USAF Institute of Technology launches educational website to show potential of blockchain tech in supply chain management.
The US Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) has launched an educational website to show the potential of blockchain in supply chain management.
A report in Modern Materials Handling magazine, dated 3 December, said the site has been designed to help students learn about blockchain and can be used as a stand-alone classroom module, or as part of other lessons.
The platform was developed by the USAF in partnership with the University of South Dakota’s Beacom School of Business and supply chain company SecureMarking. Though it has a stated general educational use, it is likely to come in handy educating personnel across the Department of Defence, many of whom urgently need to learn more about blockchain.
According to the magazine, the AFIT-developed tool “tracks the entire lifecycle of a component”. Being able to do this effectively will be extremely valuable for the DoD because there have, according to the magazine, been many cases of supply chains being contaminated with re-introduced used products sold on as new by “unscrupulous businesses.”
In addition to the obvious cost implications due to equipment breakdowns and failures, this practice can also lead to potentially dangerous and life threatening situations.
Utilising blockchain tech to precisely track components at every stage of a supply chain may also prevent embarrassments, and potential security breaches. Seven years ago, a U.S. Senate investigation revealed that mostly Chinese-made fake electronic parts were widespread in US military systems, from transport aircraft to missile systems, and constituted a “threat to national security.”
Though the interest shown by AFIT, the University of South Dakota and SecureMarking is great, browsing their early-2000’s style websites and watching their shonky videos (see below), the whole thing seems somewhat comedic! Still, baby steps…
https://youtu.be/UfRxmBAfY3g?list=PLZCE4KECNoHwpfb2rv49Tn7jtw06EsS1w
