Alibaba Patents Would Secure, Accelerate Its Consortium Blockchain - Coindesk

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• Alibaba Patents Would Secure, Accelerate Its Consortium Blockchain - Coindesk
• How Blockchain Can Solve Retail's Sustainability Problem - Total Retail
• US B2B blockchain company inks deal with JCB of Japan - TechRepublic

Alibaba Patents Would Secure, Accelerate Its Consortium Blockchain - Coindesk Posted: 20 Dec 2019 11:19 AM PST Chinese internet giant Alibaba Group has won two U.S. patents designed to make its blockchain network safer and faster.  One patent aims to reduce the time to verify block data, while the other is designed to help participants set a validity period for a transaction in a blockchain network.  Both of the patents were approved by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) this week.  The approvals comes at a time with Ant Financial, the fintech arm of Alibaba, announced the launch of its Ant Open Blockchain Alliance, a consortium that aims to finance small and medium-sized businesses on its blockchain-based platform.   According to the patent filing, when data are added to a node the new technology will determine the update verification value of the node by using just the newly added data, not all the data in the block.  "The application will alleviate a problem in the existing technology, that much time is consumed because a verification value is calculated by using all data in a block," the filing said.  The other patent will be used to set up a validity period for a transaction, meaning participants of a blockchain network can only process the transaction during a certain period of time via either a physical clock or a logical clock, according to Alibaba's filing.  For example, the blockchain can be a consortium blockchain consisting of a third-party payment platform server, a domestic bank server, a foreign bank server and several user node devices serving as member devices.  The operator of the blockchain can set up a validity period and deploy online services such as cross-border payment and asset transfers, the filing said.  According to a November report from Chinese blockchain analytics firm Block Data on Chinese blockchain patents, Alibaba is one of the top three companies in developing blockchain patents, along with China Telecom and OneConnect, a subsidiary of one of China's largest insurers, Ping An Insurance.  Alibaba applied for the most blockchain patents in 2018 with 90 blockchain-related technologies, followed by IBM and Bank of America.   Disclosure Read More The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

How Blockchain Can Solve Retail's Sustainability Problem - Total Retail Posted: 20 Dec 2019 10:23 AM PST At this year's G7 summit in Biarritz, 32 companies banded together to sign the Fashion Pact, a commitment to solving one of the apparel and retail industry's biggest problems: sustainability. The fast-fashion sector has been a main contributor to the problem. With companies churning out more clothing on a faster production cycle, the fashion world now produces 150 billion garments per year. Without foresight into demand, many organizations end up overproducing, resulting in 30 percent of items going unsold and 12.8 million tons sent to landfills. Luxury brands have been accessories to the environmental impact of retailing as well. To protect brand image, those like Burberry have historically sent unsold items to the incinerator. When these products are burned, they release carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, further contributing to global warming. How can organizations improve sustainability within their supply chains? One way is through the widely discussed technology of blockchain. Blockchain Combined With Intelligent Planning Eliminates Overproduction Blockchain provides a distributed ledger of all activities and transactions in a product's life cycle — from sourcing and production, through transport to the retail level. The data is decentralized and visible to everyone on the network in real time. This transparency means people responsible for production planning, channel allocation, demand forecasting, and replenishment — upstream in the supply chain — can have visibility downstream into what consumers are buying at any given moment. They can thereby better plan production numbers, manufacturing only the precise amount of stock to satisfy demand and thus eliminating overproduction. With geographic data, companies can send products to the regions where they're in high demand to further minimize the likelihood of unsold stock sitting in stores only to meet a landfill or incinerator. For fast-fashion retailers, luxury players, and everyone in between, these proactive measures can benefit the planet in many ways. Less Water Usage: Studies show that a pair of jeans requires 7,000 liters of water. Similarly, a T-shirt takes 2,700 liters. In total, the fashion industry uses 1.5 trillion liters of water each year. When 750 million people worldwide lack drinking water, these numbers are quite alarming. By reducing overproduction, organizations can limit water wastage in producing unsold products. Less Chemical Contaminants: After production, chemicals often find their way into the environment through wastewater dumped into nearby rivers. This wastewater often contains toxic substances like lead, mercury and arsenic that can harm aquatic life and enter the water supply. Notably, 20 percent of industrial water pollution can be traced to textile treatment and dyeing. While making a conscious decision to use only organic and natural fibers is one solution, blockchain presents another viable way to cut down on harmful chemicals. Less Agricultural Impact: By eliminating overproduction, companies can minimize the amount of fabric and raw materials required in manufacturing. This can lessen the issue of soil degradation posed by activities like excessive cotton production and overgrazing by goats and sheep raised for cashmere and wool. For instance, in Mongolia, 90 percent of the country's surface is facing desertification due to overbreeding of cashmere goats. Beyond doing the right thing, sustainability is important for brands and retailers because it matters to consumers. According to a 2019 survey, 68 percent of respondents noted sustainability as an important factor when making purchase decisions, and 47 percent said they would pay more for an environmentally friendly product. Since all supply chain data is permanently logged on blockchain with a historical chain of custody, brands and retailers can assure consumers that their products were produced according to sustainable and eco-friendly practices, which can be a powerful differentiator. Pratik Soni is CEO of Omnichain™, an end-to-end blockchain solution for supply chain management.

