Despite the many hurdles due to the global pandemic in 2020, Vault Security Systems AG was able to win many new clients and partners who think – and act – with us towards a better future.

According to CIO Applications, CIO Bulletin and Technology Innovators, we are among the world’s leading pioneers in blockchain and blockchain for supply chains. But in the fight against counterfeiting and fraud, the actual implementation of innovative ideas counts more than all the awards, publications on renowned platforms and invitations to international events.

That’s why we want to elaborate on 3 digital trends that blockchain can revolutionize in 2021.

In this blog entry you will also learn how ivault for companies and consumers can contribute to this development – with 3 strong Blockchain Use Cases.

Blockchain 2021

What Technology Innovators says about ivault

Technology Innovators, the “New-age knowledge sharing platform,” ranks Arman Sarhaddar as one of the Top 25 Blockchain Technology CEOs 2020. They are writing:

Technology Innovators on CEO Arman Sarhaddar and the ivault blockchain.

Arman knew right from the start: Blockchain is much more than Bitcoin. And today, there are many blockchain providers trying to capture the Supply Chain market. But Blockchain Technology alone is only one side of the coin. It is the combination of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) with other technologies that is the way forward.

There is nothing more to do than to proudly agree with Technology Innovators: With our anti-counterfeiting technology ivault we really are among the pioneers.

Our platform helps not only companies protect products by shielding the entire supply chain against fraud and counterfeiting – thanks to improved supply chain transparency and traceability. ivault.app for a safer neighborhood enables consumers to protect their most valuable items and assets against theft and loss as well – not only in their immediate environment, but also on a global scale.

The difference between these two business models? With customized Blockchain solutions, companies benefit from the supply chain security and traceability provided by Distributed Ledger Technology. They can also provide customers with transparency regarding production conditions. Another advantage is that customers can thus check via smartphone that the products are indeed authentic originals.

3 digital trends and our Blockchain Use Cases

This month, Blockchain expert Arman Sarhaddar published an article about 3 striking digital trends that clearly emerged for 2021:

1. The combination of established technologies with innovations such as Blockchain or Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)
2. Blockchain and sustainability: Sustainable business models are becoming increasingly important
3. The social collective: digital solutions against isolation and loneliness during the global pandemic

These 3 digital trends call for a Blockchain revolution via innovations like ivault. Below we will demonstrate this with three of our Blockchain use cases.

1. Combining different technologies

There are many Blockchain companies and startups that claim expertise in the field. But Blockchain is not all that is needed for a digital revolution. The Distributed Ledger Technology can only develop its full potential when it is linked with other technologies.

Many technologies are already well established and mature in many aspects. Of course, these technologies must continue to be used and combined with Blockchain Technology, these are responsible for success. Providers of innovative solutions can be connected via APIs and integrated into an existing IT infrastructure, workflows and testing processes.

In this way, a familiar interface can be supplemented and optimized with additional functions, which can result in an enormous gain in efficiency. This is the case not only for Blockchain but for Artificial Intelligence and other innovations as well.

With ivault, for example, we are already using QR codes, NFC chips and GPS trackers in products that can be monitored using Blockchain tracking. This makes the supply chain, products, and manufacturing conditions completely transparent and traceable.

Blockchain Supply Chain Use Case Nr.1: Counterfeit and fake drugs

The great advantage in our case is that the technical weaknesses of QR codes, for example, can be offset by the high information security of a decentralized database. We have already demonstrated this with food products such as Golisan’s herbal extracts, which have been certified with the ivault verified label.

Putting QR codes on product packaging is a particularly cost-effective measure. But they can also be easily copied and then pasted onto a counterfeit product, for example. But the data stored in a decentralized way based on Blockchain Technology cannot be changed or manipulated.

So if each individual product receives its own unique QR code, as is the use case with Golisan, there can be no QR code twice. This means that counterfeiting can be noticed very quickly if duplicate or even multiply copied QR codes are scanned – e.g. by customers who unknowingly purchased counterfeit drugs from a dubious online pharmacy.

Right after the buyer scanned the QR code he can check for himself that the product was never sold to that online pharmacy by the drug manufacturer! – as long as the manufacturer makes this information available to the general public via the ivault app. He immediately gets a fake drug alert notice. And so does the manufacturer.

So – although the use of QR codes has been criticized time and again before – we have clearly created a new value here, thanks to the uniqueness of QR codes and Distributed Ledger Technology. Of course, even more secure – especially in relation to pharmaceutical products – is the use of NFC chips in combination with Blockchain.

In the coming year, we can look forward to more innovative linkages that combine the best features of multiple technologies and solve a variety of different challenges.

Anti-counterfeiting solution based on Blockchain at Golisan: Golisan’s herbal extracts now carry the ivault verified label on the product packaging and each bottle has its own unique QR code, to make the products 100% counterfeit-proof.

