Ideas Abound for Business Blockchains, But Who's Going to Pay?

After a seemingly unending period of blockchain R&D, major enterprises are eager to edge their technology toward production.

Vincent Doueizel, vice president food and sustainability at the non-profit Lloyd's Register Foundation, went so far as to call blockchain a missing piece that would "Completely revolutionize" the food industry.

"Blockchain in the food industry is a bit like teenage sex. Everybody is talking about it, not many are doing it, and those that are are doing it badly."

While there are creative ways to merge IoT, blockchain and other innovations that might someday revolutionize the food supply chain, Doueizel said progress is likely to be stymied by high costs, ones he argued might ultimately land with the consumer.

Others appeared less sure about how to handle the economics of business blockchains.

Mixing near-infrared fluorescent markers and blockchains could do the job, he said, though he questioned how exactly such a system would justify its roll-out.

Richard Stockley, head of blockchain for IBM in the UK and Ireland, said that where some participants are going to gain more from being on a shared ledger, some sort of governance can be applied.

Talking on a panel about blockchain in logistics and transport, John Kingston, executive editor at the trade publication FreightWaves, said many consortium efforts come up against the "Free rider problem."

Julian Gray, the technology director for BP's digital innovation organization, cited estimates that there have been some 37,000 blockchain trials to date.

In a talk that embraced some of the more experimental concepts in blockchain, Gray sought to position BP as a company ready to do what it can to move the industry forward.