US B2B blockchain company inks deal with JCB of Japan - TechRepublic Posted: 20 Dec 2019 07:59 AM PST Paystand will give corporate customers an end-to-end digital business-to-business payment platform. The Japanese payment network JCB has signed a deal with the US blockchain-based commercial payment platform Paystand to provide the first end-to-end digital payment platform for enterprises and customers in Japan. More about Innovation Paystand CEO Jeremy Almond said JCB's 130 million customers make it the largest payment processor in Japan and Korea, accounting for over 80% of all digital payment transactions. But on the business-to-business side, well over 90% of all payments in Japan and Korea are still being done through cash or paper methods, he added.  "The challenges faced by B2B companies across the globe are similar: they are burdened by a commercial payment infrastructure mired in pre-internet technology," said Almond. "As a result, they are saddled with a legacy system rife with costly transaction fees, manual processes, and delays. Our agreement with JCB is yet another indication that enterprises in all markets are demanding easy, secure, frictionless business payments that leverage digital technology."  SEE: What is blockchain? Understanding the technology and the revolution (free PDF) (TechRepublic Premium) Business-to-business transactions in Japan account for nearly $10 trillion dollars in terms of annual volume, but just 1% of commercial payments in Japan are currently made through credit cards and an even smaller fraction are made through technology such as bank transfers.  These methods of transferring funds are slow and come with fees that cost companies hundreds of millions each year. Paystand's goal is to cut the costs using its blockchain technology and Payments-as-a-Service model. "How do you make this magic money experience that we have on the consumer level, where you walk in the Starbucks and you're able to use your Starbucks app and money just automatically moves or you walk out of an Uber and when you get to your location, money just automatically moves," Almond said. "We think that same thing should happen at the commercial level, and what blockchain smart contracts allows you to do is, when there is a contract that says your customers will pay you in 30 days after you deliver these goods and services, that money can move automatically. We think those are the kinds of trends that you will see in commercial finance in general."  As part of the agreement, Paystand will build a platform to speed up the time it takes for companies to receive payment and reduce the kind of fraud and errors that plagued paper-based systems. "The solution will connect payers and suppliers over cloud-based payment infrastructure with real-time fund verification that reduces Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) by over 60% on average," the company said in a statement.  "Paystand's blockchain-based payment infrastructure records an immutable record of every transaction, eliminating the potential for intentional fraud. The entire payment experience can be branded and integrated directly into merchant's existing workflows," the company said. Almond explained that the general reliance on paper checks was holding companies back from more efficient digital methods that could simplify the money transfer process and ultimately lead to enterprises getting their money faster. He likened Paystand's work with complicated commercial transactions to what Venmo has done for basic consumers-to-consumer transactions. The end goal is to use the Payments-as-a-Service platform to help an organization's accounts receivable and accounts payable departments get their money faster, cheaper and in a more automated fashion. While Paystand does charge institutions to use their service, Almond said it amounted to less than traditional methods because of the removal of all other fees.   Christian Gammill, enterprise lead for Paystand, said partnering with JCB cemented the company's position as the leading payment technology in Japan and dramatically scaled its reach.  "JCB has a long history of innovation and we are excited to work together to bring digital transformation to one of the last frontiers of the enterprise — the cash cycle," Gammill said. With Paystand, blockchain technology serves the "financial plumbing" for companies to create a more open infrastructure, which Almond said ultimately led to better delivering mechanisms that make products and services cheaper and more efficient for customers. According to Almond, Paystand has more than 150,000 businesses in its payment network and is working with companies in hospitality, insurance, food and financial services.  "JCB is an iconic, globally recognized brand in financial services and we are excited to partner with them to introduce better business payment technology to their customers and other companies throughout Japan and Asia," Almond added. Mobile Enterprise Newsletter BYOD, wearables, IoT, mobile security, remote support, and the latest phones, tablets, and apps IT pros need to know about are some of the topics we'll address. Delivered Tuesdays and Fridays Sign up today Also see Getty Images/iStockphoto

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