WEBVTT - Smart Talks with IBM: Why Business Needs Blockchain 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:05.360 I'm talking about blockchain. As a tech podcaster, I've found 0:00:05.400 --> 0:00:09.840 it challenging to explain blockchain from a technical perspective because 0:00:09.840 --> 0:00:14.120 it requires a certain level of familiarity with several other concepts, 0:00:14.120 --> 0:00:17.880 and by the time I finished explaining those basic concepts, 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:22.120 there's very little time left for the star attraction. Jason, 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:25.560 as you will hear, has a very different approach and 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:29.560 one that I find particularly effective. I chatted with Jason 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:33.440 about his work at IBM, how the pandemic continues to 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:37.320 present enormous challenges to businesses and the average person alike, 0:00:37.840 --> 0:00:40.960 and how blockchain can play a role in industries that 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:46.080 found themselves in a rapidly shifting and dynamic situation. Have 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:50.680 a listen, Jason. Before we get started, I was hoping 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:54.040 maybe you could give us a little background information on 0:00:54.120 --> 0:00:59.720 yourself and what you do with IBM. So take it away, 0:00:59.760 --> 0:01:02.400 tell us all about yourself. A sure, John, Let me 0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:05.240 see if I can keep this contained in a minute blurb. 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:11.400 Probably not so, IBM. IBM has been my career within 0:01:12.440 --> 0:01:15.800 the last number of years. I started. My first career 0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:19.040 out of school was a military on my army, veteran 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:22.360 airborne ranger. All that fun stuff my body gave up 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:26.200 before I did. From the military. I then went through 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:29.160 a number of careers, from running a subsidiary of a 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:32.880 company that was ultimately sold to Berkshire Hathaway, did a 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:37.800 stint as I exect on Loan and public service UH, 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:43.679 and then started my own company, later sold and then 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:49.080 ended up at IBM, starting new companies through solutions throughout 0:01:49.440 --> 0:01:53.040 North America and now globally, having started parts of our 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:57.440 business in Southeast Asia as well as China. And so 0:01:57.720 --> 0:02:00.840 what's consistent and all that is a lot of starting 0:02:00.880 --> 0:02:07.280 things up, growing them based on solid teams and technology, 0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:10.639 based in data. And so here we are now. As 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:14.120 I recently in the last five years was running our 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:16.840 solutions group for all of our services, I ran an 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:20.640 experiment on this thing called blockchain, and so here I 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:26.200 am now four years almost four years later, at the 0:02:26.320 --> 0:02:31.320 head of our blockchain business globally and enjoying some of 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:34.679 the most talented people I've ever worked with in my 0:02:35.000 --> 0:02:39.400 multiple careers. I love that we've already got the cattle 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:42.560 of the bag with the blockchain term. I find in 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:46.640 technology that every few years a new term will emerge 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:51.359 that that the mainstream find it difficult to really grock 0:02:51.560 --> 0:02:55.600 like cloud computing was one of those examples, right, And blockchain, 0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:58.280 I feel, is one of those things. For a lot 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:02.560 of people where they hear the term, they are they 0:03:02.639 --> 0:03:04.960 might be somewhat familiar with it. A lot of people 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:09.800 their touchstone is cryptocurrency, but they don't really have any 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:13.399 grasp of what it actually means. So when you're describing 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:18.000 your work to someone who is unfamiliar with blockchain, how 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:21.920 do you explain what it is? Well, it's great you 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:24.920 asked that question, Jonathan, because I usually leave out the 0:03:25.000 --> 0:03:29.200 B word. Um, let's think of taking the word apart, 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:32.000 get rid of the block part, because people hear blockchain 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:34.280 and they start thinking crypto, and that's not what we're 