The 10 Most Revolutionary Blockchain Cloud Storage Companies in 2021

ISSN 2582-127X

October 2021

1

Butterfly Protocol

MOST REVOLUTIONARY

will be Used for the

BLOCKCHAIN

Decentralization of the Data Storage

CLOUD STORAGE

COMPANIES IN 2021 Five Ways Blockchain Technology Is Enhancing Cloud Storage

TAMER DAGLI | FOUNDER AND CEO

SINOVATE UPCOMING CLOUD 3.0 PLATFORM IN THE WORLD

EDITORIAL

Blockchain Technology Is Disrupting the Cloud Storage Industry for Everyone's Benefit

I

n today's world, a cloud solution is essential for enterprises and individuals. Cloud infrastructures like AWS and Microsoft Azure have transformed the way businesses and hobbyists use storage and computing. Traditional cloud storage solutions are centralized. A single business entity controls the infrastructure, raising questions about privacy and security. This dependability on a third party to keep the data secured is a disadvantage for cloud storage. Massive amounts of sensitive information have been stored in the cloud, and with cyber-attacks becoming more rampant than ever, the cons of traditional cloud storage have outweighed the pros. As a superior alternative, blockchain technology holds immense potential to provide a cheap, scalable, and more secure system.

Blockchain technology is incredibly immutable. Once a block is attached to the chain, it is next to impossible to remove or edit the entry. The decentralized nature of the technology enables two strangers to transact and exchange information in a trustless format. Their interactions will be governed by code and not by third parties. Bitcoin and Ethereum networks are the best proof of this. Etherum network enables developers to make smart contracts as blockchain platforms play a critical role in granting, revoking, and altering permissions over data caches.

As per the above reasons, storing on the block is impractical and expensive. For example, the Ethereum blockchain network can only handle about 15 transactions per second, powered by the proof-of-work mining mechanism. Hence, incorporating blockchain with cloud storage takes a user's data and breaks it into small sections. Then, it adds an additional layer of security and distributes it within the network using blockchain features like hashing, key encryptions, and transaction ledgers. As each section is stored in a decentralized location, hackers won't be able to access the whole file.

Security is not the only benefit of blockchain technology. Blockchain technology makes sure the owner of the data is anonymous. All the sensitive information about identity is protected. Whenever a user tries to obtain the data, all the sections are validated to check for alterations. If any alteration is found, the miner responsible for that is eliminated from the network.

From big tech corporations to entrepreneurs, several companies have jumped to the blockchain cloud storage market, transforming their businesses digitally. Blockchain provides not only secure but also a cheap way to get cloud storage because many small organizations collaborate to share the computing power and space to store data. This way, cloud storage costs are reduced, and organizations that chip in computing power also get paid.

Blockchain technology has revolutionized the internet. This technology is one of the greatest inventions of our time. The hype around cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum is powered by the existence of this technology along with DeFi that is disrupting the financial sector. As the technology allows blocks of data to be distributed across the ledger without a central governing authority, data becomes flexible and secure which is a great advantage to cloud storage solutions.

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08 COVER STORY

Tamer Dagli SINOVATE

CONTENTS

16

26

David Bettenhausen Aerotrax Technologies

Luigi Telesca Trakti

40

32

44

Dr. Richard Lohwasser Lition

Ankit Singh Techugo

60

Rowan Fenn rise-x.io

54

Samir Neji #dltledgers

Simon Woollard and Steve Madincea Fantastec

ARTICLES Five Ways Blockchain Technology Is Enhancing Cloud Storage

22

52

Butterfly Protocol will be Used for the Decentralization of the Data Storage

Tamer Dagli Founder and CEO

SINOVATE 08

COVER STORY

Upcoming Cloud 3.0 Platform in the World

S

INOVATE is an open-source community-driven cryptocurrency company

founded in 2019 with a blockchain genesis in 2018. The company aims to build the

next-generation cloud using a peer-to-peer network and a decentralized

infrastructure that uses secure cryptographic techniques that are scalable with servers worldwide. SINOVATE is the paradigm of decentralized cloud (dCloud), otherwise known as 'Cloud 3.0', the next-generation technology for data storage for users and companies that leverages the power of artificial intelligence, blockchain, and cryptocurrency technologies.

SINOVATE competes with leading decentralized data storage companies like Filecoin, SIA, Ankr, Storj, and Akash that use blockchain technologies. These competing companies provide cloud solutions using blockchain. However, they suffer from different technological constraints such as speed, stability over time, and scalability. Hence, they cannot structurally achieve a solution as efficiently as centralized solutions like Amazon, Microsoft, or Google. And so, SINOVATE started to revise Cloud 3.0 by offering novel infrastructure using disruptive technologies. The company's primary aim is to provide a faster and low-cost solution to companies and their customers.

09

“ Data is undoubtedly the Oil of the 21st century. A decentralized, secure, and scalable Cloud platform will guarantee limitless services for the next generations of users. SINOVATE will play a key role with unique and cuttingedge technologies. “ - Tamer Dagli Founder and CEO SINOVATE

www.sinovate.io

10

Building Solutions that Scales the World's Needs In 2019, cloud services were valued at US$264.7 billion

and scalable dCloud for the best quality services.

and were expected to reach more than US$900 billion by

SINOVATE guarantees decentralization, security, and

2027. Though the services provide a fast and

scalability for its Cloud 3.0 with its unique blockchain and

comfortable experience, the centralization of processes

infrastructure.

adjusting with the security levels can lead to data

The company is building the data infrastructure that

breaches. Therefore, decentralizing the operations with

scales the highly growing demands of the world.

cryptocurrency undoubtedly becomes the next

SINOVATE can provide data infrastructure that the

milestone for evolving cloud ecosystems.

countries will need for the companies in artificial

Realizing this, SINOVATE, in 2019, decided to build an

intelligence, big data, or cloud computing. SINOVATE

efficient solution like a centralized infrastructure with

remains to be a worldwide company that focuses on the

the benefits of decentralization. The project aims to

good for people around the world. The company is also

solve this problem with the help of InfinityNodes and

the backbone for newly created services that prefer to

Incorruptible Data Storage (IDS) powered by the

peg a decentralized system than a centralized authority

blockchain-based File Transfer Protocol (bFTP). The

that can manipulate companies.

blockchain infrastructure of SINOVATE ensures a fast

The Two Great Milestones In 2019, SINOVATE disclosed the plans to develop the

commitment to guarantee a permanent connection. This

most secure cloud services that have higher speed at a

contract participates in the economic control and will

nominal cost compared to the traditional cloud services.

allow the InfinityNode owner to receive rewards for the

Since Data is an essential aspect that can transform the

services.

world, SINOVATE developed a data storage technique

Blockchain refactoring is a long process to optimize the

using blockchain to combat ransomware attacks and

b l o c k c h a i n t r i l e m m a r e g a r d i n g s e c u r i t y,

hacks. The company has achieved two significant

decentralization, and scalability. SINOVATE uses the

milestones since 2019, one elaborating on InfinityNode

latest Bitcoin core updates to ensure high code quality,

technology and the other is blockchain refactoring.

enabling the project to support the latest Bitcoin

The InfinityNode is a peer-to-peer network that can

features. The infrastructure can support up to 2,000

provide different services, including securing the

transactions per second, comprises more than 2,000

blockchain, fast payments, governance votes, and data

InfinityNode worldwide, and has a triple-layered

storage. Today, InfinityNode is securing the network by

security consensus. The last feature makes SINOVATE

validating the generated blocks. InfinityNode requires

one of the most secure blockchains globally, significant

fundamentals such as a mechanism of contract

for storing data.

11

Astonishing List of Awards and Achievements SINOVATE was awarded the 'Most Exciting Data

Forbes and BloombergHT.

Protocol' during the HackernoonNoonies-2020 and

The company neither had an ICO nor a pre-mine, just like

stood as a runner-up for 'Most Exciting Data Storage and

how BITCOIN was introduced. And this component is

Sharing Project'. Forbes Middle East classified

vital in the cryptocurrency ecosystem as there is no

SINOVATE as one of the Top 8 Blockchain Start-ups to

centralized authority leading the project. SINOVATE is

watch in 2020 alongside Crypto.com and THORChain.

appreciated for this aspect by many of its users and

The International Business Times (IBT) listed the

investors in the blockchain ecosystem. The company has

company among the Top 12 Blockchains to watch in 2020

been publishing its monthly financial reports on

alongside TRON, Waves, and Matic/Polygon. The

Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) and the

Founder of SINOVATE has appeared in many TV shows of

latest news in its blogs since 2018.

An Inspiring Mastermind Behind the Company Tamer Dagli is the Founder and CEO of SINOVATE. He

nature, played a pivotal role in driving the company

had always been an active member in the developing

towards development with his innovative ideas. Tamer

process, and Bitcoin and Satoshi inspired his team

always encourages his team to excel in all aspects. Tamer

without ICO, Premine or any other venture capital

believes cryptocurrency to be more than a technological

investment. SINOVATE has continued to appear in the

evolution that has revolutionized data habits and

top list of 100 GitHub activities since 2018. Tamer, a

governance. "Data must be a right to every person", says

blockchain enthusiast and a cryptocurrency admirer by

Tamer.

