Samsung SDS, sister company and software solution provider of Korea’s largest business group Samsung, will create the world’s first blockchain-based export customs logistics Service for the Korea Customs Service to improve efficiency and eliminate fraud in the industry.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two firms also provides for 48 other organizations and companies including competent government agencies, shipping companies, logistics companies and insurers to join the agreement.
Samsung SDS will use Nexledger, its enterprise blockchain platform for the customs platform, to seamlessly exchange export-related documents between stakeholders at all stages of the export trade from manufacturing, warehousing, and customs declaration to final shipment delivery.
Launched in April 2017, Nexledger acts as a cloud computing solution for businesses and government agencies such as KCS to build their own services as an additional layer.
The core platform enables the processing of real-time transactions in the form of scales, smart contracts and a management monitoring system developed for different industries such as finance, manufacturing and the public sector. For example, the Seoul metropolitan government chose Samsung SDS to apply Nexledger tech for the capital city’s entire municipal administration by 2022 to enable transparency and improve citizen comforts.
Since its unveiling, Nexledger’s greatest impact remains largely in Korea ’s logistics industry. In May 2017, Samsung SDS spearheaded a blockchain consortium with state authorities including the KCS, Korea ’s Ministry of Oceans and fisheries, logistics giant Hyundai Merchant Marine and tech giant IBM Korea. The initiative saw Nexledger’s tech efficiently power a Korea-China shipment trial a year ago.
The 7-month pilot project to record and track delivery logistics and documents in connection with exports/imports was completed in December 2017. It can be remembered that KCS and Samsung SDS started to develop the customs clearance platform for issuing certificates of origin, an important international trade document certifying that goods in a given export are wholly obtained, manufactured, manufactured or processed in a given condition country, on a blockchain.
In June, KCS reiterated a complete pilot of the custom built blockchain platform. Nexledger is also being adopted by Korea’s commercial banking sector to build a new customer ID verification platform that enhances on a decades-old public registration system.