2. Blockchain and Sustainability?

Sustainable business models are the future. Because we won’t have any other.

As CEO Arman Sarhaddar puts it, “Sustainability has long been more than a buzzword – it’s a necessity, rightly demanded by both customers and business partners.”

Here are some examples for new business models that focus on sustainability:

• Circular Economy (a model in which resources are not consumed but used and reused wherever possible)
• new product paradigms such as the cradle-to-cradle design concept and
• sustainable offerings in the financial sector

However, sustainability encompasses not only the ecological dimension, but also the social and economic dimensions. Technologies that enable sustainable business models to be successfully implemented and optimized will also be in high demand in 2021 and will be further developed.

This is also where Blockchain comes into play again – for example, in fishing and fish farming. Responsibly caught fish will become traceable through Blockchain Technology, and by monitoring the supply chain, substandard products can be detected earlier. New productions, recalls, and damages can thus be reduced.

Blockchain Supply Chain Use Case Nr.2: Sustainable Fashion

In the case of clothing, proof of sustainability is also becoming increasingly important: Buyers of these products want to be sure that their clothing is 100 percent sustainably produced, especially if they are expected to pay a higher price.

From the production of materials to the point of sale, every step in the complex supply chains of clothing manufacturers must be identifiable beyond doubt. If this is the case, counterfeit products on Ebay or Amazon, for example, can be quickly identified.

In addition to authentication via smartphone, thanks to ivault, consumers also get the transparency they want regarding sustainable materials and fair production conditions – whether it is sustainable fashion, branded clothing or luxury goods like watches as well as fish, meat or other foods.

Blockchain is setting a new benchmark in consumer trust. ivault is the prime example of the new way of connecting manufacturers and consumers – a Blockchain-based communication channel that increases trust in a brand. This can also increase brand awareness. Companies, on the other hand, know the buyers and owners of their products.

3. Togetherness – during and after COVID-19

The year 2020 has shown us more than clearly that digital solutions can make a very valuable contribution to strengthening interpersonal relationships and counteracting isolation and loneliness caused by COVID-19-related “Social Distancing”.

Providers for video conferences like Zoom, collaborative communication tools like Slack, and in the private sector apps like Houseparty already experienced a high demand during the first lockdown. Traditional social media platforms like Facebook, on the other hand, are losing relevance. Thus there is clearly a need for new technologies that can connect people and better replace real physical interaction digitally. The need for digital networking options will continue to grow in 2021.

Last but not least, the current crisis is leading to more solidarity between and among people. The great willingness to go shopping for people from at-risk groups is just one example. This greater networking in one’s own neighborhood and the renewed recognition of how valuable it is will give a particular boost to digital platforms that bring people together at the local level.

The Forrester study “2021 Predictions” also points to these developments, which play a central role for customer service and the authentic communication with customers as well. The goal of every company should be to anticipate consumer behavior and needs. These resources can provide important insights:

Blockchain Use Case Nr.3: Digital tools for a better local community

While digital solutions for local networking among people will be on the rise, data protection and information security will also become an even more relevant topic in 2021. Proper handling of customer and user data in compliance with the GDPR is central to the implementation of new digital solutions such as the ivault.app for consumers.

ivault brings people together locally, enables trusting and secure coexistence in every neighborhood. In doing so, the technological properties of Blockchain guarantee the highest possible protection for user data – while many apps collect vast amounts of personal data and users are hardly aware of what their apps know about them.

Our Blockchain-based platform is anonymous. Users decide for themselves when to disclose what data about themselves.

For example, a user can register his brand new e-bike in his anonymous Blockchain wallet at ivault to protect it from loss and theft. Not even we know, who has entered what valuables and items in our decentralized database, because we do not collect any of this personal data.

However, if the e-bike is stolen, the owner can report the theft via ivault, making it public for his neighborhood and surrounding areas. This is the only way that the stolen bike, a lost wallet or a runaway dog can be found and returned to the owner by someone nearby. A trustworthy babysitter or tutor nearby can also be found more easily this way, of course.

More importantly, the owner briefs his neighborhood of theft crime going on nextdoor. ivault thus acts as a cornerstone of a safe, responsible and trustworthy neighborhood. Crime prevention is guaranteed, because fraud and theft are hardly left any room, as ivault supports the entire community to keep an open eye for fellow citizens – without much effort, because every user receives important notifications such as theft reports directly on their smartphones.

Summary
10 Advantages of the Blockchain solution ivault

ivault has set itself the goal of establishing a new standard in anti-counterfeiting using Blockchain Technology. That is, for every company, every product and every individual consumer. In an earlier article, we already pointed out some advantages of the ivault Blockchain solution, which we want to summarize for you again in the following paragraphs:

1. Combining innovative and well-established technologies

The potential of ivault Blockchain lies in the combination with other established technologies such as NFC or GPS. In doing so, the customized Blockchain solution can be easily integrated into an existing Supply Chain Management system to increase anti-counterfeiting, traceability and transparency. Within a short time, we were able to implement this for the company Golisan, for example.