Significant Role of Disruptive Technologies Blockchain technology benefits from artificial

SINOVATE, the giant data ecosystem, is set to pave new

intelligence, big data, cloud computing, and data storage.

ways to develop AI with cloud computing in learning and

These technologies helped to provide decentralized,

testing phrases. These disruptive domains will also

autonomous, economy-centric solutions allowing the

develop the blockchain industry by improving block

data of SINOVATE to store and downloaded easily.

generation, peer management, decentralized finance

Disruptive technologies can benefit start-ups, academic

and data storage.

researchers, and companies communicating effectively.

12

Innovative Features of the Company SINOVATE is innovative in its own way. The company's

companies to create their tokens or blockchains

blockchain is unique as it optimizes the blockchain

benefiting from the whole data ecosystem in an

trilemma providing multiple features such as X25X GPU,

interoperability way.

Proof-of-Work mining, InfinityNodes, Proof-of-Stake,

"We have many connections with Alterra, a real estate

and LockReward. Its services are cost-effective, fast,

company or Just-Mining. SINOVATE drives innovation

secure and decentralized. The company's other features

with its characteristic towards a community's

include blockchain-based file transfer protocol,

willingness and the community-driven project is based

blockchain mail system, blockchain messenger, revolving

on this. SINOVATE will realize its milestones and all

sovereignty vote, and InfinityChain that allows other

thanks to its community", says Tamer.

Facing Challenges Optimistically Like Bitcoin, SINOVATE has also faced many challenges

this challenge.

in the blockchain industry. The company's significant

The company is now thriving to deliver consensus and

challenges were building infrastructure, providing

security layers that can optimize VitalikButerin trilemma

protocols and extending the ecosystem.

offering a decentralized, secure, and scalable blockchain

SINOVATE provided the InfinityNode technology in

by 2021. This step will be a significant yet challenging one

2020 to meet the future storage needs of Cloud 3.0. And

due to the custom codebase and cutting-edge

this technology requires a custom and cutting-edge

implemented solutions. SINOVATE is yet to propose a

codebase for ensuring it to be a tremendous disruptive

mechanism to interconnect the company's blockchain

platform. For this reason, the company had to improve its

with other projects to build an infinitely scalable

blockchain itself, but it has optimistically sailed through

ecosystem because of the InfiniteChain Product.

An Opportunistic Future SINOVATE is a company designed for delivering

governance based on cost-effective blockchain

solutions for the future. The company aims to be one of

infrastructures. Data governance becomes critical

the enormous Cloud 3.0 platforms in the world. "Since

between the giant companies because of the data market

the future is to drive data, the InfiniteChain will allow

growth. People are increasingly aware of the risks

multiple companies to interconnect in the same

associated with the data monopoly of big companies, the

ecosystem, accelerating the growth of the data industry

lack of data anonymity, or the risk of data breaches

like never before. SINOVATE will be the reference of

concerning storage centralization. Therefore, the next

Cloud 3.0, like Bitcoin for the cryptocurrency world",

decade will see a sharp rise in novel solutions which will

says the Founder.

handle the issues.

The company believes that the cloud's decentralized

Sinovate (SIN) coin is listed in buyucoin and tradeogre

processes can bring fairness and freedom in data

crypto exchanges.

13

SINOVATE

1

Aerotrax Technologies

Tamer Dagli

David Be enhausen

Founder & CEO

CEO & Co-Founder

SINOVATE is an open-source community-driven cryptocurrency company founded in 2019 with a blockchain genesis in 2018.

SINOVATE aims to build the nextgenera on cloud using a peer-topeer network and a decentralized infrastructure that uses secure cryptographic techniques that are scalable with servers worldwide.

The company is the paradigm of decentralized cloud (dCloud), otherwise known as 'Cloud 3.0,' the next-genera on data storage technology.

Aerotrax Technologies is an enterprise so ware company focused on the development and commercializa on of advanced products for the avia on and aerospace industry. It is building a pla orm to digitally track the en re lifecycle of an aircra , its parts, and components. Aerotrax’s first product, MRO Service Management, enables the end-toend management of the repair order lifecycle by enhancing key business processes to op mize data sharing.

www.sinovate.io

www.aerotrax.org

Trakti

#dltledgers

Techugo

Lition

MOST REVOLUTIONARY

BLOCKCHAIN CLOUD STORAGE

COMPANIES IN 2021

Luigi Telesca

Samir Neji

Abhinav Singh

Dr. Richard Lohwasser

Co-Founder & CEO

Founder

Founder & CEO

Founder

Trak is the first automa c contract nego a on and management pla orm integrated in Blockchain.

The company automates customers' templa ng, nego a on, and obliga on management processes while suppor ng the en re contract life cycle management with a unique and compliant pla orm. Trak also manages RFX, Tenders, Auc ons, bilateral, and mul lateral contract nego a ons in the cloud with full security and access control.

#dltledgers is the leading independent blockchain pla orm for trade, trade finance and supply chain digi sa on. The company enables seamless inter-enterprise connec vity, which reduces fric on while increasing efficiency, visibility and trust across value chains. Headquartered in Singapore with 400 traders, 45 banks, and 4500 registered network partners, #dltledgers has digi sed the execu on of over US$3 billion worth of physical trades so far.

Techugo is a leading app development company offering app development, web development, and digital marke ng services. The company keeps a vital check on the trending technologies, ranging from Flu er, React Na ve, IoT, AI, AR/VR, Big Data, among many others.

Techugo is more of a service-based company that leverages assistance to the enterprises and big brands to develop a successful app product.

Li on is a scalable public-private blockchain infrastructure with deletable data features, made for commercial products with the goal to set the best blockchain standard for businesses. Li on enables blockchain-based applica ons to step out of their current niche into commercial mainstream deployment. Its blockchain development is co-innovated with SAP, whose Chief Innova on Officer Dr. Jürgen Müller is also Li on‘s advisor.

www.trak .com

www.dlt.sg

www.techugo.com

www.li on.io

Sia

Oasis Labs

DFINITY

Storj

David Vorick

Dawn Song

Dominic Williams

Ben Golub

CEO, Cofounder & Lead Developer

Co-founder & CEO

Founder, President & Chief Scien st

Execu ve Chairman & Interim CEO

Oasis Labs is delivering a cloud compu ng pla orm on blockchain built for superior privacy, security and performance. The company’s integrated hardware-so ware technologies aim to enable computa onally-intensive processes, like ar ficial intelligence, for the first me on a blockchain. The pla orm enables cloud-scale, real-world applica ons with decentralized trust and privacy protec on; in short, a privacy-first, high-performance cloud compu ng place on blockchain.

The DFINITY Founda on is a not-forprofit organiza on based in Zurich, Switzerland, that oversees research centers in Palo Alto, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Zurich. The company's mission is to build, promote, and maintain the Internet Computer.

The Internet Computer extends the func onality of the internet from connec ng billions of people to also providing millions of developers and entrepreneurs with a public compute pla orm.

Storj is on a mission to enable the decentralized future and envisions to be the storage layer for the decentralized internet. To make this a reality, the company created the world’s first decentralized cloud object storage network, Storj DCS. Storj DCS is private by design and secure by default, delivering unparalleled data protec on and privacy versus centralized cloud object storage alterna ves.

www.dfinity.org

www.storj.io

Sia is the leading decentralized cloud storage pla orm that is reinven ng cloud storage. The company's technology connects users who need file storage with hosts worldwide offering underu lized hard drive capacity. The Sia blockchain allows the marketplace to run without an intermediary. The company secures storage transac ons with smart contracts, crea ng a more reliable and affordable offering when compared to tradi onal cloud providers. www.sia.tech

www.oasislabs.com

David Bettenhausen CEO & Co-Founder

Aerotrax Technologies 16

Building Secure, Reliable, Actionable Digital Infrastructure for Aviation & Aerospace

A

erotrax Technologies is an enterprise software

and actionable digital infrastructure. To execute this, the

company focused on the development and

company aims to provide a suite of complementary

commercialization of advanced products for

solutions that traces the provenance of aircraft, parts,

the aviation and aerospace industry. The company is

and components from cradle to grave and allow these

building a platform to digitally track the entire lifecycle of

assets to be transacted throughout their lifecycle.

an aircraft, its parts, and components. Aerotrax's first product, MRO Service Management, enables the end-to-

From a Dorm Room to a Global Presence

end management of the repair order lifecycle by

Aerotrax started in a dorm room at Villanova University

enhancing key business processes to streamline

where the founding team submitted the business plan to

communication and optimize data sharing between

R3's Global Pitch Competition in early 2019. The

airline operators and maintenance, repair, and overhaul

business plan combined with the pitch earned the team a

service providers. The company's software delivers

place in R3's Entrepreneur in Residence program, where

customers significant productivity gains, cost savings,

they registered the business and developed early

and new revenue opportunities with an unparalleled

prototypes. The prototype landed them in some key

customer experience.

executive meetings with industry leaders and sparked a co-innovation project with Triumph Group. After 16

The Building Blocks for Mission-Critical Software

months of design and development sprints with strategic

Aerotrax is on a mission to connect the aviation and

industry feedback, Aerotrax now has a product that is

aerospace industries' supply chain with secure, reliable,

ready for market globally.

