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Blockchain firm Mavennet has secured a procurement contract from the government of Canada to develop an on-chain steel-tracking platform.
Founded in 2018, Toronto-based Mavennet is a provider of private enterprise blockchain solutions that enable high transaction throughput and interoperability between multiple blockchain platforms. In Nov., the startup was awarded $182,700 by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) to address CBP needs for tracking cross-border oil imports using blockchain technology.
In the same month, Mavennet was also awarded a 169,427 CAD (approximately US$130,000) contract by the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), a Canadian government agency with a mandate of fostering a growing, competitive, and knowledge-based economy, CoinDesk reported.
The project, with a six-month duration, aims to “create a novel application of a digital tracing system enabled by blockchain and artificial intelligence for the Canadian and possibly North American steel supply chain for business users and government.”
Accordingly, Mavennet will develop a blockchain proof-of-concept prototype that will allow tracking and sharing real-time data across the supply chain in the domestic steel industry.
Mavennet's CEO Patrick Mandic told CoinDesk that with a blockchain tracing live data points and AI making those patterns meaningful, the solution could create ripples across the multi-billion-dollar industry.
“Ultimately, you’re collecting a lot of data with new levels of granularity,” he explained. “If you’re able to collect information in real time and in a way that you can trust, you’re opening up a world of possibilities for analysis and providing insights to the government.”
In the first phase is successful, Mavennet could further unlock additional two-year government funding of up to $800,000 to continue its development of a deployment-grade system.
“The adoption of new digital technology into Canadian industry will help ensure our firms strengthen their competitive advantage,” said Hans Parmar, a media relations manager for ISED.
