Blockchain Archives | �鶹ԭ�� News Center

Empowering the City of Antibes to Redefine Digital Contract Management

Corinna Schmidt — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 12:15:00 +0000

In the era of digital transformation, multi-company processes governed by legal contracts are becoming increasingly common. With the untapped potential of decentralized processes, there is a growing prospect for digitizing and automating collaborative contract management, streamlining operations, and reducing risks and costs.

Recognizing this potential, the City of Antibes and have joined forces to redefine digital contract management with a focus on public procurement processes. Patrick Duverger, chief technology officer of the City of Antibes, describes its previous procurement operations as follows: “Although we achieved a high level of operational proficiency, our business processes lacked full traceability. This resulted in process opacity when it comes to recurring delays, delivery errors, or administrative sanctions. By gaining a deeper understanding of our processes, we can optimize them, reduce costs, and minimize business risks.”

Transparent and Traceable Collaboration

The lack of visibility and traceability in these processes hindered automation, cross-organizational data and process mining, and intelligence. This directly affected how disputes were resolved and impacted organizational budgets.

To address this challenge, �鶹ԭ�� Innovation Center Network developed a prototype based on the service, combined with a blockchain-based shared ledger on �鶹ԭ�� HANA Cloud. “This prototype aims to replace manual practices with automated, cross-company orchestrations. By using an �鶹ԭ�� HANA Cloud shared ledger, organizations like the City of Antibes can benefit from a permissioned, publicly verifiable, and immutable audit trail of cross-organizational interactions,” says Benjamin Stoeckhert, innovation product manager at �鶹ԭ�� Innovation Center Network, illustrating the potential of this innovation.

“Leveraging the full potential of an �鶹ԭ�� HANA Cloud shared ledger allows us to connect digital platforms that unite businesses and government to track the compliance of services and product deliveries according to contractual terms and conditions,” explains Duverger. “We can leverage data from different parties, such as logistics companies and quality certification bodies, and move beyond the era of cumbersome paperwork and manual processes. For example, this pattern is applicable to procurement processes where multiple parties verify the compliance of suppliers and their deliveries.”

Complete Control of Unencrypted Data

However, opening up collaborative processes directly conflicts with customer privacy concerns. This dilemma poses a significant challenge for next-generation contract management. How can businesses ensure transparency without compromising the privacy of private business information and processes? Duverger emphasizes the importance of protecting sensitive public procurement secrets: “Confidentiality, including negotiated prices and deal sizes, is paramount for us and our suppliers.”

In response to this pressing need, the �鶹ԭ�� Security Research team, in collaboration with the �鶹ԭ�� Innovation Center Network blockchain team, has extended �鶹ԭ�� Cross-Company Workflow Collaboration with a hardware-based privacy-enhancing technology (PET) innovation. Dr. Laurent Gomez, who led this innovation with Antibes, explains: “Before committing a transaction to the shared ledger, organizations encrypt it along with its associated sensitive information, using their own managed cryptographic material. Encrypted data and processes are only processed within secure and trusted hardware modules, with the explicit consent of each stakeholder.”

This innovation can unlock significant business value by helping to automate cross-company operations and protect the privacy of customer data while still allowing for analysis. The key contribution of this approach is that it gives customers complete control and ownership of their encrypted material. “�鶹ԭ�� can never access unencrypted data; the only data that leaves our information system is encrypted by us,” says Duverger. “�鶹ԭ�� Business Technology Platform (�鶹ԭ�� BTP) allows us to hold our own encryption keys, which is different from competing solutions.”

5% Less Late Payment Penalty Costs

The co-innovation has revealed the bottlenecks that slow down the procurement process at the City of Antibes and lead to late payment penalties for suppliers and delivery delays. “By adopting this secure distributed ledger approach, we have improved these key performance indicators without changing the process itself. We can now reliably manage all our procurement transactions,” says Duverger. “A key achievement was that we reduced our delinquency rate by 5%, which significantly minimized the impact of late payment penalty costs on our global spend budget.”

The project was recently recognized at the highest national level with the Territoria Gold Award by the French Ministries of the Interior, Ecological Transition, and Territorial Cohesion.

© Niclas Fagot Studio9

To find out more about �鶹ԭ�� Cross-Company Workflow, get in touch with us at icn@sap.com.

Corinna Schmidt is part of NVT Communication at �鶹ԭ��.

New �鶹ԭ�� Exhibition Shines a Light on NFT Art

Jeanette Rohr — Fri, 17 Nov 2023 13:15:00 +0000

When the coronavirus pandemic hit, artists around the world faced a challenge. With museums, exhibitions, and art forums closed, they suddenly had nowhere to present their works to the public.

At least not in analog form.

“Many artists were left wondering how to sell and market their work,” says Alexandra Cozgarea, art curator at �鶹ԭ��. “That’s why we saw a great deal of hype around digital art at the time – and especially about artworks in the form of NFTs.”

