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IBM launches blockchain platform

IBM’s blockchain-based food traceability platform is now available for global use after a pilot period.

Speaking at a recent Forbes Ag Tech Summit, Ramesh Gopinath, with IBM Food Trust, says the technology will help minimize food safety issues through traceability.

“In the agriculture industry there are plenty of problems which can be traced to a lack of information sharing- food safety, food waste, and many others,” he says. “We thought traceability would be a good place to start.”

Gopinath says the information sharing platform can track food from fields to consumers and should work for all sizes of farms.

“Large farms, if they have IT systems, they could send it from there,” he says. “If they are a smaller farm, maybe you work with spreadsheets, you can actually upload data from spreadsheets too. As long as it’s about locked level information about the products that you’re growing.”

IBM says the technology is available for global use by retailers, wholesalers, and suppliers.