BNSF joins blockchain alliance

“Blockchain technology has the potential to change several aspects of the transportation industry and it is important that the industry comes together to align around a set of standards,” said Muru Murugappan, BNSF vice president of technology services and chief information officer. “We are excited to help drive those standards forward as a member of BiTA.”Fort Worth-based BNSF along with the other members of BiTA will work to define what data goes into the freight transportation blockchain, how that data is formatted, how the data is structured and in what cases blockchain would be used.

Blockchain functions as a distributed ledger, wherein all members of a particular blockchain have access to all the data within it. By housing information with each member, altering the information within a blockchain is difficult, requiring 51% of the blockchain’s participants to approve the change.

Members of BiTA include trucker Schneider, FedEx and business software giant SAP.

“BNSF is one of the most important members of the North American transportation network, providing the backbone of American commerce. Their embracement of technology standards for the future of the industry will have a profound impact on the future of customer supply chains,” said Craig Fuller, managing director, BiTA.