2. Supply Chain Traceability

Every production step in the supply chain is traceable in the long term. The manufacturer has real-time information about where a product is located or which production step it is currently undergoing – including suppliers, intermediaries and distribution partners. This makes it easy to trace where counterfeit products might have entered the process.

3. Supply Chain Transparency

With the help of ivault, the entire supply chain thus becomes transparent – for the manufacturer as well as for the end consumer, who nowadays is very concerned about sustainability, animal welfare and fair production conditions. The manufacturer can use our B2B solution to give environmentally conscious consumers the transparency they desire.

If a buyer scans the QR code on a Golisan product, for example, he or she gets all the information about the ingredients and their origin – full supply chain transparency thanks to Blockchain Technology. With its herbal extracts, the Swiss company is thus unrivaled on the food market so far …

4. Significant damage reduction for companies

Financial losses and damage to a company’s reputation are reduced because counterfeit products that infiltrated the supply chain can be detected much faster thanks to ivault. Consumers are thus less likely to be harmed by cheaply produced imitations such as fake drugs.

Whether it’s imitations of branded clothing that are contaminated with pollutants, harmful counterfeit drugs, or defectively imitated spare parts for elevators, motor vehicles, or even airplanes – product counterfeiting entails serious, sometimes fatal consequences. These risks can be drastically reduced with the help of our Blockchain solution.

5. Preventive counterfeiting protection with the blockchain

Being able to track exactly where counterfeiters have infiltrated a supply chain also serves to prevent counterfeiting and fraud attempts. The efficiency of Blockchain, in terms of traceability and supply chain visibility, is an effective deterrent against counterfeiters who fear that their criminal activities will be exposed even before they are able to make a profit.

For companies that have already implemented our technology, this competitive advantage is essential. Thanks to ivault, they have not only an preventive anti-counterfeiting solution, but they were also able to build a new relationship of trust with their customers. For the competition, on the other hand, it is becoming increasingly difficult to make up for this deficit.

6. Consumer trust thanks to transparency and authenticity

The many advantages of ivault for companies have a particularly positive effect on the customer relationship, because the customer also has many advantages thanks to ivault. First, he can have full transparency when it comes to sustainable products, fairtrade and animal welfare. Secondly, consumers can easily check at any time from anywhere with any smartphone whether they bought an original product. This enables consumers to gain new trust in a brand – even after previous damage caused by counterfeiting.

7. Crime prevention in local communities

Not only global counterfeiting crime can be drastically reduced by ivault. ivault also has a preventive effect on the environment of individual consumers. A neighborhood that uses ivault to recover stolen items, such as bicycles, actively tackles theft crime. Bicycle thieves and other criminals are effectively put in their place as a result.

Is it that simple? Yes. An effect deterrent to prevent theft crime can be something as simple as an ivault sticker. Thus the owner can put the ivault logo on his bike after registration and flagrant thieves will immediately see that the owner uses ivault. Thus the owner will report a theft as soon as he notices and thereby informs and alerts the entire neighborhood! The criminal must fear that he will no longer remain undetected.

8. Guaranteed Data Privacy

Data is stored in a decentralized way. This means that once data have been entered, they can no longer be manipulated. This ensures the highest level of information security and makes fraud virtually impossible – a huge benefit not only for businesses and consumers, but also for the whole insurance industry! Furthermore, the Blockchain is anonymous. We do not steal customer data. Read more about the advantages of blockchain technology here.

9. Sustainability and scalability of our Blockchain solution.

Blockchain scalability in the crypto sector has become one of the biggest challenges, especially for the giants Bitcoin and Ethereum. The culprit is the somewhat outdated, energy-consuming proof-of-work algorithm. ivault, on the other hand, deliberately does NOT use this algorithm. Our blockchain technology is scalable. This means we can even perform 100,000 transactions per second if needed.

However, the ivault Blockchain has nothing to do with FinTech and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum. Bitcoin mining in particular is known for being environmentally harmful and consuming a lot of energy. But Distributed Ledger Technology can also be implemented in an environmentally friendly way – as in our case.

10. Trust, security, comfort & happiness

All this leads to more security, trust and satisfaction on both sides: Both supply chains and products, homes and neighborhoods become more secure thanks to ivault. Companies and consumers can trust each other, while at the same time companies can better trust their business partners and individual users can better trust their peers. The insurance industry will also happy to see fewer fraud claims.

Blockchain enables a win-win situation in which all parties benefit and can live more comfortable, carefree and happy lives.