�鶹ԭ��’s latest exhibition entitled “The Poetry of Blockchain” is the first it has staged exclusively for NFT art and features 47 works by 18 artists. But what exactly are NFTs?

NFT stands for non-fungible token. This is a unique, non-replaceable, and non-interchangeable digital object stored on a blockchain that acts as a certificate of authenticity and ownership of a physical or digital asset, such as a picture. It takes the form of a digital identifier composed of a unique string of characters.

NFTs in the Art Market

If you want to buy NFT artworks, you need cryptocurrency and a crypto wallet – installed on your smartphone or other device – to store them in. You’re then ready to visit one of the many open platforms on the Internet, known as “NFT marketplaces,” where people can browse NFTs or search for works by specific artists. One of these marketplaces is .

“These platforms work a little like galleries,” says Cozgarea. “Artists wishing to offer their work for sale there upload their pieces to the underlying blockchain to create NFTs in a process known as ‘minting.’”

These tokens can represent a single, unique asset or multiple copies of the same asset, in which case the image displayed on the platform will be identical but the digital identifier will be slightly different for each copy. This means an artist can mint an entire series of artworks and put them up for sale on an NFT marketplace.

“Many of the works on these marketplaces are created digitally and added straight to the blockchain as NFTs,” explains Cozgarea. “But it’s also possible to create NFTs from analog artworks such as oil paintings or sculptures. You would do this by photographing the artwork and uploading it as a JPG file.”

When you have selected an artwork you wish to buy, you place a bid for it on the platform or, if a fixed price is specified, make an offer. If the artist accepts your offer, the NFT is released and payment is made using the cryptocurrency deposited in your wallet. You then receive a link containing the address of the NFT and can transfer it to your wallet.

The acquired piece can be displayed at any time – as a JPG, video, or other file – by clicking a link or scanning a QR code. But the token itself stays in the buyer’s wallet.

“The artists exhibiting their NFTs at �鶹ԭ�� in Walldorf copied their artworks onto a USB stick as files,” says Cozgarea. “The original artwork remains securely on the blockchain, so if the stick is lost or stolen, it makes no difference to ownership.”

“Many of my works are the result of several years of research, during which I investigate and change gaps in history, the background of coding, and the opaque influence of databases on the development of algorithms and the resulting creation of images. At every stage, I ask, ‘Who are we and what shapes our identity? What makes a person? What traces do we leave behind in the places where we live?’”
Johanna Reich, exhibiting artist

�鶹ԭ�� Working on an NFT Management Solution

NFTs are having an impact way beyond the art market. The business world has recognized their potential, too. At �鶹ԭ��, a team spread across three continents is working on an NFT management solution that focuses on customer engagement and loyalty programs.

To showcase the possibilities of the solution, visitors at the opening night of the �鶹ԭ�� art exhibition were invited to access NFTs created by �鶹ԭ��. Sven Haiges, a software developer at �鶹ԭ�� Labs Munich, explains the background: “We are working with MetaBrewSociety, based in Bavaria, Germany. It’s a startup that has financed itself partly by selling NFTs. By scanning a QR code on one of the beer cans we ordered with them, customers and visitors at �鶹ԭ�� events can now claim one of our own NFTs, created with our NFT management solution.”

“At the moment, only about 5% to 10% of the population understands crypto and NFTs, and they tend, of course, to be younger people,” says Haiges. But he fully expects the level of interest and engagement to grow.

Cozgarea sees NFTs as a response to digitalization and what she describes as its promise of openness, exchange, and – to some extent – democratization. “NFTs present a concept of ownership for the digital age. People are looking for something exclusive,” she says.

There are 47 works of art by 18 different artists on display at the �鶹ԭ�� training center in Walldorf – all on monitors. The organizers decided against streaming the works live from the blockchain because that would have been very energy intensive.

“This exhibition contains exclusively digitally produced works,” says Cozgarea. “But it also includes works that are based on traditional art forms and play with the possibilities of digitalization, such as augmented reality.”

Reinhard Schmid, one of the exhibiting artists, says: “I created my first cryptoart in 2018 and have featured in many publications and exhibitions since then. ‘The Poetry of Blockchain’ is a massive highlight for me. The fact that a global player like �鶹ԭ�� is exhibiting NFTs is an important milestone for both me as an artist and for the entire Web3 community.”

The exhibition runs until February 23, 2024. .

Top image courtesy of �鶹ԭ�� employee Juelma Guerreiro.

How HCLTech Uses �鶹ԭ�� BTP Innovations to Combat Water Scarcity

Benjamin Stoeckhert — Mon, 02 Oct 2023 11:15:00 +0000

Having daily access to clean, fresh water may seem as easy as turning on a tap, and it might be to some. But of the world’s population does not have adequate access to the life-sustaining substance – with devastating consequences. More than of health issues worldwide can be directly traced to inadequate water supplies and the poor sanitation that follows.

