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Dutch banking giant ABN AMRO has launched a new blockchain pilot in partnership with the Port of Rotterdam and Samsung SDS, Samsung’s logistics and IT division.
The pilot will involve building a blockchain-based platform with the objective of digitizing administration processes for the international finance and logistics surrounding container transport. The main goal is to simplify transporting, tracking, and financing of goods and services.
In the existing setup, payments, administration and the physical transportation of containers take place almost entirely via separate circuits. The pilot will focus on integrating these separate flows.
“We will be integrating all these flows in our pilot: from workflow management combined with track & trace to the digitisation of paper documentation such as waybills and the financing of handled freight or services,” ABN AMRO’s CEO of Commercial Banking Daphne de Kluis explained.
“The ultimate goal is to reach an open, independent and global platform that operates from the perspective of shippers. This will make the logistics chain more transparent and efficient, and millions of euros can be saved in the long term.”
The pilot will involve the multi-modal transport of a container from a factory in Korea to a location in the Netherlands. In the first instance, it will be implemented by the three parties, but the cooperative network will then become open for other parties to join.
In its official release, ABN AMRO underscored the uniqueness of the project stating that it will involve different blockchains operating together for the first time.
“This takes place via an overarching ‘notary’ that connects entirely separate blockchains in Korea and the Netherlands,” it added.
Samsung SDS said that it will “launch a demonstration project linking its blockchain platform (Nexledger) with ABN AMRO's blockchain platform (Corda)” (loosely translated). The pilot will be conducted in January next year.