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:37.160 talking about, it's what's behind that. So if you just 0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:40.040 think of chain, I'll give you an example, and this 0:03:40.120 --> 0:03:43.480 is this example hopefully will help you understand the outcome 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:46.200 we get from this technology. And if you just put 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:50.640 supply where the B word was in supply chain and 0:03:50.720 --> 0:03:53.080 let me ask you, so, Jonathan, do you drink coffee 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:57.840 or tea or anything of that sort either one I do. Indeed, 0:03:57.880 --> 0:04:01.400 I drink both tea and coffee and coffee okay, great, 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:05.120 Now let me ask you, uh, at any time, do 0:04:05.200 --> 0:04:08.680 you have organic to your coffee? I have had it 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:11.440 on occasion, yes, on occasion. Well you probably paid a 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:13.640 little bit more for it because it's organic. Now, so 0:04:13.720 --> 0:04:16.200 you a fun fact that many people spread and know 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:22.360 that there's more organic food consumed every year than is produced. 0:04:23.560 --> 0:04:27.800 So think on that for a second. Right, So, so 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:32.400 somewhere in there in this supply chain, and now think 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:34.840 of the linear supply chain. I'm trying to paint a 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:38.840 visual picture for you. You know, let's let's think from 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:43.400 in this case, from from farm to to cup. Using 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:46.160 that time farm the fork kind of thing. Think think 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:50.280 of that that supply chain forget to be where it's 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:55.760 supply chain, and think of how that coffee being or 0:04:55.839 --> 0:04:59.599 t leaf grew someplace and then went through a number 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:02.039 of sta ages to finally get to a store where 0:05:02.080 --> 0:05:04.919 you picked it up or to a location where you 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:09.640 bought that cup of to your coffee. So that chain, 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:14.719 it's typically these multiple handshakes. So just think about a 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:17.559 matter of moving it from one place to the next 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:22.039 very literally and handshakes, passing it from one place to 0:05:22.040 --> 0:05:24.520 the next, so that when you get it that final 0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:27.479 handshake where you get to consume it. Jonathan, you say 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:31.039 okay with that handshake, I know that this coffee is 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:34.280 organic because it says it on the label or it's 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:36.960 set it on the menu. That's all you have at 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:40.120 this point, And think of those handshakes. It's just a 0:05:40.160 --> 0:05:43.000 passing of data. Forget the tea or coffee. It's just 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:45.960 data about the t your coffee that you're going to consume, 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:50.760 something you're putting in your body. That data is going 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:53.640 from one place to the next until you consume it. 0:05:54.760 --> 0:05:58.919 And in that chain, those handshakes are what you trust. 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:01.919 And there's some thing that you're trusting there first that 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:05.440 that data is shared accurately, and then no one's changed it. 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:12.839 That chain of data is something that you trust just inherently. Now, 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:17.320 what if, Jonathan, what if you could guarantee that that 0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:20.000 that being or that t leaf that you consumed was 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:25.600 actually organic by ensuring that that data could be accurately 0:06:25.680 --> 0:06:28.320 shared and you wouldn't have to worry about it going 0:06:28.360 --> 0:06:32.000 from handshake to handshake. You would know from where you 0:06:32.080 --> 0:06:35.320 consumed it all the way back to that farm or 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:38.280 to that tree or wherever it was grown. If you 0:06:38.320 --> 0:06:42.039 could get rid of the handshakes. Instead of having a 0:06:42.160 --> 0:06:46.640 supply chain, you would have a block chain because each 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:52.839 one of those handshakes would be digital technology that is unchangeable, 0:06:52.960 --> 0:06:57.080 often called a mutable, and you would be able to 0:06:57.120 --> 0:07:02.839 make sure that that t is organic because you, as 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:06.080 the consumer, would be able to see digitally all the 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:10.080 way back to the point of origination. So there you go. Excellent. Well, 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:13.600 I love that that explanation. I love that narrative approach. 