CargoX, a public blockchain-based digital logistics document transaction platform, has announced its integration into private blockchain-based digital freight management platform RoadLaunch. This assimilation between two different blockchain solutions is one of the first instances of public and private blockchains working in tandem to provide greater utility to users from either of the platforms.
“The partnership with CargoX is a big step forward in the supply chain industry and further sets the stage for next-generation logistics. We are joining the strengths of different kinds of blockchain – public and private, in a way that the users don’t need to lose time switching between them,” said Cory Skinner, chief executive officer of RoadLaunch. “Global organizations will be able to see an enhanced, trusted and simple interface for their shipment tracking and document transactions using multiple blockchain technologies. This is truly the world’s first project of this kind and the first step towards true blockchain interoperability.”
Blockchain technology is now constantly in the limelight within the logistics and transportation industry. It is seen as an enabler of digitalization and in helping bring visibility and transparency across supply chains by forcing stakeholders across value chains to collaborate over decentralized ledger networks.
CargoX pioneers in processing bill of lading (BoL) documents through its Smart B/L platform – the first open and neutral blockchain network within the shipping industry. Being an open and neutral network is key, as it allows CargoX to attract companies universally across the supply chain, unlike closed and privatized blockchain networks that garner a lot of skepticism over lopsided power equations between participants and network owners.
RoadLaunch was founded with the intent to improve logistics efficiency and reduce operational costs by digitalizing available capacity on trucks and making the procurement of freight quotes a breezy experience for users. RoadLaunch gathers data from different parameters like fleet location and available capacity and matches loads to that capacity in real-time.
The collaboration between RoadLaunch and CargoX is vital to blockchain’s future within the logistics space, as it is an example of interoperability between two contrasting blockchain networks – an essential trait for the technology’s mainstream adoption within the industry.
“CargoX is happy to provide the technology to send and transfer ownership of the most important document in global shipping – the bill of lading. RoadLaunch decided to connect both worlds for a truly versatile platform. Their hybrid model provides the speed and efficiency of a private blockchain, and the trustworthiness and reliability of a public blockchain, where it matters most – for document ownership transfer,” said Bojan Čekrlić, chief technology officer at CargoX.
And to foster interoperability between different blockchain networks, it is vital to create open blockchain standards that can be used by companies to build their respective blockchain platforms.
The Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA), a consortium of over 500 members across the logistics space, has pioneered the development of open blockchain standards that companies can use as a pedestal for their blockchain-based solutions. With blockchain solutions being built over universally applicable standards, it becomes easier and more seamless to integrate disparate platforms without either of them needing to adapt to distinct data protocols.