17

“ Companies have spent the last 40 years building software to optimize internal processes in business unit siloes. Blockchain ecosystems will emerge to provide connectivity across company business units and drive marketlevel e ciencies. “ -David Bettenhausen CEO & Co-Founder Aerotrax Technologies

www.aerotrax.org

18

Driving towards Excellence

security, scalability, and auditability, the company helps

David Bettenhausen is the Co-Founder and CEO of

airline operators manage third-party MRO operations.

Aerotrax Technologies who has been instrumental to the

“Our team has been fortunate to work with some of the

success of the company since the very beginning. David

biggest names in the industry as launch partners to

was the Founder and President of the Villanova

quantify the impact of our software. The platform saves

Blockchain & Artificial Intelligence Society, where he met

2-40 hours of administrative work per purchase order

Aerotrax's Co-founder and Chief Product Officer, Phong

and reduces turnaround time by one to three days. The

Nguyen Dang, and then went on to secure the

data analysed across the platform has profound impact

Entrepreneur in Residence opportunity at R3 together.

on reducing aircraft on ground time” says David. With

Prior to launching Aerotrax, he spent time in various

Aerotrax, Airlines can save 5-10% in direct maintenance

consulting engagements around network infrastructure

costs and 15-25% in the end of lease redelivery fees.

design in telecom and digital transformation in insurance.

Blockchain as an Enabling Technology

David has been featured in different magazines, articles,

David asserts that the emergence of cloud computing

and podcasts, sat on multiple panels, and was the speaker

has lowered the risk for building exciting, new projects

at various industry conferences for both blockchain and

across the world. Whether it is in AI, IoT, or blockchain,

aviation events. He is also a contributing member of

cloud computing has accelerated the time to value and

SAE's G-31 committee, focused on building standards

decreased the cost to develop.

around electronic transactions across aviation and

According to David, the team at Aerotrax sees

aerospace.

blockchain as an enabling technology. Programmable governance, validation, and data integrity allow

Acting as a Cost-Efficient Platform to Connect Airline

businesses to build powerful applications. He adds that

Maintenance

with a distributed system of records powered by

David mentions that Aerotrax brings simplified

blockchain, companies can unlock more accurate

communication, collaboration, and data sharing to

predictions around maintenance events and gather

commercial airline supply chains. With the best-in-class

automation opportunities across parties.

19

Differentiating in Highly Competitive Markets

development and positioning the solution to help

The airline industry is a highly competitive market

multiple partners and customers recover faster with

segment. Airliners look to differentiate on cost,

more resilient operations infrastructure.

convenience, and customer service. The nature of this industry drives the team's innovation strategy to exceed

Opportunity Intersects with Preparation

customer expectations across those three core tenants.

Aerotrax was ranked as one of the top teams at R3's

David stated that the team continues to build elegant

Global Pitch Competition in 2019. The team was up

and valuable products with the support of industry

against the steep competition by standing as the only

partners, such as Triumph Group, and technology

undergraduate team to make the final 12 war room pitch.

partners, such as AWS and R3, to provide customers with

This achievement was the starting point that ignited

the best solutions to empower their People to

Aerotrax's journey mentions David.

accomplish work.

The company is also recognized by AWS as a highpotential start-up. They joined the AWS Activate

Turning Headwinds into Tailwinds

program and received six figures in cloud credits. Since

“In the beginning, the scope of a product was to track the

then, they've been featured by Villanova University, R3,

entire historical lifecycle of every aircraft, part, and

and AWS for the technology they're building at Aerotrax.

component. However, this would've required buy-in from over 10 stakeholders at the same time. It's hard

Accelerating Digitalization in Aviation and Aerospace

enough to get one major organization to adopt a novel

“There's going to be a massive push for digitalization in

technology, but it's exponentially more difficult to get

aviation and aerospace, which has been significantly

multiple to adopt at once. Even though the vision has

accelerated by COVID-19 as the pandemic exposed the

remained the same, the team has changed its approach

cracks in stakeholders' systems and operations” claims

by breaking this all-in-one solution into a suite of

David. Paper-based processes will be replaced by digital

solutions, where it could quickly win customers and own

solutions that will boost communication, data sharing,

each interaction in the aircraft value chain” presumes

and collaboration among the industry players and this

David. The COVID-19 pandemic has delayed the go-to-

scenario shall perfectly align with the vision of the

market as well, but the company has turned those

company as it continues to provide solutions beyond the

headwinds into tailwinds by focusing on product

servicing of an aircraft.

20

FIVE WAYS

BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY IS ENHANCING CLOUD STORAGE

L

ately, cloud storage has arisen as the favored

security arrangements effectively fail all attempts of

alternative for an ever-increasing number of

hackers, and hacking becomes a useless pursuit

organizations attributable to its adaptability,

according to a business perspective. Another significant

limits, and easy access to data. Also, many reputed cloud

thing to consider is that the proprietors' information is

storage suppliers offer solid information encryption and

not stored on the hub. It assists proprietors to regain

other dependable arrangements to ensure security.

their privacy, and there are solid arrangements for load

Many organizations have moved their server centers

adjusting too.

onto the cloud because of load adjusting, information trustworthiness, and reinforcement choices.

There are numerous benefits of Blockchain-based cloud storage. Here are five of them:

What do you understand by Blockchain-based Cloud Storage?

Wonderful Combination of Security and Efficiency

In Blockchain-based cloud storage, information is

In the conveyed cloud storage, the clients are associated

separated into numerous scrambled fragments, which

in a secured P2P network that gives them a decentralized

are interlinked through a hashing capacity. These safe

method to store their strategic information without

sections are conveyed across the network, and each

thinking twice about the security. There are other

fragment lives in a decentralized area. There are solid

incredible advantages of utilizing Blockchain innovation

security arrangements like transaction records,

to keep your information safe. It is up to ten times quicker

encryption through private and public keys, and hashed

and can bring down the total cost to half. Appropriated

blocks. It guarantees powerful protection from hackers.

cloud storage deliberately joins transparency and

Thanks to the sophisticated 256-bit encryption, not even

security with the hash work, encryption through public

an advanced hacker can decrypt that data.

and private keys, and transaction records.

In an impossible instance, suppose a hacker decodes the

Additionally, the cloud-based decentralized stockpiling

information. Even in such a situation, every decoding

saves the customers from numerous security dangers.

attempt will lead to a small section of information getting

The admittance to encryption keys and un-encoded

unscrambled and not the whole record. The outrageous

documents is confined to the end-users only with the

22

assistance of customer-side encryption. All these

coordinated, and interconnected lattice of blocks the

elements offer the customers complete authority over

Blockchain-based cloud storage likewise works with

their assorted information resources.

permanent transaction records to confirm possession and identity.

Prevents Data Altering One of the biggest worries during cloud storage is to

Self-Maintainable Mechanism

ensure that the original information has not been

Blockchain's dispense and hash scrambled biological

altered. The empiric design of Blockchain offers a

system helps in building a dependable environment.

c o n fi d e d a p p r o a c h t o t ra c k t h e c a p a c i t y a n d

Blockchain proactively ensures safety against fraud and

reinforcement history and affirm that the original

also makes sure that no compliances are penetrated by

information has not been altered. Rather than storing

any member of the organization.

information, blockchain stores just the scrambled hashes

The utilization of savvy contracts gives a strong

of related information hinders accordingly giving the

specialized arrangement to automatically implement

footsteps of the information to confirm its originality.

condition-based prizes and punishments. In other words, it can be contrasted with self-maintainable hardware

Solid Tracking Provisions

that can work naturally, autonomously, and precisely.

By consecutively connecting the various blocks through

Rather than dwelling on a focal machine, the Blockchain

cryptographic hashes the Blockchain naturally

is similarly disseminated across numerous frameworks

coordinates the information in an evident manner. Every

that offer its resistance against crimes.

block is connected to the past ones it creates a decentralized, scrambled, and certain transaction record

In conclusion, Blockchain-based cloud storage amazingly

in a conveyed structure.

combines security and versatility with its interlinked blocks, hashing capacities, and decentralized design. It

Ensuring Transparency

settles on the innovation an optimal decision for

Blockchain gives complete transparency that implies

inserting an additional layer of safety to the cloud

that any obscure action in the organization will be

storage. By carefully joining Blockchain innovation in

brought out of the shadows. Also, its successive

cloud storage, the organizations can diminish their IT

stockpiling guarantees that every transaction can be

consumption, upgrade the security, and smooth out the

checked whenever you want. By making a solid,

progression of data.

23

Luigi Telesca CEO and Co-Founder

Trakti 26

Introducing New Standards in Contract Management with Blockchain Technology

T

rakti is a unified no-code platform for smart, self-

onboarding, bid and tenders management, treasury

executing, and compliant contracts running on

management, supply chain certification and finance, and

both private and public blockchain. The company

many other processes in the public administration,

focuses on building trust between the parties by giving

financial, insurance, and real estate markets.

them an environment where all back-office operations of

Trakti offers all the tools needed to simplify the

contracts are automated, thanks to smart legal contract

acquisition, negotiation, and execution of contract flows.

use and the functionalities of the contract lifecycle

It manages all corporate and client contracts in a unique,

management platform. In addition, the contributions of

complaint, and secure platform. Furthermore, it also

the blockchain integration have been immense since all

offers integrated KYC and AML checks, payment

the changes and contract versions are immutable and

automation, and many third-party services that

always accessible. This way, the customers can have self-

empower business operations, back offices, and legal

executing contracts that they can always rely on.

functions.