0:07:14.000 --> 0:07:16.400 From a certain perspective, I think a lot of people 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:22.360 immediately can kind of identify with the importance of this technology. 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:26.119 I mean, we we've seen depictions of our perhaps even 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:29.680 encountered the experience of the hey kid, you want to 0:07:29.680 --> 0:07:32.560 buy a watch kind of thing, right, the idea, the 0:07:32.560 --> 0:07:35.920 guy who's got got the These are all trust me, 0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:39.840 these are all Rolexes. These are all brand brands that 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:43.200 you want, and you're immediately the red flag should come 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:46.640 up of really, that's probably not true. So in a 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:49.880 lot of ways, from what you're describing this, this approach 0:07:50.240 --> 0:07:53.280 is a way of verifying through every single step of 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:57.200 the process that the thing you are trying to take 0:07:57.600 --> 0:08:00.000 possession of, or the thing you're trying to purchase or 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:04.840 sell is genuine. It's the actual thing, and you can 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:08.920 easily see where that would be a really valuable approach. 0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:13.480 That's that's exactly a Jonathan and and to simplify it 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:16.920 even more, the outcome is what's key here. Think of 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:19.480 that chain of custody almost going from one to next, 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:23.640 or here you go watch the dad joke chain of trustity. 0:08:23.720 --> 0:08:29.240 So it's that trust going going from from source to 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:32.640 the consumer. And so that's called provenance. And it's one 0:08:32.679 --> 0:08:35.880 of the three letters that we call out here that 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:40.080 you've mentioned in your Luxury good or Rolex example. Is 0:08:40.120 --> 0:08:43.440 that first there's a thought of tokenization. I just mean 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:48.360 tokenizing an asset, digitizing something that has physical value. So 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:51.480 you've now token ized that watch because you've made it 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:54.120 digitally given to the digital And here comes the second 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:57.559 word identity. And so whether it's an identity of a 0:08:57.600 --> 0:09:01.080 good or of a service or of a person, you 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:03.880 have identity. And then I mentioned the P provenance, So 0:09:04.000 --> 0:09:07.120 T I P. If you can remember those three things, 0:09:07.679 --> 0:09:09.600 that's all you need to know about that B word 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:12.520 because that's what it delivers as an outcome, and not 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:16.960 mutually exclusively either because as your in your rolex example, 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:20.440 there is a digitization of it, so it's hokenize there. 0:09:20.679 --> 0:09:22.600 There is you could say, an identity to make sure 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:26.600 it's that same watch. And then from the from the 0:09:26.640 --> 0:09:29.480 source of manufacturer to year rist so you know, then 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:32.920 the provenance. So those three things will be common outcomes 0:09:33.040 --> 0:09:36.640 of of using this this new technology to kind of 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:40.600 shift a little bit. We've also seen obviously this past 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:46.280 year some tumultuous changes as companies have had to find 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:51.199 new ways to be flexible in the the coronavirus outbreak, 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:55.480 and that ended up being a big news story in 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:59.600 itself that the coronavirus outbreak and COVID nineteen we're having 0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:03.720 a maze ger impact on companies and their supply chains. 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:06.840 Can you go into a little bit about why that was? 0:10:06.960 --> 0:10:11.160 Why was that's such a an enormous impact early on 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:14.160 with the and and continues to be for several companies 0:10:14.440 --> 0:10:17.439 with the outbreak of COVID nineteen. I think you had 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:20.560 you got to keep point there, Joathan. It continues to 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:24.360 be and it always this thought of supply chains and 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:29.440 supply chain visibility. Um, you know, having that that understanding 0:10:29.480 --> 0:10:33.640 has always been elusive, always talked about so so what's 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:37.240 so what happened with with our current pandemic is it? 