The truth is that clean water doesn’t just magically appear. Rather, it is an incredibly complex system of pipes, storage and purification processes, and organizations that sit almost completely out of sight and mind. For most people, data isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when turning on the tap. However, ensuring global water supply and accessibility is increasingly relying on the Internet of Things (IoT), data analytics powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, cloud-based data solutions, and blockchain technologies.

�鶹ԭ�� partner and global tech company is tackling the problem of water scarcity by introducing HCLTech . With real-time tracking and analysis, AquaSphere enables sustainability managers to implement water conservation measures such as rainwater harvesting and to identify clean water wastage, ensuring cost-effective and environmentally responsible water practices.

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“With AquaSphere, we want to empower organizations to reach their water sustainability goals,” says Ajay Pasuvula, vice president and head of �鶹ԭ�� Ecosystem at HCLTech. “Sustainability officers benefit from a comprehensive view of water-related data and insights that can accelerate decision-making and optimize the water value chain.”

Trust and Transparency Through Smart Contracts

The technical foundation of HCLTech AquaSphere consists of for harmonized access to mission-critical business and sensor data along with that helps to connect organizations in a secure and compliant network. We can imagine �鶹ԭ�� Blockchain Business Connector like a complex system of pipes that can transform business flows by facilitating transparent, compliant, and verifiable collaborations between companies, institutions, and individuals in decentralized ecosystems. Built on (�鶹ԭ�� BTP), �鶹ԭ�� Blockchain Business Connector can provide an event-driven approach for integrating business applications with smart contracts, which are jointly agreed-upon cross-company business rules and transactions that are securely registered in the blockchain network.

For AquaSphere, using smart contracts has increased the efficiency of verifying information in cross-enterprise scenarios, allowing its users to anticipate and adapt to changes faster than ever before. For example, it has enabled safety tests to be recorded as tamper-proof, verifiable data that can be shared between cities, states, federal governments, consumers, and private companies with a few clicks and fully compliant with local legislation.

AquaSphere also offers innovative mechanisms for organizations to compensate for their water consumption, by investing in local water conversation projects initiated by governments, utilities, or NGOs for example. Leveraging a blockchain-based certification system, AquaSphere provides verifiable proof of these offsetting efforts, empowering organizations to become water-positive. This approach increases the resilience of water systems to the adverse effects of climate change.

The decentralized, modular components of �鶹ԭ�� Blockchain Business Connector help give �鶹ԭ�� partners such as HCLTech the flexibility to realize blockchain-enabled features without having to understand what’s underneath. This means little blockchain knowledge is necessary to leverage public blockchain networks and smart contracts with a user-friendly experience for application developers. At the same time, it enables users to create actionable insights based on blockchain data through dashboards in .

Collaboration Across Companies with Blockchain

“Blockchain is critical to share trusted information across the ecosystem. This is a prerequisite to manage the water value chains, where typically multiple parties are involved,” says Pasuvula. “�鶹ԭ�� Blockchain Business Connector enables the collaboration between these parties by providing transparent, compliant, automated, and verifiable transactions according to defined business rules. The integration with �鶹ԭ�� BTP makes it easier for our customers to access this exciting innovation and further evolve the solution in the long run.”

Decentralized technologies such as �鶹ԭ�� Blockchain Business Connector have enormous potential to help improve cross-company collaboration in heterogeneous networks. They are particularly beneficial in areas such as supply chain management and life sciences, where verifiable and transparent data along complex value chains is increasingly important for risk management, compliance, or legal requirements.

To find out more about �鶹ԭ�� Blockchain Business Connector, get in touch with us at icn@sap.com.

Benjamin Stoeckhert is a senior business development manager at �鶹ԭ��.

How Traceability and Transparency Can Foster Sustainability in Chemical and Plastics Supply Chains

Gloria Figaroa — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 11:15:08 +0000

Many consumers and companies understand the need to recycle or recover the . Likewise, new bio- and circular plastic components offer a path to making these vital materials more sustainable by saving fossil resources and greenhouse gas emissions.

Today, only such as bio- and circular components. Bio-components are feedstock that comes from organic, bio-based origins, such as used cooking oil. Circular components are feedstock that is recycled from waste plastic, such as post-consumer recycled waste.

A viable and efficient way to use such sustainable feedstock is integrating it into existing, large-scale production systems to avoid the additional cost, energy, and carbon emissions of segregated production facilities. But, when bio- and circular feedstock is blended with conventional fossil feedstock, how can consumers, regulators, and supply chains have confidence in bio- and circular-attributed plastic product claims? And how can these claims be leveraged to encourage informed choices when industries and consumers purchase products that are certified sustainable?

Digital Tracking for Total Traceability and Transparency

The solution is a mass balance management solution from �鶹ԭ�� that leverages tokenization and blockchain for chain of custody to help create traceability and transparency. In September 2022, �鶹ԭ�� Green Token became an official part of the �鶹ԭ�� Sustainability portfolio.

