In this series, participants from the 16 November 2016, Pharma Blockchain Bootcamp, lend their insights into the future of distributed ledger technology.
Jan Hermans
Business Unit Manager, Cmast
1. What is blockchain in your terms?
The blockchain offers the possibility for solution architect to create applications where transactions are at the core of an application, not bolted on as a feature. The technology allows a new way of thinking where the transition is part of the data and can be validated and confirmed.
2. How will it change the way the world works?
I hope the industry will adopt the technology gradually across all functions and phases of drug development. Where companies now invest a lot of resources, both time and money, in assuring Authenticity and Integrity, the future may proof to be different. Different sources supply data and material that travels from original concept to the patient. Tracking all this material and virtual IP is hard enough from source to target. Blockchain could potentially enable tracking origin starting from its final destination or anywhere in between. Although a simple concept, it could have significant impact on several areas in Supply Chain, R&D, Strategic Collaboration…
3. What type of standards/open source bases will need to exist for your view to be realized?
I have no comment at this time