IBM (TIKER: IBM.FWB) has joined forces with A.P. Moller-Maersk, the global leader in container shipping, to establish a joint venture to provide more efficient and secure methods for conducting global trade using blockchain technology.
The new company will aim to offer a jointly developed global trade digitization platform built on open standards and designed for use by the entire global shipping ecosystem.
“It will address the need to provide more transparency and simplicity in the movement of goods across borders and trading zones,” IBM said in a statement.
The blockchain platform will help manage and monitor tens of millions of shipping containers worldwide. The supply chain operations will be digitized from scratch.
“By joining our knowledge of trade with IBM’s capabilities in blockchain and enterprise technology, we are confident this new company can make a real difference in shaping the future of global trade,” said Vincent Clerc, chief commercial officer at Maersk and future chairman of the board of the new joint venture.
“We believe blockchain will now emerge in this market as the leading way companies seize new untapped economic opportunities,” he added.
IBM and Maersk began a collaboration in June 2016 to build new blockchain- and cloud-based technologies. Since then, multiple parties have piloted the platform including DuPont, Dow Chemical, Tetra Pak, Port Houston, Rotterdam Port Community System Portbase, the Customs Administration of the Netherlands, U.S. Customs and Border Protection.