In a successful pilot, a group of �鶹ԭ�� customers – including SKGC, Korea; Elantas, Italy; Westlake Vinnolit, Germany; Berry Global, U.S.; and Unilever R&D, the Netherlands – reviewed the ability of �鶹ԭ�� Green Token to enable traceability and transparency of bio- and circular waste inputs to bio- and circular-attributed products across the chemical and plastics supply chain.

�鶹ԭ�� Green Token enables organizations to create tokens that serve as digital twins of the bio- and circular chemical feedstock material flows throughout the entire supply chain and capture the unique sustainability attributes linked to the bio- and circular feedstock origin. As a result, the solution allows organizations to verify their certified sustainable material usage in their processes. What’s more, the green credentials encapsulated in the tokens can be passed from one business partner to another via blockchain as the material moves along the supply chain, helping to ensure that important environmental, social, and governance (ESG) attributes are preserved. Also, an auditable record can be documented to prove the product is sustainable in accordance with recognized product standards, such as ISCC PLUS and REDcert2, and hence better for the environment.

“This successful trial of �鶹ԭ�� Green Token represents another key milestone on our mission to establish the ‘green line’ alongside the top and bottom lines as key performance dimensions,” says Gunther Rothermel, head of Sustainability Engineering at �鶹ԭ��. “This solution offers our customers an easy way to have complete visibility into the origin and chain of custody of their bio- and circular-based feedstock and allows them to prove to their customers, international standard agencies, and their board that they have a concrete, auditable way of proving their circular performance against their sustainability KPIs.”

The blockchain technology helps prevent double counting of claims and create trust; it can make the production of sustainable plastic easier to verify and thus certifiable, which is particularly important in terms of customer demand, regulatory compliance, and the ability to charge a price premium.

Rapid Adoption Crucial for Sustainable Plastics

“Accelerating the circular economy requires driving demand for circular plastics,” said Diane Marret, sustainability director for Consumer Packaging North America at Berry Global. “Integrating mass balance-accounted materials into �鶹ԭ�� Green Token’s centralized, global IT system helps reduce risk in our reporting accuracy, minimize manual efforts through automation, and build confidence and trust in our ability to manage circular materials.”

Read more about this pilot in the newly published . For more information on how �鶹ԭ�� helps companies record, report, and act on their sustainability goals, visit and the .

Gloria Figaroa is a solution advisor for �鶹ԭ�� Green Token.

Tchibo and �鶹ԭ�� Brew Up Web3 Innovation

Ritu Bhargava — Mon, 29 May 2023 11:15:15 +0000

Since its founding in 1949, Germany-based coffee and consumer goods retailer has always grounded its business model in innovation. From its start as a mail-order distributor of roasted coffee beans, the company has continually pushed the boundaries of new tech, even dipping its stirrer into the burgeoning in 1986.

When Tchibo worked with �鶹ԭ�� to develop the NFT Launchpad, it wasn’t simply “stirring the pot.” Tchibo’s innovation-driven DNA and �鶹ԭ��’s 50-year history of tackling business challenges with the best of leading-edge technology was the perfect pairing to help unlock the potential of Web3.

The result was the NFT Launchpad, which allows users to mint, administer, and manage Web3-based non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in a Web2-friendly application. The lighthouse project was capped off by the premier launch of a Tchibo NFT collection dubbed “Tchibo Royalty Club.” Using the NFT Launchpad, Tchibo minted 1,000 unique NFTs on the Polygon blockchain. To get an NFT, collectors entered their e-mail addresses on the Tchibo Royalty Club’s NFT Launchpad page. After receiving a link by e-mail, recipients were able to claim and view their NFTs on the launchpad or transfer them to their digital wallets. “Golden” NFTs were redeemable for prizes like Tchibo coffee cans and Lapressa-branded pens.

I’m so proud of the results and the significance of this collaboration. Because it combines the best functionalities of Web2 and Web3, NFT Launchpad lowers the barriers for companies and collectors alike to get in on the Web3 revolution. For context, the Internet we’ve come to know over the past quarter century is Web2. Web2 technology drove the democratization of the Internet, allowing users to contribute and interact with content. Web3 decentralizes the Internet, making transactions more secure and verifiable by using a distributed blockchain network to validate those transactions. Web3 also allows companies to take advantage of the new digital consumer asset class based on blockchain technology and smart contracts that includes NFTs, tokens, and more.

The project also revealed a compelling array of applications perfectly suited to the rising challenge of meeting customer expectations. Among the most pressing concerns for all retailers today is capturing an ever-fractured share of consumer loyalty. More than ever, engaging customers while remaining profitable increases the urgency for companies to transform the customer experience. Fortunately, the capabilities of Web3 suggest a bounty of use cases.

From loyalty programs to digital twins, NFTs can help increase brand loyalty, engagement, and revenue. Crucially, Web3 can also propel companies on their digital transformations, keeping their brands relevant even for digitally sophisticated Gen Z and Alphas as well as the generations of consumers beyond. As marketing and loyalty tools, NFTs can be issued as brand rewards, promotional or exclusive collectors’ items, and advertising with which younger consumers are likely to engage. Digital twins, for example, are unique ways for companies to engage, interact, and build relationships with audiences.