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:41.720 I think everyone realized just how fragile, or in this case, 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:46.679 how brittle their supply chains are not flexible at all. 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:51.920 And what we also realized was that the current demand 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:56.359 is different than it's ever been before. In the pandemic 0:10:56.880 --> 0:11:01.080 it was giving an example, we had everyone needed hand 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:06.000 sanitizer and mask right you had ppe personal protective equipment, 0:11:06.480 --> 0:11:09.920 and everyone was looking for it and could make enough. 0:11:10.280 --> 0:11:13.400 And we had challenge companies that said, well maybe if 0:11:13.400 --> 0:11:15.680 I make some of that, I can save save save 0:11:15.720 --> 0:11:18.000 our company. So a brewery that says, now I'm going 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:21.400 to make hand sanitizer. Now you have a brewery that 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:24.640 is creating something they've never created before, trying to tie 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:28.319 into an ecosystem and a supply chain that they've never 0:11:28.360 --> 0:11:30.720 tied into, and they're going to try and get that 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:33.080 to let's say, a hospital that needs a lot of 0:11:33.120 --> 0:11:36.400 hand sanitizer. Keep the story going, but not too long. 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:41.200 They finally get that hand sanitizer to that hospital. And 0:11:41.200 --> 0:11:45.080 then a hospital gets so much because they've over overbought. 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:47.440 Now they need to get rid of it. They want 0:11:47.520 --> 0:11:48.959 to make sure they're not just going to throw it out, 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:51.439 they need to get to another hospital perhaps, so now 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:54.760 they instead of being a buyer, they're now a supplier. 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:58.240 So how do they tie into a different type of 0:11:58.600 --> 0:12:02.239 business process where they're supply line other hospitals. I imagine 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:05.880 that visibility also comes in very handy when you are 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:09.640 trying to identify the specific points within a supply chain 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:14.120 where you're you've got either active problems or potential problems 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:18.080 down the line. Uh. Since I cover technology, I cover 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:22.080 a lot of companies that are building products that have 0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:27.200 numerous components within them, all potentially all of them from 0:12:27.400 --> 0:12:33.640 different suppliers, are different manufacturers, and any one of those, 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:37.440 any one point of failure can cause a delay in 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:42.640 production and shipping. So something like this where you're able 0:12:42.760 --> 0:12:47.120 to have that kind of of overview of the full 0:12:47.160 --> 0:12:50.400 supply chain because of this approach, I would imagine that 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:53.160 ends up being really valuable from that perspective as well, 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:57.640 being able to detect where any potential problems are going 0:12:57.679 --> 0:13:01.720 to be and be more proactive in finding ways to 0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:05.360 solve those challenges. So, can you talk a little more 0:13:05.400 --> 0:13:10.240 about how IBM is specifically helping organizations like hospitals manage 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:12.200 their supply chains. We kind of touched on it a 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:14.880 little bit, but do you have any other stories or 0:13:14.920 --> 0:13:17.680 examples you can share with us? Well, I think you 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:20.800 started with PPE, but right in our we're all talking 0:13:20.840 --> 0:13:25.959 about the vaccine, right, and this thought that we all 0:13:26.200 --> 0:13:32.280 and this this crosses hospitals, but then also UM, your 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:36.240 your your pharmaceutical dispensaries whatever that may be your your 0:13:36.400 --> 0:13:39.440 your local drug store, or it could be UM a 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:47.199 healthcare provider for elderly. Uh. And so that thought, how 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:50.240 do you how do you take this capability that we've 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:54.160 just talked about the operation new operation operation system for 0:13:54.280 --> 0:13:58.280 trust and look at this value chain. Now that does, 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:03.640 as I mentioned before, cross industry as well as ecosystems. 