Middleware Consulting International

COPENHAGEN, Denmark and ARMONK, N.Y.,  — Global container carriers CMA CGM and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) today announced they will join TradeLens (www.tradelens.com), a blockchain-enabled digital shipping platform, jointly developed by A.P. Moller – Maersk (MAERSKb.CO) and IBM (NYSE: IBM).

With CMA CGM, MSC, Maersk, and other carriers committed to the platform, data for nearly half of the world’s ocean container cargo will be available on TradeLens. The addition of CMA CGM and MSC will provide a significant boost to the TradeLens vision of greater trust, transparency, and collaboration across supply chains to help promote global trade. The companies will promote TradeLens and create complementary services on top of the platform for their customers and partners.

“Digitization is a cornerstone of the CMA CGM Group’s strategy to provide an end-to-end offer tailored to our customers’ needs. We believe that TradeLens, with its commitment to open standards and open governance, is a key platform to help usher in this digital transformation,” said Rajesh Krishnamurthy, Executive Vice President, IT & Transformations, CMA CGM Group. “TradeLens’ network is already showing that participants from across the supply chain ecosystem can derive significant value.”

“Digital collaboration is a key to the evolution of the container shipping industry. The TradeLens platform has enormous potential to spur the industry to digitize the supply chain and build collaboration around common standards,” said André Simha, Chief Digital & Information Officer, MSC. “We think that the TradeLens Advisory Board, as well as standards bodies such as the Digital Container Shipping Association, will help accelerate that effort.”

TradeLens enables participants to connect, share information and collaborate across the shipping supply chain ecosystem. Members gain a comprehensive view of their data and can digitally collaborate as cargo moves around the world, helping create a transparent, secured, immutable record of transactions.

The attributes of blockchain technology are ideally suited to large networks of disparate partners. Blockchain establishes a shared, immutable record of all the transactions that take place within a network and enables permissioned parties access to trusted data in real time.

With more than 100 participants on the platform today, TradeLens is already processing over ten million discrete shipping events and thousands of documents each week, providing shippers, carriers, freight forwarders, customs officials, port authorities, inland transportation providers, and others a common view of transactions, which can build trust. A commitment to data ownership rights and permissioned access to data helps ensure privacy and confidentiality while enabling users to collaborate more efficiently with real-time access to shipping data.

“The major advances IBM continues to make in blockchain illustrate that the technology is fostering new business models and playing an important role in how the world works” said Bridget van Kralingen, Senior Vice President, Global Industries, Clients, Platforms & Blockchain, IBM. “More than a hundred participants have put their trust in the TradeLens network and are gaining greater transparency and simplicity in the movement of goods. Together we are advancing a shared aim to modernize the world’s trading ecosystems.”

New e-learning platform for children in the countryside to be hosted on IBM Cloud will allow access for young users

WARSAW, Poland,  — IBM today announced that The Agricultural Social Insurance Fund (KRUS), a social insurance provider for farmers in Poland, is adopting IBM Cloud to implement a hybrid cloud strategy that will help modernize its new e-learning platform. Moving its educational programs about the rules of safe work in farming to the cloud enables KRUS to improve youth safety.

According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Agriculture is one of the most dangerous industries, placing farmers at high risk for potentially fatal and nonfatal injuries. Until now, KRUS’s educational programs were only available in pamphlet form and had limited reach. In advance of the summer usage spike, KRUS has revamped the program for children to live online and will host them on the IBM Cloud, while keeping their existing IT system on-premises.

By implementing this hybrid cloud strategy, KRUS can seamlessly scale up and down to support spikes in usage of the e-learning programs depending of the users activity . They can also tap into higher value cloud services like AI, IoT, and analytics to help improve the types of trainings and functionality they offer, advancing their offerings while also attracting younger farmers (children) to the safety matters.

“Moving our e-learning platform to the IBM Cloud allows us to reach more young farmers potentially at risk of accidents,” said Wacław Bejtan, Deputy Director of the IT and Telecommunications Department at KRUS. “In a mobile era, online trainings enable us to reach a vast audience and raise awareness about safety in the countryside. ”

“With the summer months fast approaching, and the likelihood of accidents on the rise, it was critical KRUS host their new e-learning platform on the IBM Cloud to innovate and meet the demands of today’s farmers,” said Jarosław Szymczuk, General Manager, IBM Poland and Baltics. “KRUS is just one example of many government administrations and companies adopting a hybrid cloud strategy to transform how they engage with customers.”

KRUS joins several other insurers turning to IBM Cloud, including Geico, Primerica, Novis, AIG, the American Association of Insurance Services and Economical Insurance.

TAMPA, Fla., and ARMONK, N.Y. – Syniverse and IBM (NYSE: IBM) have joined forces to help advance the next generation of mobile roaming solutions with a pilot program that uses open-source blockchain technology to instantly validate new wholesale billing and charging processes for clearing and settlement services.

The Syniverse and IBM pilot is designed to enable “smart contracts” to be coordinated and executed between mobile operators. The smart-contracts capability of blockchain technology helps determine the rules and processes governing each transaction between parties. This capability will help improve customer efficiencies and reduce the friction of doing business, such as for dispute management.