Its platform supports both traditional contracts and smart contracts with a complete end-to-end, compliant

Ensuring Efficiency in Businesses by Automating

process. With Trakti, the customers can streamline

Contract Lifecycles

master contract and executive contract operations,

Trakti is designed to help the customers create, run, and

documents and data notarization, clients and vendors

easily manage their deals online by optimizing the entire

27

“ Trakti o ers all the tools needed to simplify the acquisition, negotiation, and execution of contract flows. It manages all corporate and client contracts in a unique, complaint, and secure platform. “ - Luigi Telesca CEO and Co-Founder Trakti

www.trakti.com

28

lifecycle of contracts, leveraging blockchain technology.

tools and methodologies for reporting the economy as an

The company believes that the professionals who

ecosystem of contracts and implementing it.

currently use email, word documents, or the standard

The company's objective is to connect the legal,

CRM systems need a simple solution that can be easily

accounting, and business functions into a united system

customized according to their business domains. It might

by interfacing between these three worlds, and to

take even 5 to 10 different tools to close and execute a

support a dynamic visualization of the economy through

contract, while still needing manual activities to be

contracts that will help policymakers go beyond GDP and

completely executed.

improve company relationships and operations.

With Trakti, the end-to-end journey of contracts is automated, which also helps customers reduce

Implementing Disruptive Technologies for Amplified

operation costs by 30% while increasing productivity by

Results

more than 50%. Trakti's platform takes care of the whole

Blockchain and smart legal contracts are being recently

contracting process and offers integrations with

used in the cloud domain. These technologies promise

virtually any product.

dynamism, transparency, flexibility, and a relationship between the customer and the provider, based on trust.

From Innovator to Entrepreneur: An Admirable

It has become evident, even more during the pandemic,

Journey

that the adoption of cloud computing represents an

Luigi Telesca is the Co-Founder and CEO of Trakti. Luigi is

indispensable strategic lever, both in terms of flexibility

an innovator, entrepreneur, and a start-up mentor who

and security. But it is equally clear that in the face of this

spent the last 17 years working on distributed systems,

s t r u c t u ra l c h a n g e , c o m p a n i e s m u s t r e i n f o r c e

enterprise software, e-negotiations, future internet

appropriate strategies for selective screening in the pre-

architectures, and protocols. In 2006, he created the first

negotiation phase (private or hybrid cloud) to identify

peer-to-peer negotiation system for SMEs called 'Open

the best supplier for their business needs before

Negotiation Environment'- a research project funded by

contractually committing, and at the same time, these

the European Union in FP6 that proved the possibility to

companies must also benefit from the self-guarding tools

run business negotiations in a peer-to-peer network

in the course of the supply.

before the advent of the blockchain.

Perfectly functional, in this sense, is the use of smart legal contracts with the precise purpose of contractual self-

Innovating to Support the Dynamic Transformation of

protection. The contracts represent an innovative tool

Economy

that can be widely used in areas where it is necessary to

To drive innovation and adoption of smart legal

monitor and manage activity flows that accompany the

contracts, Trakti, through its subsidiary Exrade, has been

life of the contract through new generation blockchain

awarded by the European Commission, for a pioneering

platforms. The smart clauses connect different prices or

study on 'How to model the whole European economy as

fees to different service levels. Thanks to the use of smart

an ecosystem of contracts'. It has proven to be a great

contracts and the Json API, it is now possible to monitor

success, which started the Open Trust Fabric alliance- a

the quality of services and the automatic activation of

system of transacting and building strong relationships,

the payment of the agreed price for the detected service

that is open, secure, data-minimizing, and democratic.

level. The data that feeds the smart contract allows the

The alliance is committed to establishing an inclusive

activation of predetermined actions, as agreed in the

ecosystem for contributors who are willing to develop

contract. This increases transparency and verifiability.

29

Furthermore, smart clauses may include bonuses and/or

an example. Lately, it was realized that embracing digital

penalties (even as tokens) that are triggered upon the

formats was the natural evolution.

occurrence of pre-defined conditions.

Trakti is trying to bring this innovation to light, explaining what advantages its customers can obtain and how much

Factors that Distinguish the Company from the Rest

time and money they can start saving.

The innovation brought by Trakti to the CLM field is the end-to-end coverage of the contract's lifecycle and the

Accolades and Rewards for being Exceptional

blockchain integration. This means that the whole

There are several awards and recognitions that the

process of contracting, starting from the template

company has won over the years. Trakti is the winner of

drafting, up to the signing of the contract and its lifecycle

the Italian Fintech Awards in 2016, Startupbootcamp

management (renewals, termination, modifications,

Fintech, Kickstart Accelerator, and the Innovate Finance

etc.), is entirely covered by one single platform.

Pitch360 Regtech. The company also collaborated with

Moreover, the system's capability to support different

ING Finance Real Estate for the implementation of

blockchain networks allows complete transparency and

Easyleasing, and are trusted by Leonardo S.P.A., ENEA

immutability of all versions of the contracts and its

(Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l'energia e lo

notarization. This way the customers can create good

sviluppo economico sostenibile), Neosurf, and many

relationships with their counterparts based on achieving

others.

true transparency.

Trakti has also partnered with W2 to offer complete

Stepping into a Bright Future

integration of know your customer and anti-money

Luigi Telesca, the Co-Founder and CEO of Trakti,

laundering checks directly in the contract, all from a

envisions the future as bright. He says that the

worldwide database. Furthermore, the company is a

blockchain sector is growing, but the adoption of

member of the INATBA (International Association for

effective solutions in the enterprise world is lacking

Trusted Blockchain Applications) association, ITALIA

behind. In the next few years, the industry will see an

FINTECH, and the Fintech District.

explosion of process automation and decentralized services in this market, that will revolutionise the entire

Overcoming Industrial Challenges with Determination

management of companies, starting from finance,

The greatest challenge that all disruptive companies

operations to legal and regulatory compliance, from

have been and are still facing is the misconception of

supply chains to distributed factories.

innovation adoption in the enterprise setting. Many

Trakti offers the orchestration layer to activate and

people consider innovation as an enemy, a menace to

speed up the adoption of this innovation in the industry

their status quo, and something that must be seen with

with its end-to-end unified framework capable to span

mistrust. But the way Trakti envisions innovation is the

from private to public blockchains. Luigi adds, “Trakti will

opposite. The future will someday become the present.

help companies to redesign the backbone of their

And when that happens, those who have embraced and

businesses with a simplified no-code platform to

adopted evolution, by revitalizing their competitive

transform the way they interact with customers and

advantage will survive. Blockbuster can be witnessed as

suppliers in this digitised world”.

30

Ankit Singh Founder & COO

Techugo 32

Expanding Businesses in Digital World through App Development

T

echugo, a leading app development company,

creating a useful and interactive product for the users.

offers app development, web development, and

The company doesn't look forward to integrating

digital marketing services. The company keeps a

technology into a business model. However, it is looking

vital check on the trending technologies, ranging from

for ways to let technology ease down the user-journey, so

Flutter, React Native, IoT, AI, AR/VR, Big Data, among

that the end-user can access the app at their fingertips.

many others. Its team keeps integrating these trending

Techugo started as a tech-startup with a determination

technological advancements into the clients' app

to mark a change in the technology world, as it wanted to

solutions. Techugo is a service-based company, not a

break the stereotyped approach of a technology-infused

product-based company, that serves assistance to the

app that was used once and then forgotten. The company

enterprises and big brands like Godfrey Phillips and

wanted to make a breakthrough in the tech world, where

Airtel to develop a successful app product. Founded in

users get a simple yet effective app product and can be

2015, today, Techugo is 150+ headstrong, with a

accessed by anyone with ease.

presence in four global locations and 350+ apps to its

Since the initial days, it has established an R&D team to

credit.

find out the best possible ways to convert technology into a user-friendly app product to make this happen.

Changing the Stereotyped Approach

Perhaps, its dedication and hard work got the result.

Techugo started its journey aiming to allow technology

Today, Techugo has crafted a revolutionary agricultural

to surpass innovation. It never thought of a conventional

app for Fortune 200 Company Dhanuka, which is serving

approach to make an app; instead, it always focused on

10 million Indian farmers and helping them eliminate

33

“ In this competitive world, being digital is the NEW normal, and FinTech is the driving fuel of this on-going transformation. To capture the market, banks and financial institutions need to take firm decisions to incorporate these changes in their work culture or get run over by the competition. “ - Ankit Singh Founder & COO Techugo

www.techugo.com

34

challenges faced in the farming industry via app

securely and efficiently," says Ankit.

technology. Techugo's approach is different from its

Techugo offers app development services powered by

competitors. The company focuses on quality rather

the latest technological trends. Blockchain is one of

than quantity, which gives the team enough space to try

them, offering transparency and protection to form a

its hands at other technologies and transform them into a

solid foundation that different businesses can rely upon.

useful product for users.

