Supply Chain Boosted by Blockchain Partners

SAP Ariba, a US-based software and IT firm, has partnered with London-based blockchain startup Everledger to leverage blockchain technology on global supply chains.

Among the first applications that SAP Ariba sees potential in involves the tracking and tracing of goods.

“Twenty years ago, SAP Ariba bet big on a fringe technology called the Internet and pioneered a totally new model for buying and selling,” said Joe Fox, Senior Vice President, Business Development and Strategy, SAP Ariba. “True to our roots, we are again investing at the edge of technology to drive innovations in business-to-business collaboration that will change the game. One of the things blockchain does is facilitate greater visibility and trust. In embedding it across our applications and network, we can enable supply chains that are smarter, faster and more transparent from sourcing all the way through settlement.”

SAP Ariba is also joining the Hyperledger Project, a collaborative cross-industry effort created to advance blockchain technology, as a premier member.

As part of SAP’s premier membership, Dominik Heere, Vice President, Innovation Engineering, SAP Innovation Center Network, will represent the company on the Hyperledger governing board.

“Having support from an enterprise software and cloud leader like SAP is an important step in the right direction,” said Hyperledger Executive Director Brian Behlendorf. “The diversity of our members is a real strength, as we look to advance open blockchain technology POCs, pilots and production deployments across many industries this year. I couldn’t be happier to see the level of collaboration and progress that is happening among our community right now.”