An American multinational courier delivery services company FedEx Corporation has joined Hyperledger, an open source project established to improve cross-industry blockchain technologies. Hyperledger is a global collaborative effort including leaders in finance, banking, Internet of Things (IoT), supply chain, manufacturing, and technology, and it is hosted by The Linux Foundation.
Kevin Humphries, Senior Vice President, IT, FedEx Services said:
"We believe that blockchain has big implications in supply chain, transportation and logistics. We are excited for the opportunity to collaborate with the Hyperledger community as we continue to explore the applications and help set the standards for wide-scale blockchain adoption in our industry and others."
In joining Hyperledger, FedEx has just become one of the 14 newest members to join the consortium. These include Honeywell International as well as a number of crypto and blockchain startups such as BetaBlocks, Cardstack, Elemential Labs, Peer Ledger, etc. More than 270 organizations are now part of Hyperledger's open source distributed ledger frameworks and tools. Some of the notable members include IBM, Intel, SAP, Accenture, Deutsche Bank, and J.P. Morgan.
Brian Behlendorf, Executive Director, Hyperledger said:
"Our community ranges from technology giants and industry leaders to start-ups, service providers and academics. We are gaining traction around the world in market segments from finance to healthcare and government to logistics. This growth and diversity is a signal of the increasing recognition of the strategic value of enterprise blockchain and commitment to the adoption and development of open source frameworks to drive new business models."
In February of this year, FedEx also joined BiTA (Blockchain in Transport Alliance) for implementing the blockchain system into their business. BiTA is a group of freight, shipping and logistics companies such as BNSF Railway, JD Logistics, GE Transportation, etc. which have come together to implement blockchain technology in their businesses. In July, FedEx Institute of Technology partnered with the pharmacy firm Good Shepherd to develop new blockchain-based infrastructure to help cancer patients get medications.
FedEx has demonstrated a proactive approach to adopting blockchain technology. In May, Fred Smith, Chairman and the CEO of FedEx said he believes that blockchain is the “next frontier” for global supply chains and advises other companies in the sector as well to adopt this technology quickly; or else, they will be either disrupted or perished.
The logistics and shipping industry, in general, is keen on implementing blockchain technology. A recent survey of 130 participants organized by INTTRA Inc., showed that 53% of senior shipping executives exploring the various blockchain applications. The survey further revealed that 82% of the responders had undertaken automation and digitization initiatives for their operations.