Digital twins are digital representations of physical objects. NFTs of digital twins, used as promotional items, invitations, passes to special events such as exclusive sales, or redemptions for discounts and physical goods, can be low-cost entries into the Web3 universe. As sales or service tools, digital twins also present excellent possibilities for improving the customer experience post-purchase. Imagine the next time your car’s engine light comes on. Instead of driving it to the repair shop, you share a digital twin that a mechanic can use to virtually investigate and diagnose the problem. You can bet if I’m getting consistently reliable service without leaving my home, I’m a repeat customer.

Internally, companies can also use NFTs as POAPs (Proof of Attendance Protocol) to boost employee engagement. Tchibo has issued POAPs to increase engagement in trainings, while �鶹ԭ�� has a similar program that allows in-house tech talk attendees to collect NFTs.

From marketing to commerce to service applications and more, it’s evident that Web3 has great potential to unlock key drivers of success – engagement, revenue, loyalty, and digital transformation – in the new digital landscape.

Coverage of engagement, loyalty, revenue, and transformation by Web3 use cases. Click to enlarge.

NFTs as Sustainable Swag

The NFT Launchpad holds a further benefit that speaks to changing consumer and business values. With no production, packaging, or shipping, NFTs can make a claim to sustainability that rises when coupled with the more energy efficient proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. POS uses about as much energy as a Google search. Minting an NFT on Polygon, as the team did, uses only , amounting to one-forty-four-thousandth of the carbon footprint required to mint an NFT on a proof-of-work (PoW) network.

How proof-of-stake so vastly outperforms proof-of-work in energy efficiency comes down to the way transactions get validated.

Proof-of-work, used by networks like Bitcoin, involves miners solving complex mathematical problems to validate transactions and create new blocks. This process is energy intensive, requiring a substantial amount of computational power, as every miner in the network performs these computations in a race to mine the block and win the block reward. Once the first miner finishes the computation, all other miners stop processing the block and move on to the next block of transactions. The process repeats itself, using significant amounts of energy in the process.
Proof-of-stake networks, on the other hand, are more energy-efficient. In PoS, validators are chosen to create new blocks based on the amount of cryptocurrency they hold and are willing to “stake” as collateral, which they lose if other validators determine the block was maliciously processed. Since only a single node in the network creates the block, no complex, energy-intensive, simultaneous processing is performed. PoS consumes significantly less energy than PoW, making it a more sustainable option for blockchain networks.

Further, NFTs have a longer lifespan than physical goods, as they can be stored, transferred, and traded without degradation in quality.

Alpha Release of NFT Management Solution by �鶹ԭ��

This year at �鶹ԭ�� Sapphire, �鶹ԭ�� introduced its alpha release of the non-fungible token management solution, an enterprise-ready, no-code, software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution for creating, managing, distributing, and claiming Web3 digital assets. Via the solution’s dashboard, companies can create NFT collections and campaigns and administer and distribute NFTs to customers. NFT collection and campaign managers can configure the experience of NFT claimants by customizing benefits linked to NFTs, adding destination links, and more.

I couldn’t be more excited to be testing the alpha release with our partners at Tchibo. I’m also excited to share a preview with you. Scan the QR code to receive a limited edition, custom NFT from the alpha release of the NFT management solution by �鶹ԭ��. NFTs will be distributed to the first 50 people to claim one of these cool, sustainable, custom digital artworks.

With heartfelt thanks to Tchibo, I’m looking forward to our next innovation project. Tchibo’s German slogan, “Jede Woche eine neue Welt” means “Every week is a new world.” It refers to the changing selection of goods, refreshed weekly, in its stores. This sentiment also rings true for business technology, and I’m excited to see what’s next for Tchibo and Web3.

Ritu Bhargava is president and chief operating officer of �鶹ԭ�� Industry & Customer Experience.

The Take: Blockchain Rises Despite Crypto’s Crash

�鶹ԭ�� News — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 15:05:17 +0000

What’s News

The platforms and lenders — such as FTX, Celsius Network LLC, BlockFi Inc. and Genesis Global Trading Inc. — may have tarnished blockchain. But crypto’s underlying technology has many more successful uses than currency speculation, including helping build transit systems and ensuring medical equipment is clean.

�鶹ԭ��’s Take

Blockchain allows different enterprises, organizations or group members to work together on projects. It provides digitized, verifiable information to replace cumbersome, unreliable paper documents that go back and forth among many hands.

“Blockchain is used to create trust, verifiability and compliance in decentralized, cross-company processes,” explains Benjamin Stoeckhert, �鶹ԭ�� business development manager for blockchain.

