In the last years a new technology called blockchain has been developed. Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonymous used by a researcher (or a group of researchers) to sign the paper that has developed Bitcoin. This paper is the cornerstone of blockchain technology, in fact, Bitcoin is the first blockchain that was ever developed. Blockchain can be defined as a distributed public and decentralized ledger. In the first section of the thesis, an important analysis of Bitcoin has been performed. It has been crucial to highlight the different characteristics, the advantages and the challenges of this first blockchain developed. Later, some of the main characteristics of differentiation inside the blockchain ecosystem have been deeply described, analyzing also three new platforms: Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric and Corda. Later the focus has been moved on the food traceability topic. In particular it has been highlighted that a low level of food traceability has several disadvantages in term of safety and quality of the products, speed to recall and costs. Consequently, regulation and standard for food traceability have been analyzed. The focus has been oriented towards the current technology used for food-traceability and the different approaches to share data. It has been crucial to highlight the current traceability challenges, analyzing also the possible advantages of a blockchain adoption in this industry. In particular, it has been relevant to analyze few cases of companies developing blockchain-based solution for the agri-food. Four different solution providers have been deeply analyzed, observing the differences in their approaches, analyzing also the advantages and the challenges of a blockchain adoption for food-traceability. The final results show a various panorama, on which different solutions have been developed to answer to similar business needs. In particular some solutions have developed a more closed approach than others (e.g., permissioned and private instead of permission-less and public), with different levels of scalability (e.g., adopting or not an off-chain solution). Finally, it is important to highlight that all the four cases analyzed, have decided to create a global ecosystem on which actors coming from different supply chains can communicate.
Negli ultimi anni una nuova tecnologia chiamata blockchain è emersa nel panorama informatico. Satoshi Nakamoto è lo pseudonimo utilizzato da un ricercatore (o da un gruppo di ricercatori) per firmare il paper che ha creato Bitcoin (Nakamoto, 2013), che ha dato il via allo sviluppo della tecnologia blockchain, essendo infatti la prima blockchain sviluppata. Blockchain può essere definita come un ledger distribuito pubblico e decentralizzato. Nella prima parte della tesi, è stata effettuata un’importante analisi della tecnologia Bitcoin, andando ad osservare e ad evidenziare le varie caratteristiche, i vantaggi e le attuali sfide. Successivamente sono state analizzate alcune delle caratteristiche di differenziazione nel panorama blockchain, andando poi a confrontare quattro delle più comuni piattaforme attualmente esistenti: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric e Corda. L’attenzione è stata poi spostata sul concetto di tracciabilità e in particolare sulla tracciabilità del cibo. È stato evidenziato che uno scarso livello di tracciabilità alimentare comporti svantaggi in termine di sicurezza, qualità, velocità di recall e quindi di costi. Successivamente sono stati analizzati le regolamentazioni e gli standard privati in ambito di tracciabilità alimentare. L’analisi è stata poi indirizzata sulle tecnologie utilizzate attualmente e sui diversi approcci di condivisione delle informazioni. Una volta effettuata questa analisi, è stato importante evidenziare le attuali sfide della tracciabilità andando inoltre a indagare i vantaggi possibili dell’adozione di blockchain. In particolare, è stato importante analizzare alcuni casi di adozione di soluzioni blockchain nell’ambito agri-food. Quattro diversi solution providers sono stati analizzati andando ad osservare le differenze nei loro approcci, andando a indagare inoltre i vantaggi e gli svantaggi della possibile adozione di blockchain per la food-traceability. I risultati conclusivi mostrano un panorama molto vario con soluzioni diverse nonostante siano caratterizzate da obiettivi simili. In particolare, alcune soluzioni hanno adottato degli approcci più chiusi rispetto ad altri (e.g., permissioned private invece che permission-less and public), con livelli di scalabilità differenti (e.g., adottando o meno soluzioni off-chain). È interessante osservare che tutti e quattro i casi analizzati hanno deciso di creare un ecosistema globale in cui, attori provenienti da varie filiere possano comunicare.
Blockchain and food traceability : a study on different approaches
CIRILLO, GIUSEPPE
2017/2018
Abstract
In the last years a new technology called blockchain has been developed. Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonymous used by a researcher (or a group of researchers) to sign the paper that has developed Bitcoin. This paper is the cornerstone of blockchain technology, in fact, Bitcoin is the first blockchain that was ever developed. Blockchain can be defined as a distributed public and decentralized ledger. In the first section of the thesis, an important analysis of Bitcoin has been performed. It has been crucial to highlight the different characteristics, the advantages and the challenges of this first blockchain developed. Later, some of the main characteristics of differentiation inside the blockchain ecosystem have been deeply described, analyzing also three new platforms: Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric and Corda. Later the focus has been moved on the food traceability topic. In particular it has been highlighted that a low level of food traceability has several disadvantages in term of safety and quality of the products, speed to recall and costs. Consequently, regulation and standard for food traceability have been analyzed. The focus has been oriented towards the current technology used for food-traceability and the different approaches to share data. It has been crucial to highlight the current traceability challenges, analyzing also the possible advantages of a blockchain adoption in this industry. In particular, it has been relevant to analyze few cases of companies developing blockchain-based solution for the agri-food. Four different solution providers have been deeply analyzed, observing the differences in their approaches, analyzing also the advantages and the challenges of a blockchain adoption for food-traceability. The final results show a various panorama, on which different solutions have been developed to answer to similar business needs. In particular some solutions have developed a more closed approach than others (e.g., permissioned and private instead of permission-less and public), with different levels of scalability (e.g., adopting or not an off-chain solution). Finally, it is important to highlight that all the four cases analyzed, have decided to create a global ecosystem on which actors coming from different supply chains can communicate.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/144975