0:14:04.200 --> 0:14:09.000 And so we started with this thought of of bringing 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:16.000 together the the healthcare providers, the first responders with all 0:14:16.120 --> 0:14:19.640 the suppliers for PPE as well as ventilators. And that's 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:21.800 the example I gave before, and I left out the 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:25.840 name of what it was called Rapid Supplier connect, which 0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:28.960 was really just taking some IBM components and we had 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:31.080 in blockchain as well as things that we had and 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:35.680 something called sterling from a supply chain perspective, and a 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:38.200 solution called trust your supplier and you brought them together. 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:39.960 So that was the first that was when you say 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:43.240 what were we doing? We created that call it matchmaking 0:14:43.360 --> 0:14:47.680 service on steroids with trust. And then as you progress 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:49.640 to the example I'm giving now where we say, oh, 0:14:49.680 --> 0:14:52.480 well what about vaccinations, think about think about the challenge 0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:56.360 we have in just the United States. You have federal 0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:02.160 level people really working hard to get things into states, 0:15:02.520 --> 0:15:05.080 and we know that that challenge just what we've seen 0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:08.720 dynamically from how can you get a state or how 0:15:08.720 --> 0:15:11.040 can you see a state? Back to this, how do 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:14.240 you share trust amongst players and what we think are 0:15:14.240 --> 0:15:17.600 the same ecosystem and then even within that state, there's 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:21.440 even more entities that are moving a vaccine around. And 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:24.960 so we have what's called the Vaccine Accountability Network that 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:29.160 does just that. What you have is a capability that 0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:32.400 gives you this trusted data that will partner with you. 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:38.240 Think of your your classic enterprise resource management systems, you 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:43.400 have your your contact management systems, in this case, contact 0:15:43.440 --> 0:15:46.480 tracing systems. You have all of these systems that are 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:49.080 in place. And what's great is because this is delivered 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:51.400 in the cloud. You know, I was dropping those hybrid words. 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:53.280 It can be on any cloud, it can be multi 0:15:53.280 --> 0:15:57.360 clouds and on premise off premise, so that's the hybrid term, 0:15:57.400 --> 0:15:59.320 and you don't have to rip things out. This is 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:04.600 a data sharing and data trust layer that goes across 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:09.120 what already exists. So you hopefully now see, Jonathan, and 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:13.200 when I talk about this thought of a vaccine accountability network, 0:16:13.280 --> 0:16:19.040 that it brings the capabilities together. This is truly where 0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:22.080 we liked we as IBM, we see this as as 0:16:22.480 --> 0:16:25.800 good tech and tech for good because it's bringing great 0:16:25.840 --> 0:16:29.400 outcomes for our citizens. It's tech that matters for us 0:16:29.400 --> 0:16:31.840 and for the world. And on top of that, just 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:35.840 as a sort of a my own little anecdotal addition here, 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:39.280 I think that it's incredibly valuable not just from the 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:42.560 the supply chain and technical side of things, but the 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:46.920 fact that you have that reassurance that this is you know, 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:51.320 it's all accounted for. We understand exactly where this has 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:54.640 been every step of the way. It helps combat something 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:59.640 that we have unfortunately really seen become more and more prevalent, 0:16:59.680 --> 0:17:03.800 which is just the vast amount of misinformation that can 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:09.119 come out, whether purposefully or or you know, unconsciously, and 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:12.080 then just it can it can spread so quickly. Having 0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:17.679 the capability of saying this is trustworthy and we have 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:21.720 the technology to prove that it's trustworthy and have that 0:17:21.800 --> 0:17:24.360 reassurance there. I think that ends up being a