With blockchain, there is no central platform or person ensuring processes are trustworthy and reliable. Instead, blockchain creates a digital ledger that keeps track of digital information. The ledger is secure and tamper-proof because everyone in the group can see “blocks” but cannot change them. Interactions — such as new entries, work completed or work approved — are stored in blocks that are linked together. Each block contains a unique digital fingerprint of the previous block, called a hash, creating an unbreakable chain.

Blockchain is ideal for digitizing documents, pictures, receipts and other types of records and transactions to track workflow, the individual assignments it takes to get the job done. Instead of swapping work orders, which could be changed or lost, everyone in the group can see the digitized documents as the work progresses.

Blockchain is often referred to as “trustless” because there is no central control to ensure things are done correctly. Since each process is transparent, trust is built in.

“Creating this trustless approach or replacing the need for trust by cryptographically verifiable data: this is where blockchain can lay the foundation to really achieve a great business outcome,” Stoeckhert said.

Blockchain allows parties to collaborate more effectively while saving time and money. For example, �鶹ԭ�� piloted the use of blockchain to support the building of HS2, a new high-speed railway that will form the backbone of Britain’s transport network. As one of the biggest construction projects in Europe, HS2 could be considered an amalgam of smaller projects, such as buildings, train stations, tracks and tunnels. The project involves hundreds of contractors, sub-contractors, suppliers, logistic companies, software vendors, regulators and designers — all of whom must know the project specifications, submit their orders and be paid, along with a host of other steps.

“You have a very decentralized setup, and this is always good for blockchain,” Stoeckhert said. “From a value perspective, it’s really about using these capabilities to orchestrate processes.”

In medicine, �鶹ԭ�� and Sartorius, a global leader in manufacturing equipment for the pharmaceutical industry, used blockchain to help ensure that equipment is free from harmful microorganisms in cases where a single error would lead to drug contamination. Sterilization processes are directed and executed between medical equipment manufacturers and sterilization service providers while they are overseen by regulatory organizations and pharmaceutical companies. Blockchain helps orchestrate this process and provides verifiable data for compliance checks.

Stoeckhert sees this ability to collaborate in a decentralized way to be a major benefit for business: “The same way you can define your internal processes and automation flows, you can now do as we call cross-company.”

Contact:
Ilaina Jonas, Senior Director of Global Public Relations, �鶹ԭ��
+1 (646) 923-2834, ilaina.jonas@sap.com

How Digitalization Can Accelerate the Energy Transition to Green Hydrogen

Christian Boos — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 13:15:36 +0000

As a means of storing and transporting renewable energy, green hydrogen is now considered a critical technology in the transition to renewable energy and the move toward a global net zero economy.

When joined the Action Tank, one of the key work streams was to make the “green dream” a reality, accelerating the replacement of conventional fuels with renewable alternatives like green hydrogen. With customers at every step of the value chain, �鶹ԭ�� found itself in a unique position to lead the movement from a digital perspective.

There are numerous challenges to effecting such a monumental change in the energy sector, but one that requires a unique and digital response is tracking green hydrogen. Differentiating it from the other color grades — including blue, gray, and pink, which represent production methods with CO2e emissions or using nuclear power or fossil fuels — is critical to the success of decarbonization with green hydrogen.

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Digital Tracking for Total Transparency

The , unique digital software based on a blockchain approach, responds to the need to track green hydrogen. Designed to track commodity origin and mass balance quantities, GreenToken provides complete transparency of the source, like solar, wind, or water, as well as the way it is produced and its journey, such as pipeline, tanker, or transition into green ammonia for transportation.

A significant number of governments are working on their own green hydrogen certification programs. To account for the different production and delivery methods, blockchain is a highly reliable technology as it can provide holistic transparency on the origin of green hydrogen and the methods used for its production and transportation.

The technology in GreenToken works at every step of the value chain. A car manufacturer, for example, can have complete confidence in the green steel used to manufacture its vehicles thanks to the tokens that prove the energy from hydrogen used to produce the steel came from renewable sources.

Blockchain technology prevents fraud and creates trust; it makes the production of green hydrogen auditable, and therefore certifiable, which is particularly important in terms of pricing. Because green hydrogen is currently significantly more expensive than its blue or gray equivalents, energy buyers investing in the clean energy transition need absolute assurance and justification that their energy purchases are truly renewable.

Digital Simulation Tools

�鶹ԭ�� software can also be used to simulate green hydrogen projects to both support decision-making and aid in planning.

Wind turbines and solar panels depend on the right weather patterns to produce energy, so the capacity to produce renewable energy is constantly fluctuating, resulting in continuous price variations. Energy data software plays a critical role in informing green hydrogen producers about fluctuations in capacity in order to allow them to manage their electrolyzers accordingly. Such tools are also essential for industrial energy customers to manage their energy finance budget.

An example of an �鶹ԭ�� digital simulation project involved a railway operator, where digital tools were used to calculate the capacity and filling speed requirements for a proposed hydrogen dual filling station for trucks and trains.

