A growing number of global companies are turning to blockchain technology and other emerging technologies to improve the efficiency of their operations, with operators in the transportation and maritime sectors leading the charge.
Railway operators in Japan, France, and Indonesia are doubling down on new ticketing technology, focusing on facial recognition and blockchain. A diverse group of operators are establishing their presence in the emerging technology ecosystem by incorporating QR codes, artificial intelligence (AI), and near-field communication (NFC) technology in the transportation sector.
SNCF, France’s national rail operator, has rolled out a series of tests involving blockchain-based digital IDs for ticketing. Leaning on the France Identité mobile app, passengers must show the ticketing officer a QR code containing identification data and seating arrangements.
Experiments with the mobile app have been underway since 2024, and the SNCF is hinting that it may extend the tests to new routes and trains.
In the Far East, Japanese-based Keisei Electric Railway Company (K’SEI) has announced a new photo recognition offering to ease the ticketing procedure at stations. Dubbed the Face Check in Go, the new system aims to reduce long crowds by half, encouraging other railway operators in the country to follow suit.
Neighboring Indonesia’s state-owned railway service is also utilizing the power of emerging technology. The Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) disclosed that over 10 million passengers have used its facial verification offering since its rollout in 2022. KAI President Didiek Hartentyo noted in an interview that the system has eliminated the need for paper tickets in Java and Sumatra given its seamless user interface.
As operators gallop forward with next-gen technologies, pundits are making a case for decentralization to protect passengers’ personal data. Data collection has surged in tandem with rising ticket evasion schemes, forcing railway operators to collect and store swathes of passengers’ data.
Several high-profile data leaks involving rail operators in the United States, India, and the Netherlands have forced industry players to explore new ways to protect personal information.
Venture capital firm Key State Capital argues in favor of a blockchain solution to protect railway operators from scathing data leaks. The firm cites Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) systems that allow passengers to share only necessary data with operators and blockchain’s immutability as reasons for an industry-wide switch.
A study by the University of Birmingham strongly advocates for rail service providers to adopt on-chain ticketing systems, pointing to cost efficiency and transparency for parties. In a practical use case, India is leaning on blockchain for its tamper-proof signaling capabilities following a tragic accident that claimed over 300 lives.
Shipping sector riding the blockchain boom
While blockchain technology has planted its feet in the supply chain industry, a new partnership is exploring its use for paperwork involving hazardous cargo in ships.
The arrangement involving COSCO Shipping Lines (COSCO) and the Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) seeks to leverage blockchain as the underlying architecture of hazardous cargo documentation.
The duo has since rolled out a pilot program in late 2024, tapping Chinese-based Longxing Chemical Stock Co., Ltd. to join the studies. The experiments involved creating on-chain documentation in line with industry best practices and safety procedures.
The pilot saw COSCO ferry Longxing Chemical’s carbon black, a flammable material deployed in rubber manufacturing, to its landing port. In a strong show of innovation, COSCO turned to GSBN’s blockchain-based infrastructure for documentation, marking a transition from the traditional bottlenecks associated with tedious paperwork.
Transporting hazardous materials requires strict compliance with safety certifications but ticking the boxes is often fraught with delays and steep costs.
Pundits say that if cargo owners provide safety certifications, shipping firms can verify their authenticity in record time using blockchain-based systems. In the pilot program, participants turned to GSBN’s China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS) to verify Longxing’s certifications.
Participants say the pilot simplified the documentation process while streamlining audit efficiency using on-chain solutions. Experts believe that using this model across the industry will help prevent unexpected incidents on ships and stop the use of fake documents.
The pilot is the first time that COSCO and GSBN are exploring a blockchain-based certification model with both parties tinkering with the idea for the greater part of a year.
The current state of the global shipping industry reveals a migration to blockchain technology in an effort to keep up with the searing pace of digitization. In Hong Kong, shipping operators are ditching traditional paperwork for blockchain-based electronic bills of lading (eBL) powered by GSBN.
Since their rollout in 2023, the GSBN initiative has recorded over 200,000 on-chain eBLs, leaning on a third party for valuation and tokenization.
India has also unfurled plans to use blockchain to revolutionize its maritime industry with the Philippines and Japan doubling on their existing digitization efforts.
Watch: With blockchain, the utility is becoming more and more important
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