He foresees that FinTech is the finance sector's future, and Blockchain brings many possibilities to build a digital

A Unique Approach towards Clients

future. Techugo is benefitting entrepreneurs and

For five years, Techugo has gained significant recognition

business leaders worldwide to gain a lot from this digital

in the market. It has become the chosen technology

technology, with a mobile app solution that disrupts

partner of Fortune 200, Fortune 500, and Global 2000

global business models.

companies. The highly prestigious platforms, such as YourStory, CIO Review, along with global listing

Shaping the Public Sector by Optimising Technologies

platforms such as Clutch, Good Firms, AppFutura, have

Blockchain technology first came into existence through

marked it as a leading app development company.

the rapid growth of Bitcoin currency. The financial

Recently, its 24x7 work approach led many clients to

industry was the first to realize its importance. However,

accomplish their projects much before the deadline, and

in recent years, Techugo has started seeing the use of

they applauded Techugo's efforts and dedication

Blockchain technology in different streams such as

invested in the projects.

manufacturing, healthcare, e-voting, financial services, and legal contracts, among many others. At Techugo,

A Dynamic Leader

"We believe AI, Big Data, Cloud, IoT represent an

Founder and CEO of Techugo, Ankit Singh, is a seasoned

unprecedented opportunity for the enterprise and the

entrepreneur. Although he pursued Electronics &

public sector as well," views Ankit.

Electrical Engineering from UPTU, his constant

Indeed, businesses are capable of embracing and

inclination towards the Management field made him

optimizing these technologies within their business

think for something different. So, when his batch mates

model. With Blockchain fusion, they will have a chance to

were preparing for GATE and MBA, he decided to start

radically streamline and enhance existing processes,

his business, which is a successful venture today. His

create entirely new business models, and develop

primary role in the business is brand enhancement,

innovative products and services for a new generation of

creating the brand value and client relationship. Along

consumers.

with that, he looks after the sales pipeline and related

Further, Ankit expects that Blockchain will present a

activities.

seismic shift to how business shall operate in the future.

Leveraging Blockchain to Bolster Economy

Adding Value through Innovation

Ankit believes that Blockchain has the potential to

For an app development provider, the entire working

change the world and is set to impact all significant areas

journey is backed by technology and innovative trends.

of business in the coming years. It is ultimately causing

Hence, to thrive in a competitive landscape, the

large-scale disruption to the global economy. "We know

willingness to adapt and change must be there, and one

its worth, and how it can shore up to our economy,

cannot consider innovation to occur in a vacuum. The

enabling record digital transactions and interactions

company needs to be a forward-thinking platform, find

35

out different ways to move the business forward, study

convinced of its survival for not more than six months.

the marketplace, and understand how innovation can

But Techugo has beaten up all the odds and emerged as a

add value to its customers.

winner, who overcomes the obstacles of every technical

This is where the Techugo team has ensured to carry the

challenge. "As they say, your hard work gets paid off, so it

baton and lead the way, as "We know innovation is all

was for us," believes Ankit. Due to the company's hard

about constant learning, and implying that knowledge

work, passion, and dedication invested in curating a

into practice," states Ankit. Therefore, Techugo engages

successful path, they kicked out this challenge, and today

in different aspects to drive innovation. For instance, it

Techugo is one of the most promising app development

puts efforts into conducting a two-way communication

companies in the IT sector.

process that involves listening to users' needs and

The company knows that the odds of making the jump

actively observing their behavior around current

from average to outstanding might be extended.

emerging technologies, and generating ideas to make

However, with the right practices and correct decisions,

improvements.

it becomes easy to beat the odds thrown from bucket full

The company doesn't settle for anything less than

of challenges.

perfect. It pools-up its resources from industry leaders to ordinary users to gather their thoughts and expectations

Offering Services Worldwide

to produce and develop creative ideas.

Ankit believes that today's business scenario is changing

Techugo believes in creativity and innovation. Being an IT

rapidly, and a successful business cannot guarantee its

firm, it truly harnesses the power of its team members by

survival if it's not well-prepared for the future. He claims

allowing them to "work with what they have" in terms of

that Techugo's approach towards tomorrow is super-

talent & skill and build the workplace into an innovative

futuristic, where its services and offerings are not limited

powerhouse.

to one universe, but instead of what one might refer to as multiverses.

Hard Work and Dedication is the Key to Success

The team of Techugo is working together and gradually

The biggest challenge Techugo faced in the initial days

stepping towards the strategic plan, where it shall be

was the term associated with it and became a part of

positioned in its chosen market arena, competing

identity – a startup.

successfully, satisfying customers, achieving good

The company faced the brunt of rejection from various

business performance, while expanding its presence on

experienced technical heads and investors who were

different global locations.

36

Dr. Richard Lohwasser Founder

Lition 40

O ering Scalable Public-private Blockchain for Commercial Products

L

ition is a scalable public-private blockchain

McKinsey, he was appointed the youngest director in the

infrastructure with deletable data features, made

history of Vattenfall - a US$10 billion European utility

for commercial products with the goal to set the

corporation.

best blockchain standard for businesses. Lition enables

Before founding Lition, Richard was the Managing

blockchain-based applications to step out of their

Director of German operations at a leading independent

current niche into commercial mainstream deployment.

international energy supplier ExtraEnergie, where he

Its blockchain development is co-innovated with SAP,

was responsible for managing 350 employees and

whose Chief Innovation Officer Dr. Jürgen Müller is also

generating over US$1 billion in sales.

Lition's advisor.

Richard is now the CEO and Founder of Lition and the driving force behind the explosive growth of the

An Eminent Leadership

company.

Dr. Richard Lohwasser, Founder of Lition, holds a Ph.D. in energy economics and is an internationally awarded IT

Setting New Standards for Blockchain Management

specialist and blockchain expert. At 17 years, he

The company says that the commercial blockchain needs

developed and founded the startup Clanintern.de, a

come in all shapes and sizes, and currently, the available

leading top 10 website at that time in Germany, with 1

platforms are inadequate to meet the stringent

million views per day.

requirements of the business world.

After founding another tech startup in California and

Lition saw this first hand when the company began to

working for six years as a strategy consultant for

develop its P2P energy trading platform. It states that

41

“ Lition is committed to providing an accessible onramp to blockchain for all organizations.

We believe that making integration and compliance as seamless as possible is the key to bridging the gap to adoption. “ - Dr. Richard Lohwasser Founder Lition

www.lition.io

42

every available solution had its drawbacks regarding

collaboration, and wide-spread use of blockchain across

speed, fees, security, scalability, or data privacy

multiple sectors.

regulations.

Lition has also supported to shape Germany's national

The company was not satisfied with any of the existing

blockchain strategy in September 2019.

blockchain solutions. So, Lition decided to build its own public-private blockchain infrastructure that allows

Moving beyond Challenges

consumer data to be deleted upon request.

Lition observes that operating a blockchain business

The company's mission is to move blockchain away from

faces some challenges because of the gray zones in

niche use cases and penetrate the mass market where it

legislation. However, the company sees genuine interest

impacts peoples' everyday lives, just as they've done with

from the government in laying a strong foundation for

Lition Energy.

the technology to thrive throughout the country.

Despite some legislative uncertainty, the company

Driving Innovation Through Strategic Partnerships

opines that Germany, in general, is a very vibrant place

For Lition, regulatory concerns have always been the

when it comes to blockchain - especially Berlin.

leading organizational barrier to larger investment and increased adoption of blockchain technology.

Global Awards and Recognition

The company's layer, two public-private blockchain

Lition launched the world's first P2P energy trading app

infrastructure allows for compliance with data privacy

that is commercially live in a mass-market with real

laws such as the GDPR and other similar legislation that

revenues and real customers in over 1000 cities and

is being fast-tracked around the world.

towns across Germany.

Lition believes that its strong strategic partnerships with

The company has achieved several awards, including the

organizations such as SAP, Salesforce, TomoChain, The

2020 German Excellence Award as Germany's number

Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, EMINENT Taskforce,

one platform for a startup. This was awarded by a jury of

INATBA, and Bundesblock, who share the same vision as

renowned representatives from business, media, and

Lition, is key to driving innovation in the tech sector.

science and chaired by Brigitte Zypries, former German Federal Minister of Economics and Energy.

Shaping the World with Solutions

Lition was also named as one of the four blockchain

L i t i o n i s a p r o u d m e m b e r o f m a ny p r o m i n e n t

finalists for the World Energy Council Awards, which

organizations that are doing incredible work to drive the

seeks to award innovative business models for energy

blockchain industry forward. The company has

transition and climate protection, to which Lition is

collaborated with Bundesblock, a German association

deeply committed to.

that focuses on education for decision-makers in politics and industry-leading corporations as well as the broader

The Future Ahead

public. Lition has joined forces with Enterprise Ethereum

The company views itself as becoming one of the leading

Alliance and EMINENT Task Force to bring industry

blockchain solutions for commercial use cases that

leaders together to pursue Ethereum-based enterprise

legally handle private data. Lition believes that there's a

technology best practices, open standards, and open-

substantial portion of companies to which this applies.

source reference architectures. The company has joined

And the company wants to help elevate blockchain into a

hands with the International Association for Trusted

"normal" everyday technology that empowers

Blockchain Applications to promote adoption,

businesses and people worldwide.