City planners would also find digital capabilities from �鶹ԭ�� valuable. �鶹ԭ�� has the ability to work with planning teams to understand the potential implications of transitioning the city to green hydrogen as its main source of energy for heating, lighting, and transport.

Rapid Adoption Crucial for Green Hydrogen Transition

“Implementing the digital tools to enable a successful transition to green hydrogen will not happen overnight,” warns Klaus Schimmer, chief innovation architect at �鶹ԭ��.

The software exists — GreenToken is ready for implementation, but industry and governments are dragging their feet. Collaboration among countries and industries is key to setting certification standards.

We simply don’t have time to waste. This is not just a job for the energy industry; every large industry is impacted and needs to make resources available to join the dots. It is clear that digitalization can and will enable and accelerate the transition, but speed of adoption will be key to its success.

For more information on how �鶹ԭ�� helps companies record, report, and act on their sustainability goals, visit .

Christian Boos is head of Sustainability Engagement at �鶹ԭ��.

On the Hunt for Iconic Moments from �鶹ԭ��’s 50-Year History

Jeanette Rohr — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 13:15:59 +0000

2022 is a special year for �鶹ԭ��, with the enterprise software giant celebrating its 50th anniversary. This year’s , November 15-16, offers a special review involving innovative technologies to mark the occasion.

An NFT (non-fungible token) drop offering 15 pieces of digital art designed specifically for the event and the anniversary will be made available via digital codes during the sessions.

“Those registered for �鶹ԭ�� TechEd may participate in the NFT drop during the live event and collect 15 NFTs,” , head of �鶹ԭ�� Innovation Center Potsdam, explains. His team developed and implemented the NFT drop.

Registered �鶹ԭ�� TechEd participants will receive access to a Web app, including a collector’s album for NFTs. “The album appears as a timeline of �鶹ԭ��’s history,” Krug says. “There’s a lot of fascinating stuff to learn about our company while being introduced to NFT technologies in a gamified way.”

In live keynotes, online or onsite workshops, virtual lectures, and breakout sessions, attentive participants will spot QR codes and short links in announcement windows that can be used to claim NFTs. After the event, participants can transfer the NFTs to their private digital wallets.

“And for those who discovered and collected all 15 NFTs, an additional surprise is waiting,” Krug says.

But what will participants actually be collecting?

What Are NFTs?

NFTs – non-fungible tokens – are digital assets managed by a blockchain network. Usually, they are representations of a digital or physical asset, very often artwork.

“Non-fungible” means the asset is unmistakable and cannot be reproduced. This process of creating the asset on the blockchain is called minting. A smart contract on a public blockchain ensures the unique value of a digital piece of art.

NFTs can be bought and sold online, often with cryptocurrencies. For this purpose, there are specific NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea and Rarible on which thousands of artists and collectors are hosted.

The NFT drop for �鶹ԭ�� TechEd was initiated by Juergen Mueller, chief technology officer and member of the Executive Board of �鶹ԭ�� SE, who had earlier in the year as a fun private project.

“It’ll be interesting to see whether NFTs gain relevance in the enterprise context,” Mueller says. “Already today, digital proof of ownership for digital or physical assets is useful for customer brand engagement with luxury goods such as jewelry or sneakers. On a broader scale, this digital proof of ownership could also be leveraged in the area of supply chain management to provide a single source of truth to all stakeholders.”

Usage scenarios such as the latter are still some time off. Still, NFTs are being leveraged for various digital and physical assets such as videos, sports highlights, artwork, and music.

15 Iconic Moments in �鶹ԭ�� History as Digital Pieces of Art

The collector’s album is a Web application running on a standard Web browser for desktop or mobile.

When participants register for the NFT drop, the album shows placeholders already pointing to the most critical milestones in �鶹ԭ�� history. The details become visible once the NFT has been collected via a QR code or link.

“In principle, the NFT drop is a technological elevation of the sticker album that most of us still know from childhood,” Krug says. “Duplicates may be swapped, of course.”

The 15 NFTs trace �鶹ԭ��’s path from a five-person startup in 1972 to a multinational enterprise with 110,000 employees in 2022. The NFTs from �鶹ԭ�� TechEd cannot be sold or purchased.

“These NFTs are only available at �鶹ԭ�� TechEd 2022, exclusively for participants,” Krug stresses. “It is a unique opportunity to win a lasting piece of �鶹ԭ�� history, captured artistically.”

. To create your own collector’s album and gain a piece of �鶹ԭ�� heritage, .

�鶹ԭ�� and Sartorius Are Reinventing Collaboration and Manual Processes

Corinna Schmidt — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 11:15:02 +0000

Working across teams can be a challenge, but working across companies is even harder. Not only do process participants have to manage different expectations, work processes, tools, and dynamics, they’re also navigating in entirely different companies. In an economy that is increasingly becoming more globalized while supply chains are getting disrupted, enterprises and public institutions must enhance collaboration with partner enterprises to develop high-quality solutions at low cost and with a quick response to market demands. Cross-company automation and compliance are critical features to achieve these goals.

