockchain technology.
“We are excited to have one of the most powerful names in transportation join our organization and one of the greatest thinkers in transportation agree to participate on our Board of Directors,” said Chris Burruss, president of BiTA. “The Standards Board is the heart of any technology standards alliance, and the pulse of this group is set by the members of the Board. We are honored that Craig has agreed to join us and will be active in helping usher in the future of global freight.”
The organization was started in August 2017 and now boasts over 200 member companies, representing a combined transportation revenue of nearly $1 trillion. In addition, nearly one thousand companies have applied for membership, representing motor carriers, 3PLs, shippers, airfreight, maritime cargo, intermodal, and managed logistics. The organization was originally purposed to help develop market standards for blockchain applications but has quickly become a forum for discussions around cross-industry technology standards and self-regulation.
“I believe in the mission of BiTA and what it is doing to further dialogue and innovation in our space,” said Harper. “Our company’s continued focus on using technology to improve the supply chain aligns with BiTA’s mission of incorporating blockchain technology to enhance commercial operations. I am excited to participate and look forward to being an active member of the BiTA Standards Board.”
Blockchain is a digital ledger framework that enables the recording of transactions and data in immutable blocks across a distributed network. Applied to transportation and supply chains, the technology can enable market participants to interact with one another using a system of blind trust and immutable record keeping and storage. Supply chains are ideal for the implementation of the technology, as processes such as chain of custody, inventory tracking, and manual transactions of unfamiliar counter-parties can all be recorded, tracked, and monitored through applications that utilize the framework.
An emerging opportunity involving smart contracts will also enable counter-parties that have no prior knowledge of one another to have absolute confidence in the outcome without the need for a third-party arbitrator. While more than a few years away from becoming a mainstream technology, Gartner quantifies the business value-add of blockchain at $176 billion by 2025, and then exceeding $3.1 trillion by 2030.
About Blockchain in Transport Alliance
Founded in August 2017, the Blockchain in Transport Alliance is a forum for promotion, education, and encouragement to develop and adopt blockchain applications in the trucking, transportation, and logistics industry. BiTA’s goal is for members to participate, discuss, create, and adopt industry standard uses of blockchain applications and to provide clarity and direction for the development of blockchain technology in the transportation industry in a manner that will create efficiency, transparency, and foster trust. BiTA standards are intended to create a common framework to help organizations develop and adopt blockchain technology. For more information, visit www.bita.studio.
About J.B. Hunt
J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc., a Fortune 500, S&P 500, and NASDAQ-100 company, provides innovative supply chain solutions for a variety of customers throughout North America. Utilizing an integrated, multimodal approach, the company applies technology-driven methods to create the best solution for each customer, adding efficiency, flexibility, and value to their operations. J.B. Hunt services include intermodal, dedicated, refrigerated, truckload, less-than-truckload, flatbed, single source, final mile, and more. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. stock trades on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol JBHT and is a component of the Dow Jones Transportation Average. J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of JBHT. For more information, visit www.jbhunt.com.
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