43

Rowan Fenn Co-founder and CEO

rise-x.io 44

Leveraging Blockchain Technology to Transform Enterprise Automation

r

ise-x.io is a cloud-first technology company

ecosystems with the ability to operate autonomously

providing multi-party enterprise solutions for

and at scale. Their mission is to make Industry X.0

inteillegent and autonomous operations. They

accessible to every person in every company on the

focus on the application of new and emerging

planet so anyone can rapidly deploy multi-party

technologies (blockchain, AI, IoT integration, and cloud

workflows to coordinate and automate cross-industry

computing) to enable large scale business ecosystem

activities and deliver more adaptable, more sustainable

automation in industrial/commercial industries.

and more resilient business ecosystems.

Their DIANA (Digital, Intelligent, Autonomous, Negentropic, Atomic) platform for business ecosystem

They currently operate 3 products on the DIANA

automation connects multiple stakeholders to a shared

platform.

experience and a common source of truth in an infinitely

Quaychain - The world's first end-to-end digital platform

scalable, secure environment.

designed to automate the bunker (ship refueling)

By allowing multiple stakeholders to confidently and

management process from sourcing through to

securely share access to the same information, DIANA

settlement.

allows companies to digitalise and automate multi-

BioPass - The world's first blockchain-based biosecurity

company workflows for smarter, faster, better business

management platform made to address biosecurity and

operations.

biofouling risks for large ocean-going vessels, improve

The team at rise-x.io work, in partnership with industry,

asset operational efficiency, and protect global marine

to build highly connected, trust-based, self-optimising

life.

45

“ Our technology helps companies be resilient in dynamic markets and o ers customers an opportunity to adapt faster, become more agile, re-imagine their structure, and outpace the rate of change with simplicity and precision. “ - Rowan Fenn Co-founder and CEO rise-x.io

www.rise-x.io

46

SysteMedic - Born out of the COVID-19 crisis,

capacity required to solve humanity's greatest

SysteMedic is a blockchain-based health management

challenges (e.g. the climate emergency).

system that connects people to the global healthcare infrastructure and provides individuals with the tools

Mitigating the Market Challenges

and information needed to manage health risks.

Speaking about primary challenges, Rowan mentions

The team at rise-x.io are motivated by their purpose to

that rise-x.io finds enterprise sales process and

increase the carrying capacity of the planet. They

conversion rates, and market liquidity difficult. He

believe that we currently have the all the tools,

elaborates that originating, maturing and closing

technology and know-how we need to create

opportunities with large enterprise clients is a

sustainable business ecosystems and assure the

complex and expensive process. Lead times

future by enabling companies to do muh more using

associated with building relationships, qualifying use

much less.

cases, building internal business cases, and

Co-Founder and CEO of rise-x.io, Rowan Fenn

contracting with large clients is a long, complicated,

believes that the key to assuring our future, and

and expensive process.

increasing the carrying capacity of planet is the rapid

Fortunately, rise-x.io has an experienced team with

adoption of existing and emerging technologies. He

decades of accumulated experience working with

b e l i eve s t h e s e t e c h n o l o g i e s a r e i n c r e d i b l y

Accenture, Deloitte, and IBM, and companies who are

complementary to blockchain and the real value is

familiar with this process and the discipline and

gained when they are used in unison.

strategies required to close out pipeline opportunities

At its core, blockchain provides end-to-end

accordingly, but this process is expensive and

transparency and uses smart contracts to manage

challenging for any start-up to be able to carry.

roles, permissions and automate processes. When

Next, adding about market liquidity, he asserts that

used in conjunction with AI, Big Data, IoT integration,

one of the organizational barriers is aligning the goals

and Cloud Computing, rise-x.io believes the

and strategies of multiple stakeholders in a business

technologies create highly connected, trust-based,

ecosystem to convince them to operate on the

decentralized business ecosystems that can operate

platform. To address this challenge, the rise-x.io team

at scale. They allow companies to optimize resource

works with the industry and partner strategically with

productivity by eliminating repetitive and task-

companies that can provide market liquidity; in other

oriented workflows and in return the technology

words, companies that can bring users to the platform.

liberates human potential and can unlock the creative

47

W i n n i n g I n d u s t r y A p p r e c i a t i o n a n d B ra n d

activities to improve workforce productivity.

Recognition

Over the next 12-24 months their goal is to achieve

Rise-x.io's tecnology has been recognised globally for

cross-company workflow automation by developing

its innovation and potentital impact. Some of the

extended intelligence capability into their platform.

significant awards awarded to the company include:

This enables workflow automation and resource coordination within a business ecosystem by

Ÿ Top 10 Enterprise Start-Ups 2019 – CIO Outlook

automating non-value add tasks and improving supply

Ÿ Top 10 Blockchain Start-Ups 2019 – CIO Outlook,

chain agility, resilience and competitiveness.

Ÿ 30 Best Tech Start-Ups in Asia 2020 – The Silicon

Within the next 2-5 years, rise-x.io believes they can

Review

develop digital twins of supply chains. The goal is to leverage advanced analytics, ML and AI capabilities to

It was also one of the finalists in the 2019 Captain's

identify patterns across an asset management

Table Start-Up competition in Hong Kong.

ecosystem. Then develop a digital twin of the

The company proudly claims they conducted the

management supply chain to predict and anticipate

world's first LNG transaction across a blockchain

asset's the needs. This pre-positions assets, people

(together with Shell and Keppel in Singapore – June

and material for more responsive capabilities and can

2019). rise-x.io has also completed the world's first

optimize resource utilization and increase

application of blockchain to manage marine bio-

productivity.

security for international vessels visiting New

In 5+ years, rise-x.io believes their platform can

Zealand waters. Further, it had the privilege to have

facilitate truly conscious industries, where assets are

collaborated with National University Singapore

self aware, and ecoystems are self optimizing. The

(NUS) to design and build AI algorithms to track and

platform will use IoT integration to create highly

monitor marine vessel movements to support

connected, trust-based ecosystems with the ability to

autonomous fuel purchasing on its QuayChain

operate autonomously and at a global scale. This

platform.

enables real time planning, optimisation and workforce communication based on events as they

Looking Ahead to Conscious Industries

occur in the field. Supports dynamic, events-based

Looking ahead the team at rise-x.io have some truly

a s s e t m a n a g e m e n t c a p a b i l i t y s u p p o r t e d by

grand ideas but understand every big idea starts with

decentralised, highly specialised asset management

small steps. Currently, they are focused on developing

ecosystem and allows sovereign supply chains the

their platform to enable cross-company workflow

capability to rapidly adapt to changes in situational

integration and digitalization, enabling companies

context.

across an industry to share data and coordinate

48

BUTTERFLY PROTOCOL WILL BE USED FOR THE DECENTRALIZATION OF THE DATA STORAGE

T

he data storage options available today are quite

restricted. Centralized servers are insecure and

expensive to maintain. Although blockchains

enable decentralization, they are costly to store data and never allow data to be deleted. The InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is presently the greatest decentralized data storage solution. However, its implementation makes data retrieval challenging. A name system for the internet that is not centralized. Butterfly Protocol has announced a decentralized storage solution that builds on blockchain technology and IPFS to enable developers to design and run sophisticated decentralized apps at a low cost. Butterfly's approach adds a layer to IPFS to ease data storage while retaining accessibility and verifiability, whereas other blockchains need significant costs to develop Dapps.

52

The Butterfly Protocol extends current decentralized

Unlike ICANN's centralized DNS's root name servers,

technologies such as IPFS and Ethereum to provide

Butterfly Protocol's Decentralized Autonomous

developers the tools they need to create complex

Organization (DAO) allows anyone to propose, sponsor,

programs without relying on centralized authority. This

or bid on the creation of new Top-Level Domains (TLDs)

approach is intended to support the way today's

and receive a share of tokens associated with the name,

contemporary apps work and to make decentralized web

which they can use to create subdomains or DApp

development easier. IPFS has been the greatest choice

ecosystems without third-party oversight. Butterfly, in

for decentralized data storage up until now, however it

addition to domain names, allows each domain address

makes it harder to discover data because every update

to be used for a variety of functions, such as bitcoin

requires a new content id. Users can use IPNS to

transactions, messaging, and social networking.

reference IPFS data by public key, but they must rebroadcast the pointer every time the data changes, and

Unlike regular domain names, which can be accessed

utilizing standard DNS with IPFS necessitates updating

using any standard internet browser, Butterfly Protocol

DNS records every time the data changes. The data

domains will not be immediately recognized by a

storage system provided by Butterfly Protocol improves

standard browser because they aren't true domains in

on IPFS by providing a layer that allows for ordered,

the traditional sense because they lack a ROOT DNS

signed updates. Indexers can now exchange lightweight

server managed by IANA, ICANN, and Verisign. After

data commits directly or using blockchain hashes to

downloading a browser extension, users will be able to

achieve eventual consistency. Users may access data as

visit Butterfly Protocol domains. This will allow the

readily as they do on a blockchain with Butterfly

user's browser to perceive Butterfly as an alternate root

Protocol, but outdated data will fade away if it is no

and successfully load its domains, IPFS-based sites, and

longer needed.

