Beijing, May 1 (TNS): Shoppers in China can now get a definitive answer on whether a product they\u2019ve just bought is fake or legit \u2013 by simply scanning a code with their phones.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s part of a new trial that Alibaba has just rolled out, using an incorruptible blockchain database \u2013 the technology behind Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies \u2013 to track an authentic item going from a manufacturer to a consumer.<\/p>\n
Alibaba, China\u2019s online shopping giant, is initially trialling its fakes-fighter with food items imported from Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n
Once the item arrives with the buyer in China, he or she can scan a special QR code to see the blockchain-verified database that shows it\u2019s a genuine product.<\/p>\n
The goal of the program \u2013 first announced in theory\u00a0in March 2017\u00a0\u2013 is to use the blockchain database to \u201cachieve end-to-end supply chain traceability and transparency to enhance consumer confidence and build a trusted environment for cross-border trade,\u201d said Alibaba in a statement.<\/p>\n
Alibaba archrival JD\u00a0has its own blockchain pilot\u00a0focused on foodstuffs and medicines.<\/p>\n
Companies worldwide are set to double their spending on blockchain technologies in 2018 \u2013\u00a0to US$2.1 billion\u00a0\u2013 as the database system finds more and more use cases. That expenditure will rocket to US$9.7 billion in 2021, according to a report from IDC.<\/p>\n
Many firms are tapping blockchain tech \u201cto develop innovative solutions that improve processes such as post-trade processing, tracking and tracing shipments in the supply chain, and transaction records for auditing and compliance,\u201d says IDC\u2019s Bill Fearnley Jr.<\/p>\n
Courtesy: Tech in Asia<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Beijing, May 1 (TNS): Shoppers in China can now get a definitive answer on whether a product they\u2019ve just bought is fake or legit \u2013 by simply scanning a code with their phones. It\u2019s part of a new trial that Alibaba has just rolled out, using an incorruptible blockchain database \u2013 the technology behind Bitcoin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63050,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=63049"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63052,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63049\/revisions\/63052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/63050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=63049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=63049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=63049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}