valuable 0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:27.760 tool as well. It's sort of an additional benefit of 0:17:27.800 --> 0:17:31.679 this something that uh, you know, we're fortunate that the 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:36.800 technology has that capability while we are unfortunately in an 0:17:36.800 --> 0:17:39.919 era of misinformation. So having something that you can actually 0:17:39.960 --> 0:17:45.399 depend upon is incredibly reassuring and refreshing in a in 0:17:45.440 --> 0:17:49.640 a world that occasionally feels like that is a luxury 0:17:49.760 --> 0:17:52.919 as opposed to something you should just expect. So to me, 0:17:53.040 --> 0:17:56.560 like that is another benefit of this technology. On top 0:17:56.640 --> 0:17:59.600 of the logistical side of it, it's sort of a 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:03.639 psychle logical side right right, and I think a personalizing 0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:06.840 like that. When you start talking about trust and information, 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:10.399 it brings to light something else that we've seen in 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:15.000 this pandemic where whilst people tend to think trust and information, 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:18.240 they go straight to you know, maybe media and news, 0:18:18.240 --> 0:18:20.240 but we think of things that all of us can 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:24.360 personalize and its credentials. I talked about identity, but not 0:18:24.480 --> 0:18:27.240 just are you who you say you are, Jonathan, but 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:30.960 what about your credentials. What about you know, your your diploma, 0:18:31.200 --> 0:18:34.240 you're learning credentials, you know something that sits somewhere out 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:36.240 and we go, wait, what government agency that we go 0:18:36.320 --> 0:18:37.359 to for that? And do I have to go to 0:18:37.400 --> 0:18:39.760 my college? You know all of those things that you 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:43.320 start thinking about credentials in the thought of, uh, you know, 0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:46.720 information about my health? Back to current pandemic. How do 0:18:46.800 --> 0:18:50.359 I know if I've been vaccinated? Or how do I 0:18:50.400 --> 0:18:52.600 know that if I'm COVID negative or positive? Don't we 0:18:52.640 --> 0:18:56.480 want to document that in a credentialing type of way. Well, 0:18:57.560 --> 0:19:00.199 this type of information is starting to become even more 0:19:01.119 --> 0:19:03.320 more powerful when we take what I've just said and 0:19:03.359 --> 0:19:07.440 applied it to a vaccine or to your health status, 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:10.640 and we we have this wonderful way if we went 0:19:10.640 --> 0:19:13.080 through that vaccine thing, you know, how do you know 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:15.440 if you have been immunized? You could have a health 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:17.800 pass and that's something else you can google as as 0:19:17.800 --> 0:19:21.960 we work with with that capability. But beyond health, think 0:19:21.960 --> 0:19:26.800 about opening up new opportunities with this technology and using 0:19:26.880 --> 0:19:30.360 information that can help others where you and I may 0:19:30.440 --> 0:19:32.840 use it to validate that we went to high school 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:36.080 or that we have graduate degrees or college degrees. What 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:41.360 about using this to empower information that allows someone who 0:19:41.359 --> 0:19:43.479 may not go to school for four years but just 0:19:43.560 --> 0:19:46.640 needs a certification to get a great job. It can't 0:19:46.640 --> 0:19:48.840 say okay, well great, go back to college and come 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:50.879 back to me in four years. So what if we 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:54.720 could put that personal credential on on a device that 0:19:54.800 --> 0:19:56.920 you have in your pocket. So that's what we started. 0:19:56.960 --> 0:20:00.959 We start about accurate, accuracy, reliable, and trust as well 0:20:00.960 --> 0:20:05.320 as portability of information. That's what this capability enables, and 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:07.960 that's where I think it should, you know, really get 0:20:07.960 --> 0:20:11.560 people excited when we talk about real information and real 0:20:11.600 --> 0:20:15.760 trusted information is empowering and opening up markets. Finding not 0:20:15.960 --> 0:20:18.960 something that's a blue collar job or a white collar job, 0:20:18.960 --> 0:20:21.840 but thinking about these new collar jobs that just require 0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:26.159 trusted certifications. I love that you have have really gone 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:30.359 to kind of the the endpoint the individual person with 0:20:30.480 --> 0:20:34.199 that sort of application of this technology and how that 0:20:34.240 --> 0:20:36.080 can make an impact. Because a lot of the time 0:20:36.119 --> 0:20:39.720 when we talk about these big ideas in tech, uh, 0:20:39.760 --> 0:20:41.840 it can seem distance. It can seem like, oh, well, 0:20:41.880 --> 0:20:44.760 that's something that's going on at like the enterprise level, 