“In today’s age of digital transformation, a business is only as strong as its connections, and this is especially true in the area of clearing and settlement,” said Dennis Meurs, Vice President and General Manager, Transaction and Clearing Services, Syniverse. “With the growth of today’s interconnected networks and emerging online technologies, the future of clearing and settlement lies in the ability to securely clear and monetize any type of connected transaction, whether it’s for roaming, the internet of things, or any other process. In collaboration with IBM, we’ve integrated the power of blockchain to design a pilot that addresses several business challenges, and a solution that builds on Syniverse’s 30-year-plus history of solving clearing and settlement challenges in the mobile ecosystem.”

Working with the IBM Garage to design and build the pilot solution on the IBM Blockchain Platform, Syniverse recently validated it in trials with two international telecommunication companies, Orange Group and Mobile TeleSystems (MTS). Orange Group worked closely with Syniverse and IBM to implement, test, and provide feedback on the solution, and reported that the solution will help increase operational efficiency, especially for call event creation and data exchange, based on the specific steps included in the pilot.

MTS Russia reported that it saw valuable efficiency gains in clearing and settlement for roaming, underpinned by increased operational efficiency, auditability, and smart-contract management. The mobile operator also reported that the solution provided the capability to directly create, validate, and view all agreements with partners using smart contracts.

By securely sharing data and creating a permanent, transparent record of digital transactions in a security-rich environment, blockchain helps pave the way for mobile service providers to operate more effectively within their business networks. For the processing of roaming charges, this provides each participant of the network with the same verifiable proof of events, billable usage or executed transactions.

The pilot is also an important demonstration of the GSMA Unified Data Record (UDR) standard, a new global industry standard for charging settlements designed to address the proliferation of devices that are expected to grow as a result of 5G and the internet of things (IoT). As an example, when a mobile phone user makes a telephone call, an event is generated, which contains information about that phone call, such as the call duration, time of day the call was made, and the number that was called. This data is then converted into a format readable by the billing system. Using the new GSMA UDR format is crucial in supporting the growing number of new charging processes being powered by the high speed of 5G networks and the automation of the IoT. The next steps for the pilot are to extend it to other mobile operators to continue testing and refining it for these new 5G- and IoT-enabled charging processes.

“In an industry that is driven by data, mobile operators will now be able to leverage blockchain to help improve efficiency and settlement times while delivering an enhanced customer experience,” said Utpal Mangla, Vice President & Partner for Blockchain, IBM Telecommunications Services. “Together with Syniverse, we’ve designed a blockchain platform solution that has potential to change the clearing and roaming business processes and enable mobile operators to improve collaboration within business networks and get value from data, which is becoming more vital than ever in today’s quickly evolving technology landscape.”

Sustainable Shrimp Partnership Announces Traceability Platform in Collaboration with IBM

Brussels, Belgium. The Sustainable Shrimp Partnership (SSP) has today announced it has joined the IBM (NYSE: IBM) Food Trust ecosystem, which will help provide traceability of SSP shrimp from farm to fork. The platform will use blockchain technology to deliver greater accountability and transparency to customers and consumers for every element of SSP’s premium Ecuadorian farmed shrimp production and journey to the consumer plate.

“Food fraud is on the rise. With complex supply systems, and a global lack of transparency we are seeing too many examples of mislabeling and poor quality products entering the marketplace,” said Jose Antonio Camposano, Executive President of the National Chamber of Aquaculture of Ecuador. “It’s time we change that. Consumers have a right to know where their food is from and how it was produced. By using blockchain technology we can provide complete traceability on our products and our practices – for the first time consumers can have complete trust and assurance on what they are buying.”

As part of the Food Trust ecosystem, SSP’s members, which comprise responsible shrimp producers based in Ecuador, will enter data about how the shrimp is produced onto the blockchain . Ultimately, retailers around the world will be able to see this data and trace it in every stage so that they can ensure the quality of the shrimp they are selling to consumers. SSP plans to enable consumer access via an app, enabling individuals to view provenance data about the shrimp they buy.

Food Trust enables real-time, end-to-end and immutable traceability data of a food product to verify supply chain history; and can also provide verification of the shrimp’s SSP qualification– including confirmation it is zero antibiotic approved and certified to the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) Standard. Food Trust provides a secured platform to which data can be uploaded and shared, and can help verify the authenticity of product claims. The technology will be accessible to buyers, retailers and consumers, and allow permissioned parties to have visibility into key product information.

“Our aim is to have SSP premium quality shrimp in supermarkets and on menus where the consumer can scan the QR code and find out which farm it is from, how it was farmed, and key indicators on its food safety and sustainability profile,” added Pamela Nath, SSP Director. “SSP shrimp is farmed to the highest social and environmental standards, and we want to ensure consumers have confidence in these commitments by providing complete accountability. We believe traceability is the future of responsible aquaculture, and we are keen to pave the way for others to follow.”

“Blockchain technology has the potential to transform any industry, especially when we have multi-stakeholder environments, businesses and organizations such as in supply chain,” said Martín Hagelstrom, IBM Latin America Blockchain executive. “Working with SSP and its ecosystem of suppliers, distributors and more, can help us ease the pain points of the food industry.”

