This week your host, Matt Hooper, is exploring some of the most innovative and exciting trends in supply chain that he’s come across! Joining him is an expert in the space — Daniel Wilson. Daniel is the Director of Strategy and Operations at Maersk for the TradeLens project — an open and neutral platform underpinned by blockchain technology and supported by major industry players! Through TradeLens, over 10 million events are processed every week. The platform promotes a more efficient, predictable and secure exchange of information through the power of blockchain.

In this episode, Matt and Daniel discuss Maersk and TradeLens in-depth. They talk about what shipping and innovation look like today, give their predictions about what the industry may look like 10+ years from now, how TradeLens came to fruition, and how blockchain records all the shipping data. Daniel also talks about his TradeLens roadmap, Maersk’s ecosystem strategy, and how he originally became interested in blockchain!

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About today’s episode and guest!

[2:48] Daniel Wilson introduces himself and gives some background at his role at Maersk.

[3:56] What shipping and innovation look like today vs. what Daniel thinks it will look like 10-30 years from now.

[7:15] What originally drew Daniel to the industry.

[9:05] Was there an IBM/Maersk relationship prior to TradeLens? How was Maersk working with major technology companies before the birth of this new partnership?

[11:30] What was going on from a shipping perspective when there was an increase in global trade long before anyone was doing anything digitally?

[13:23] When and how the TradeLens deal came to fruition.

[16:40] Daniel speaks about his personal introduction to blockchain.

[17:20] Where to learn all about the basics of blockchain through “Blockchain for Dummies!”

[18:08] Before TradeLens came to be, how did Daniel come to understand blockchain and see an application for it in the industry?

[21:17] How is shipping data accounted for now? And what will blockchain do to record that data?

[24:04] Daniel explains the layers of TradeLens.

[28:07] Who’s endorsing the TradeLens project in Maersk?

[31:24] What was the executive buy-in like for this new blockchain project? How did Daniel get everyone excited for TradeLens?

[33:00] What is TradeLens going to be up to five years from now?

[34:53] What is Maersk’s ecosystem strategy? And what does Daniel mean when he refers to an open ecosystem?

[36:36] Is it part of the plan to turn Maersk into a technology company?

[38:18] Daniel provides examples of the terms of the TradeLens partnership (visible, secure, and flexible).

[42:00] Matt asks: what is the comfort level from a business standpoint with owning so little of a major part of your next decade’s strategy output?

[45:45] Daniel speaks to the companies that are dubious or skeptical of blockchain adoption.

[47:32] Matt thanks Daniel for joining him, and closes out this week’s episode!

Sources Mentioned:

Maersk

TradeLens

IBM.Biz/PodcastLearnBlockchain

Follow-up with Our Guest:

Daniel Wilson’s LinkedIn

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