0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:47.919 but I don't see how that has any impact on me. 0:20:48.080 --> 0:20:52.240 You've turned that around entirely with that that description and 0:20:52.280 --> 0:20:55.840 to show this is a way where the impact of 0:20:55.840 --> 0:21:00.440 this technology can have a real, uh positive in fluence 0:21:00.560 --> 0:21:03.240 on the individual as opposed to this is like these 0:21:03.240 --> 0:21:09.080 are these big financial or big industrial kind of ideas 0:21:09.119 --> 0:21:14.359 that otherwise seemed distant. That being said, with the new 0:21:14.400 --> 0:21:18.600 normal that we have, how how is blockchain making an 0:21:18.640 --> 0:21:21.879 impact in other industries outside of the medical industry. Are 0:21:21.920 --> 0:21:26.560 we starting to see other sectors adopt this technology and 0:21:26.600 --> 0:21:30.159 if so, in what ways is it manifesting? So you 0:21:30.320 --> 0:21:34.240 you called out one of the first industries that really 0:21:34.280 --> 0:21:39.280 embraced this, which was the financial services sector UM banking 0:21:39.320 --> 0:21:46.640 for example. Uh, this thought of transacting digitally, in being 0:21:46.680 --> 0:21:53.600 able to verify, validate, and settle financial transactions. And ultimately, 0:21:53.600 --> 0:21:56.200 when we think about that original example I gave you, 0:21:56.320 --> 0:22:00.200 those handshakes are transactions and the more that you can 0:22:00.200 --> 0:22:03.080 make those trusted and obviously more often than not those 0:22:03.119 --> 0:22:10.280 handshakes have an exchange of some monetary value. And so 0:22:11.320 --> 0:22:14.760 industries such as the banking industry have picked this up 0:22:14.760 --> 0:22:21.280 to say, look, can we quickly transact and make sure 0:22:21.280 --> 0:22:23.560 that it's it's digital and we all appreciate this now. 0:22:23.600 --> 0:22:25.360 When I used to say it, people say, oh yeah, 0:22:25.480 --> 0:22:27.800 we won't go digital sundown now everything. You know, we're 0:22:27.800 --> 0:22:29.640 all trying to figure out how we do everything digitally 0:22:29.640 --> 0:22:33.240 and touchless. Well, we dot trade as a as a 0:22:33.280 --> 0:22:38.119 company that towel the largest banks in Europe that came together. 0:22:38.160 --> 0:22:40.959 These are banks that typically compete, and back to this 0:22:40.960 --> 0:22:43.720 thought of you know, blockchain using the B word is 0:22:43.800 --> 0:22:48.320 a a team sport. Again, you have competitive banks that say, look, 0:22:48.359 --> 0:22:51.600 we can actually you know, raise the tide here and 0:22:51.680 --> 0:22:56.639 raise all boats by transacting digitally and availing trade finance quicker, 0:22:56.680 --> 0:23:00.160 better faster than small and medium sized enterprises because as 0:23:00.240 --> 0:23:03.080 it's digital and we can, we can make it happen quicker. 0:23:03.119 --> 0:23:07.600 So you see this, this type of transacting happening in 0:23:07.760 --> 0:23:10.960 financial services, and you see things as I've given a 0:23:11.000 --> 0:23:14.080 financial services example, it's no different than what you have 0:23:14.240 --> 0:23:17.000 in in retail here in North America. And you have 0:23:17.520 --> 0:23:23.400 some forward thinking entities that say, my accounts receivable, accounts payable. 0:23:23.680 --> 0:23:26.760 You know, it's a process that it takes thirty days 0:23:26.800 --> 0:23:28.800 to settle. But what if I could see all the 0:23:28.840 --> 0:23:32.760 way through those handshakes. As we mentioned before, I could 0:23:32.800 --> 0:23:35.120 settle in ten days and I don't have to make 0:23:35.160 --> 0:23:38.280 phone calls and send emails, and that would maybe reduce 0:23:38.480 --> 0:23:42.760 my my overhead. And then finally, when you look at 0:23:43.200 --> 0:23:48.040 where that's going, Jonathan, as we've looked at different industries, 0:23:48.359 --> 0:23:51.640 I've told you that's going cross industry. There's words that 0:23:51.640 --> 0:23:57.560 that identify and most industries words that that people will 0:23:57.560 --> 0:23:59.400 not either and say, yeah, we're trying to figure that out, 0:23:59.520 --> 0:24:02.960 such as sustainability. And so that's where we're starting to 0:24:03.040 --> 0:24:07.680 see big concepts become material when you can put, as 0:24:07.720 --> 0:24:12.400 you mentioned, trust and accountability in front of it. Jason, Unfortunately, 0:24:12.480 --> 0:24:16.760 when we're recording this, we're recording this as there's a 0:24:17.520 --> 0:24:22.080 new surge of COVID nineteen in North America. The UK 0:24:22.760 --> 0:24:28.560 has recently entered a month long lockdown period. Uh, clearly 0:24:28.640 --> 0:24:34.240 we're at a new phase that's at least as difficult 0:24:34.280 --> 0:24:38.119 as the initial challenges were when we first started seeing 0:24:38.200 --> 0:24:42.640 regions around the world lockdown. Are you seeing any difference 0:24:42.640 --> 0:24:46.840 in approach this time around? Our Our companies getting better 0:24:47.040 --> 0:24:51.960 at handling this with their supply chains, and I assume 0:24:52.200 --> 0:24:56.000 those that are reliant on things like blockchain are having 0:24:56.920 --> 0:25:00.359 less of a challenge and adapting to that than others. 0:25:00.440 --> 0:25:03.960 But but what are you seeing out there? We're seeing 0:25:03.960 --> 0:25:08.320 what you just alluded to, where those that have existing 0:25:08.359 --> 0:25:12.360 capabilities um knew before that they were challenged in their 0:25:12.400 --> 0:25:15.600 supply chain, and now they're thinking beyond a supply beyond 0:25:15.760 --> 0:25:19.480 the supply chain, and they're aware of the value chain 0:25:19.560 --> 0:25:22.879