“When consumers find out that their grocers don’t know where or how their seafood they sell was produced, there will be considerable blowback,” noted Aaron McNevin, Global Network Lead for Aquaculture, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and SSP Advisory Board Member. “What the SSP is attempting is to provide an immutable and incorruptible record of the chain of custody through a blockchain platform. This is the best available security measure to ensure product is segregated in a manner that retains its appropriate identity.”

SSP shrimp is produced to the highest social and environmental standards – ASC certified, use of zero antibiotics, and with neutral impact on local water quality. With the introduction of blockchain technology, SSP shrimp will be the first shrimp products on the IBM Food Trust solution.

Global forestry giant ARAUCO among the first to benefit from IBM Rapid Move for SAP S/4HANA

ARMONK, N.Y., — IBM (NYSE: IBM) today introduced IBM Rapid Move for SAP S/4HANA, a new approach designed to provide a smarter and faster way to digital transformations. Businesses across industries can look to accelerate the process of migrating existing SAP systems to SAP S/4HANA, enabling them to speed up the reinvention of core business processes and integration of new technology.

Arauco, a manufacturer of sustainable forest product solutions in Chile, is one of the first companies to benefit from the new capabilities.  IBM Services is working to upgrade and transform Arauco’s existing SAP systems across the company’s financial, procurement and production activities. By deploying IBM Rapid Move for SAP S/4HANA, Arauco anticipates achieving a reduction in time of up to 50% for certain activities during the project based on their specific environment and configurations, such as unicode conversion, generating significant time savings for the overall project.

“As we prepare for future growth, we needed to implement a digital platform that will streamline our processes through business transformation, including converting our existing SAP systems to SAP S/4HANA. Speed of deployment has been key to ensuring we experience the benefits of digital technology faster,” said Leandro San Miguel, CIO Arauco. “The IBM Rapid Move for SAP S/4HANA approach can help accelerate our modernization of processes, allowing us to deploy an integrated and consolidated financial reporting system across the business with SAP S/4HANA.”

Companies in every industry are reinventing their processes and operations with digital strategies enabled by new technologies, such as AI, automation and blockchain. SAP S/4HANA allows companies to simplify complex business processes while upgrading their technology infrastructure and enterprise systems resulting in greater efficiency and improved business outcomes.

“Businesses working to transform themselves amid ongoing market disruption must consider how to convert and extend their existing investments, while at the same time capitalizing on the digital reinvention imperative,” said Mark Foster, Senior Vice President, IBM Global Business Services and IBM Services. “With IBM Rapid Move for SAP S/4HANA, we’ve introduced an approach that helps simplify migration, enabling our clients to safely and securely move to the future at pace.”

Since forming the Digital Transformation partnership three years ago, IBM Services and SAP have worked together to provide services and capabilities that help accelerate how customers around the world modernize their systems and processes on their path to becoming an intelligent enterprise. The two companies continue to deliver new solutions that address rapidly changing market needs, including SAP Model Company services combined with enhanced industry specific pre-configured IBM Impact accelerators, which are designed to simplify the change process, speed-up innovation enabled by SAP S/4HANA and unlock business benefits faster. As announced late last year, IBM Services completed more than 100 SAP S/4HANA implementations.

IBM Rapid Move for SAP S/4HANA, complete with integrated delivery framework from SAP, including the SAP Value Assurance program and SAP Model Company service, helps accelerate migration to the SAP S/4HANA platform with minimal risk. This agile transformation approach offers more design and build flexibility that can deliver an enhanced user experience and automated business processes.  By taking advantage of IBM Rapid Move, businesses can also leverage and transform existing SAP investments without the need to fully redesign their legacy systems.

“The partnership between SAP and IBM continues to grow. With IBM Rapid Move for SAP S/4HANA, IBM is delivering an innovative way to give customers a major head start on their digital transformation projects and provide their clients with the ability to realize value from their deployments with even greater speed and agility,” said Michael Kleinemeier, member of the Executive Board and head of the SAP Digital Business Services organization, SAP SE.

IBM Services teamed up with transformation software company SNP to create a highly automated migration that combines the SAP management and technical expertise of the two companies.  IBM Rapid Move for SAP S/4HANA incorporates a hybrid transition approach to target process redesign and standardization, only where it is needed. IBM has embedded automation into the process leveraging “digital workers” that execute SAP S/4HANA configuration, code remediation and data reconciliation to reduce the complexity of implementation.

“Almost every company deals with SAP S/4HANA and wants to tap into the opportunities of digital transformation,” says Dr. Andreas Schneider-Neureither, CEO SNP. “Working with IBM Services, we can now offer a simpler and faster way to take advantage of SAP S/4HANA. With the rapid adoption of SAP S/4HANA, companies accelerate their digital transformation and take advantage of the platform earlier than with traditional methods. This includes improving performance in complex and time-critical business processes such as real-time planning, execution, reporting, analytics and forecasting based on live data, as well as a personalized and simplified user experience across all business units, tasks and devices.”