EU Blockathon 2018 announces winners, June 25, 2018
The winners of the inaugural EU Blockathon 2018 competition[1], which took place between June 22 and 25, were announced at a ceremony in Brussels on Monday. Organized by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Commission (EU), the EU Blockathon 2018 sought to build the next level anti-counterfeiting infrastructure for the European Union (EU) powered by blockchain technology.
The overall winners were Team Cryptomice, captained by Thomas Rossi, from Italy, which scooped the overall EU Blockathon 2018 winning prize. In second place was Team Fides, captained by Tobias Kars, from Switzerland.
Team Cryptomice built a blockchain agnostic solution aimed at making the validation of the authenticity of a product as easy as possible.
By creating a “virtual twin” product which cannot be cloned or falsified, and which is linked to the physical product and registered on the blockchain, stakeholders in the supply chain can verify the digital transfer of the virtual twin. The absence of a virtual twin which would normally be sent ahead digitally through the supply chain, would raise a red flag which could be transmitted to logistics operators, customs and consumers. Only the virtual twin together with the physical product confirm the authenticity of the product.
As a next step, the team said it will be looking for feedback from brand owners and a pilot with some of them.
Team Fides developed a “Goodchain” solution to help consumers engage with brand owners for social causes while helping them identify counterfeit products.
Every product is identified with a unique secure QR code, applied at the level of manufacture. When applying the QR code to a product, the brand makes a pledge for a certain number of “impact points” in relation to a social cause. Along the supply chain, certification bodies will check that