DApps. Butterfly Protocol may be used for more than just hosting domain names, and when these use-cases

Butterfly Protocol provides a blockchain-based web

are investigated further, it will be integrated into a

naming system for the decentralized internet in addition

number of different applications.

to data storage. DNS and top-level domains are delegated to gatekeepers such as GoDaddy, Google

The decentralized web requires both storage and

Domains, and Bluehost under the supervision of ICANN.

domain naming. Developers may design and run

Censorship has expanded over the internet as a result of

complicated decentralized apps for a low-cost using

centralized control, even in countries that claim to favor

tools like Butterfly's. Butterfly Protocol builds on

freedom of information. Butterfly is a component of the

blockchain and IPFS to make it easier for developers to

movement to establish a decentralized internet to

create and run sophisticated decentralized apps on a

combat this.

budget. Many blockchain and emerging technology businesses are developing innovative ways to reduce the

Web surfing, search, and messaging alternatives that are

dependency on centralized servers. This will result in

private and secure are fast gaining momentum.

data storage that is less expensive, more secure, and

Decentralization is becoming increasingly feasible.

easier to administer in the future. Decentralized data

Butterfly provides you the foundation and freedom to

storage is the way of the future.

construct an ecosystem of DApps, whether you want to own your personal domain for life or establish an ecology of Dapps.

53

Simon Woollard & Steve Madincea Co-Founders

Fantastec 54

Unleashing the Power of Blockchain for Better Engagement Between Sports Stars and Their Fans

B

lockchain is undoubtedly a notable revolution in

in the UEFA Champions League, Formula 1, The Premier

systems of record. With its ability to create

League, the NBA, the NFL, international tennis and golf

more transparency and fairness while also

and of course, The Olympics. Throughout this amazing

saving businesses time and money, the technology

growth period, Steve and I kept searching for what's next

impacts a variety of sectors.

within the industry to keep our clients at the forefront.

In an interview with Analytics Insight, Simon Woollard

We looked at the latest tech along with the most recent

and Steve Madincea, Co-Founders of Fantastec share

data from sports fans, teams, and leagues across the

their valuable insights on how the company utilizes

globe. This continual search cemented our bond and

blockchain technology to help connect sports teams and

started the journey to find better engagement solutions

stars with their fans in the digital era.

for sports fans.

A problem started cropping up in 2014 with global fans.

How did you initially come together as a partnership

Data scientists labelled it as 'social media fatigue.' Social

team?

media was becoming less interesting and engaging.

Simon Woollard: Steve previously started a massively

Merely liking a post or following their favourite team or

successful sports marketing and activation company

athlete was not satisfying for an increasingly large

where I joined as a senior member of the team. We were

number of sports fans. Fans said that they wanted more

fortunate to have some of the biggest clients within the

engagement and more interaction with the teams and

sports sponsorship industry, as our partners were active

players they supported.

55

“ The blockchain has allowed Fantastec to create an entirely new ecosystem of sports digital collectibles. Now along with 1,000 songs in their pocket, sports fans can also have 1M sporting memories to keep, curate or SWAP with friends from around the world. “ - Simon Woollard Co-Founder Fantastec

www.fantastec-swap.io

56

Steve Madincea: Do you remember the sports team's

in America, Canada, Europe and the UK. The consensus

phenomenal job of building their social media ecosystem

was that tech companies had little interest in sports in

to gain tens of millions of followers around the globe?

general and solving this fan engagement issue

They were essentially in a ten-year race to have the most

specifically. Therefore, we knew we had to use our

social media followers. However, this also brought in the

experience and knowledge to solve this dilemma for the

problem of how they can connect better with these new,

billions of sports fans around the globe.

digital-first fans, who would likely never attend a match at the stadium.

So how did you end-up as blockchain pioneers?

Simon and I were both sports fans and shared this pain of

Simon: First off, we really didn't care if our solution

connecting with our favourite sport in a time-shifted or

involved blockchain or AR or VR or OTT or haptics or any

geographically challenged manner.

new emerging technology when we started. We were in

We were obsessed with this problem to better connect

love with the problem, not the solution.

sports fans using the latest technologies. We knew

Steve: The more we investigated blockchain, the more

sports consumed a large part of the fan's daily routines.

we started to understand how powerful it could be

Being passionate about this issue drove us both to leave

within the sports world. Sport is a universe with a

our existing positions at the company. We headed

complex mix of rights on territories held by different

towards the start-up world!

entities, players' rights versus a team's rights, fake team merchandise, and sports fans' growing desires not to

That was quite a leap of faith; what did you do next?

have their data abused by third parties. Blockchain had

Simon: Steve is well connected in the global sports

the ability to cut through this quagmire, given its

industry because of his prior business activities. So we

decentralized nature and its ability to provide

went forward meeting many people within the sports

authenticated and verifiable team assets as a start.

sector to validate our initial hypothesis. What we uncovered provided the adrenalin to embrace our initial

Were you guys blockchain experts?

ideas. Essentially sports teams were rightly focused on

Steve: Not initially. But one of the traits I have always

winning and not on the latest technologies enabling a

appreciated about Simon is his drive to dig into issues he

better engagement with their customers.

does not fully understand. Simon ultimately crafts a

Steve: We took this problem of international fans

unique and winning perspective. Once we knew

wanting to be more engaged with their favourite sports

blockchain could resolve many of the challenges within

and stars, and met with tech companies and tech leaders

the sports fan ecosystem, we went on a mission to gather

57

as much insight and information as we could. Now, we

Blockchain, being a relatively new technology, was a big

both speak at blockchain conferences and help out

education piece needed for all the teams. Many confused

others as industry educators and ambassadors.

it with crypto, so we had to explain how blockchain can

Simon: The blockchain community has always been very

live without crypto, but crypto cannot live without

open and welcoming to any new queries. Maybe the best

blockchain technology.

part about the blockchain community is its openness. At

Once we educated the teams, they quickly saw how this

one point, Steve overheard a man at a London-bound

SWAP retention structure was much better for them,

train speaking about blockchain on his mobile phone.

and their fan engagement needs. Football is very tribal,

Once the call ended, Steve approached the guy who

and the further you get from any stadium, the less tribal it

turned out to be a bit of a sage in this area. But

becomes. When you venture into North America or

importantly, he also connected us with a wide variety of

China, you quickly find fans liking multiple teams. So it is

blockchain experts. We learned quite a bit from these

in the team's best interest to engage with these

coffee-shop discussions and product demonstrations.

distanced fans and ultimately bring them closer to their

The more we uncovered about blockchain, the more we

team. That is where they feel the true benefit of a lifetime

appreciated its power to help sports fans and teams.

fan value.

Tell us about launching the first-ever blockchain-based

Where do you guys go with your blockchain technology

digital collectibles fantastic swap?

from here?

Simon: It wasn't easy, and that's for sure! We knew that

Steve: The question should actually be where we can't

blockchain, the important element was merely one

go. By the time this article is published we will have 1

component. So concurrently, we worked on design and

million SWAP digital collectibkes in circulkatioin the first

gameplay, and many other aspects required to be

to reach that lofty plateau in sports. Now that we are

successful. We tested numerous early versions with

operating in a pandemic world, this daily data from fans

different age groups and backgrounds throughout the

becomes even more valued.

United Kingdom before we launched. That exercise

Simon: Technically, improvements are being made within

yielded positive results. Then we approached

the blockchain ecosystem all the time. We are constantly

Manchester City to test our newest features with their

evaluating how these can better enhance our user's

global fan base. The Manchester City test proved ten

experiences. For example, just look at the advent of ERC

times more successful than we had hoped. So, we

1155 and all the possibilities it brings. Maybe the most

increased our development speed to get to the market as

intriguing aspect going forward will be the increased

quickly as we could.

retention activities sports teams and stars can do with

Steve: First, we met with some of the leading European

fans once they have digital collectibles locked into their

football clubs and showed them Fantastec SWAP.

phones. They won't let them go ever!

58

Samir Neji Founder

#dltledgers 60

Breaking Cross Border Barriers and Propelling Towards a Digitalised Future

#

dltledgers is the leading independent blockchain

commercial banks. Its transactions involve buying and

platform for trade, trade finance and supply

s e l l i n g a ra n g e o f d i f f e r e n t c o m m o d i t i e s a n d

chain digitisation. The company enables

merchandise such as metals and minerals, soft

seamless inter-enterprise connectivity, which reduces

commodities, oil and energy, and manufactured goods.

friction while increasing efficiency, visibility and trust

The company also works with ports, carriers,

across value chains.

government departments, insurers, and logistics

#dltledgers is headquartered in Singapore with 400

providers. In different ways, these groups benefit from a

traders, 45 banks and 4500 registered network partners.

better path of collaborating with their counterparties.

