Ireland Becomes an International Laboratory for Blockchain Projects in Ag-Tech

Last week on The Blockchain Domain, Maeve Cowley, VP, New Forms of Investment, https://www.idaireland.com/, wrote about how blockchain technology is having a shaping influence on the country's agricultural sector. It's a compelling an informative read.

An excerpt on "Multiple Blockchain Activities:

"Drawing on its expansive international technology sector -- eight of the world's top 10 tech companies have facilities in Ireland -- it is becoming a laboratory for innovative ag-tech projects using blockchain. The Irish operation of Moyee Coffee is running a pilot project to provide supply chain transparency while making real-time payments to Ethiopian farmers for their coffee beans. Irish craft beer producer Downstream Beer is using blockchain to inform consumers about anything they want to know about beer ingredients and brewing methods."

For the full story, please keep reading.

Trust is a bedrock attribute when it comes to the food supply. Consumers want to know that the provenance and safety of their food can be assured, which has opened the door in the agricultural world to the heralded, 21st-century technology of blockchain. Initially created to enable cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, this distributed ledger software technology has been embraced by the financial services industry as well as in other safety-conscious arenas such as healthcare, insurance and more.

A high-level understanding of blockchain makes clear its appeal to the agriculture sector. Blockchain is a distributed database that maintains an always-growing list of records that are protected from tampering and can't be revised. Each valid block is made of time-stamped transactions and linked to a previous block, with the whole forming a secure chain.

With blockchain, credentials for storage, transport, provenance and export can all be integrated and linked back to farm-level data, providing further transparency throughout the process. It makes possible efficient, less-wasteful product recalls, creates an immutable barrier to tampering, fraud or threat and brings farmers and consumers together.

Like other highly touted technologies such as AI and Internet of Things, pursuing blockchain applications for the ag-tech market is vastly appealing but puts demands on U.S. companies such as finding qualified personnel, attracting funding and collaborative partners as well as identifying optimal locales where food production and technology overlap. For these reasons, many American companies have been using Ireland as a resource in their pursuit of blockchain solutions for their sector.

Continues on the Blockchain Domain...