The company has digitised the execution of over US$3

#dltledgers provides a common platform with which the

billion worth of physical trades. This makes the

customers can automate the current manual processes,

#dltledgers platform one of the few live, enterprise

reduce the reliance on paperwork, and improve speed

blockchain solutions in the world. With the onset of the

and transparency without giving up proprietary

global pandemic in recent months, the adoption of the

knowledge or contacts. The company mitigates

#dltledgers platform has increased dramatically as

counterparty risk and reduces cycle times by up to 25%.

companies look for ways to create working capital

To make this possible, the #dltledgers platform draws on

efficiency in their supply chains, reduce cost, and

16 different modules that manage everything from

improve access to finance.

supplier onboarding to trade document digitisation and

Customers of #dltledgers are mostly commodity traders,

storage. Also at the core of the system is a proprietary

manufacturers, and the trade finance department of

integration layer called BCLink, which leverages APIs to

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“ If life has taught us one thing, it's this – those that adapt in challenging times will thrive. While COVID-19 has been a dampener, on the bright side it accelerated digital transformation. Let's use this as an opportunity to benefit from the emerging tech. “ - Samir Neji Founder #dltledgers

www.dlt.sg

62

push and pull data from any ERP, CTRM or third-party

finance providers, carriers, inspectors, auditors, and

system. These include Microsoft and SAP systems, for

regulators.

which #dltledgers is a certified technology partner.

Since the launch of #dltledgers, the company has focused on the digitisation of cross-border trade execution.

Focusing on Underlying Blockchain Technology to

However, the platform has grown to accommodate

Benefit Enterprises

different use cases, including tier-two supplier tracking,

Although when #dltledgers was launched right at the

multi-bank connectivity, sustainability tracking, supplier

height of the ICO frenzy in 2017, the founders resisted

financing, 4-way document matching, and a number of

the temptation to create a token-based business model

bank-to-bank/customer collaboration initiatives.

and raise millions of dollars in an ICO. Instead, the company focused on how the underlying blockchain

The Force Behind #dltledgers

technology could be used to create efficiency and

#dltledgers is the brainchild of the company's founder

advantage for enterprises. There appeared to be a gap

Samir Neji. As a serial entrepreneur, Samir believed that

that blockchain could fill. While companies had an

the enterprise applications of blockchain technology

overwhelming choice of enterprise software to help

were as interesting as the prospect of digital currencies.

them create efficiency WITHIN their businesses, there

He felt that inter-enterprise collaboration was where the

was no break-out solution for solving INTER-enterprise

opportunity lays. Organisations still struggled with a lack

friction. When it came to collaborating with suppliers,

of trust, visibility, and authenticity of data. Productivity

partners, distributors, and customers, the same frictions

was consistently held back by manual checking, emails,

and difficulties persisted.

phone calls, paper documents, and a lack of data

#dltledgers set out to streamline and digitise the

synchronicity. Using blockchain, Samir believes that

processes occurring between enterprises, and to enable

these gaps issued could be resolved by helping supply

integration and seamless data transfer between parties,

chain participants to integrate their systems and data in a

which could reduce effort, errors, and delays, and

way that transforms productivity and transparency,

increase transparency and trust. Early in #dltledgers'

while preserving the security and privacy of each party's

development, the company had decided to tackle one of

information. He regularly speaks on the topic 'enterprise

the world's most inefficient, trustless, and sizeable

blockchain,' and works closely with businesses, finance

sectors - cross-border trade. #dltledgers' technology has

communities, and governments across Asia.

been developed specifically with that market in mind.

The #dltledgers platform now incorporates a number of

Voicing in Support of Global Trade Digitisation

discrete modules, each focused on a key issue within

The Singaporean Government has championed

global trade: trade finance digitisation, transparency and

#dltledgers as a leader in trade, supply chain, and trade

auditability, digitised trade documents, blockchain APIs,

finance digitisation. The company is at the core of a

financial institution connectivity, and so on.

number of government and financial initiatives and is a

International trade is laden with archaic, manual

prominent voice in support of global trade digitisation,

processes, lack of trust between parties, and

which #dltledgers trusts will become the only way of

inefficiencies like the transfer of physical documents.

preserving access to capital for the world's cross-border

#dltledgers' blockchain platform has been developed to

trade community.

tackle these issues holistically, by taking into account the

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with US-

points of view of each trade participant: buyers, sellers,

China geopolitical tensions and a spate of frauds and

63

defaults in Asia, the trade and finance communities have

meter (IoT) to measure the volume of fuel being

retreated. Total commodity trade finance revenues

transferred, as well as other attributes like fuel quality or

dropped 40%. Several European banks such as ABN

water content. These IoT devices produce a high volume

Amro, BNP Paribas, and Société Générale cut back their

of (big) data, which consolidates and records, immutably

trade and commodity finance activities or ceased them

in the blockchain. This data is filed alongside the digitised

completely. For many traders, especially the smaller

trade documents, contracts, and surveyors reports that

companies, the result came from a shortage of working

relate to the appropriate transaction, then made

capital, inability to fund deals, lower revenues, job losses,

available to the relevant 'permissioned' counterparties.

and sometimes bankruptcy.

One or more of those parties will likely be a bank, which

#dltledgers is committed to helping these companies

upon notification when the correct amount of fuel has

become more attractive to potential finance providers.

been transferred can trigger settlement automatically.

#dltledgers assumes that this can only be achieved by

Meanwhile, AI helps to reconcile the IoT data with the

increasing transparency, removing unknowns, and

purchase orders, commercial invoices, goods receipts,

decreasing risks. This is exactly what blockchain can

and payment confirmations, validating the trade and

provide.

identifying any trends or anomalies. Not only that, but the same blockchain is being used to catalogue the

Staying on the Edge with Disruptive Technologies

independent maintenance and calibration of the IoT

#dltledgers reckons that emerging technologies such as

devices involved, providing all parties with absolute

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are

assurance of what was transferred, between which

complementary rather than a conflict. To some extent,

parties, when, how much it cost, how it was funded, how

the #dltledgers platform relies on all the disruptive

it was recorded, and when the transaction was settled.

technologies. For example, the company's nodal network is hosted in the cloud. It leverages the 'big data'

The Strategy Behind Successful Innovation

generated by IoT devices and uses AI for data analysis

While being a first-mover in trade gave #dltledgers a

and document matching.

head-start over competitors, the company's strategy for

#dltledgers makes it clear that disruptive technologies

staying ahead of the curve has three parts: hiring,

could be used in a single transaction such as the

partnering, and continuous learning. While hiring,

movement of a commodity through the supply chain.

#dltledgers looks for a combination of industry

Take for example, the discharge of fuel from a refinery to

expertise, agility, and adaptability. When it comes to

a vessel. #dltledgers uses a sensor and custody transfer

complementary technology, the company has a policy of

64

partnering with or acquiring the leading businesses in

the acceptance of digitally signed documents or

their field exclusively. #dltledgers is also focused on

electronic Bills of Lading (eBLs). Although when this is

applying the learnings from multi-billion-dollars-worth

common in some parts of the world, others have not

of trade, across a mixture of commodities to identify

permitted. #dltledgers have little doubt that these will

ways to continue driving automation, creating efficiency,

become universally accepted eventually. The company

removing cost, and providing users with an unfair

anticipates that it will take time.

advantage over their competition.

Notable Awards and Recognitions Conquering the Geographical Barriers Across Borders

#dltledgers has won remarkable awards as follows,

#dltledgers faces three main challenges that stand out.

Ÿ

Global Trade Connect Winner

Firstly, as a startup based in Southeast Asia, #dltledgers

Ÿ

PIER71 Finalist Smart Port Challenge 2018

constantly fights the battle to find and attract the right

Ÿ

Global Logistics Forum Finalist 2019

talent, who can help keep the company at the forefront of

Ÿ

MENA Fintech Top 15 2019

the blockchain industry. Most recently it hired Farooq Siddiqi, former global head of trade finance at Standard

The Future is Powered by Blockchain

Chartered Bank as Co-CEO. It also hired senior positons

Blockchain technology has untold potential. #dltledgers

across verticals and is looking to fill more key positions

has no doubt that the technology will reshape not only

within the company. Secondly, #dltledgers is tackling one

the entire industry but also the way the world functions.

of the planet's oldest and most entrenched industries –

This has not escaped the majority of businesses. While

cross-border trade. Inertia is strong, and in some circles,

three or four years ago blockchain was still thought of

transparency is seen as a bad thing. Although that

largely as an experiment, recent research shows that

opinion is changing, especially since COVID-19, the

enterprises are now convinced. In a recent IBM study,

company has not yet reached the tipping point at which

around 85% of the companies interviewed said they

digitisation is recognised as an immediate necessity. For

expect to be using at least one blockchain platform

now, #dltledgers is focusing on building ecosystems

within the next two to three years. With the adding

around the early adopters. The company envisions that it

potential of digital currencies (issued by the central

could make the ecosystem extremely dominant in the

bank), the increasing ability to authenticate transactions

future. The third is regulation. When digitising processes

without relying on law firms and intermediaries, and the

agreements between countries and continents, it is often

possibilities that it will surface when blockchains become

necessary to find consensus between regulators and

interoperable is hard to imagine. No industry will remain

governing bodies in different jurisdictions. For example,

untransformed.

65