Consequently, it’s no surprise that during its ‘InnoDay,’ , a globally leading manufacturer of equipment for the development and production of drugs, identified manual and cross-company processes as the most promising area for digital innovation projects.

“InnoDay provides an open platform for creating digital innovations. Innovation is part of our corporate culture and supported by an environment and leadership that encourages creativity. Scalable innovation requires integration into existing processes and systems. Therefore, �鶹ԭ�� Innovation Center Network is our prime partner to validate and realize this potential,” said Thomas Lata, manager of IT Order to Cash at Sartorius.

Typically, processes within patient care and the healthcare system require companies to work with one another to achieve the same goal. This is especially apparent when it comes to removing harmful microorganisms on medical equipment, where a single error would lead to drug contamination. Sterilization processes are directed and executed between medical equipment manufacturers and sterilization service providers and overseen by regulatory organizations and pharmaceutical companies. In most instances, these processes are manual and paper-based, making them inefficient, unclear, and susceptible to having crucial details fall through the cracks.

With the lack of automation, transparency, and speed, sterilization processes and all the teams and companies involved needed a solution – which is when �鶹ԭ�� and Sartorius began working together. Based on the service, the two organizations developed a prototype that aims to replace manual practices with automated cross-company orchestrations. �鶹ԭ�� Cross-Company Workflow Collaboration is a blockchain-based innovation extending �鶹ԭ��’s no-code workflow capabilities on .

“While many internal processes can be digitized and automated with powerful tools and platforms, cross-company processes are often still very manual and lack transparency,” said Benjamin Stoeckhert, senior business development manager of Blockchain at �鶹ԭ��. “With the cross-company workflow collaboration service, we aim to solve this issue and replace manual, error-prone practices with real-time automation, boosting efficiency and compliance.”

�鶹ԭ�� Cross-Company Workflow Collaboration can be used to orchestrate and automate sterilization processes between Sartorius and other sterilization service providers. In addition to being more dynamic, the service also operates within an immutable shared blockchain ledger, enabling other market participants like pharmaceutical companies and regulators to verify the process compliance via a digital audit trail. This eliminates the need for paper documents.

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In an �鶹ԭ�� Sapphire session with Sartorius, Philippe Sanner and Alban Zacharia, in-house IT consultants with Sartorius, and Stoeckhert from �鶹ԭ�� explained that using �鶹ԭ�� Cross-Company Workflow Collaboration has eliminated repetitive tasks, which in turn has increased security and efficiency.

Sanner said, “The immediate benefits we can think of are permitted by the automatization and collaboration capabilities. This saves a lot of time, and the business process experts can focus on more value-add activities. In addition, reducing paper wherever possible is also very important for Sartorius, as sustainability is one of our core values”.

�鶹ԭ�� Business Technology Platform brings many capabilities in one, unified environment, which allows to seamlessly combine �鶹ԭ�� Cross-Company Workflow Collaboration with �鶹ԭ�� Analytics Cloud. “We have been pretty impressed with the data analytics capabilities. All information is available at the same place, and it is easy to implement personalized, user-friendly KPIs. This helps us detect risks and measure collaboration performance in real time,“ Sanner added.

Zacharia emphasized the importance of openness for cross-company automation: “Another key feature of the service is that it can connect participants with �鶹ԭ�� and non-�鶹ԭ�� systems. This allows scaling to all actors in the process.”

“With this prototype, we can demonstrate what a blockchain-based solution could really look like and we can offer real-time sterilization transparency for our customers,” Zacharia said.

To learn more about �鶹ԭ�� Cross-Company Workflow Collaboration, e-mail cross-company@sap.com.

Corinna Schmidt works in Communications for �鶹ԭ�� New Ventures and Technologies.

The Take: Crypto Regulation Could Quash Blockchain Innovation

�鶹ԭ�� News — Wed, 10 Aug 2022 17:45:39 +0000

What’s News

The cryptocurrency industry has been in the sights of regulators for some time. The latest chapter of this is a battle over who gets to regulate it: the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The SEC says that it should be the regulator because cryptocurrencies are securities. The CFTC believes cryptocurrencies are commodities. What is clear is that it is difficult to categorize cryptocurrencies because they blur the lines between traditional categories of money, stock and commodities.

�鶹ԭ��’s Take

Many in the technology industry are concerned about regulation, no matter who does it.

“I think it requires thoughtful regulation, and it requires regulators who really understand the space,” said Marcus Krug, head of the �鶹ԭ�� Innovation Center Network in Berlin and Potsdam. “But then, I think regulation can actually be a good thing.”

There’s a lot of potential riding on the space. To most, cryptocurrency — a type of blockchain — may be viewed as a tool for speculation or an early-stage payment system.

But many believe blockchain technology has the potential to supercharge innovation. Blockchain is a virtual computer that runs on top of a network of physical computers. Its main characteristic is that it is decentralized and can be open for all to see. This transparency helps to ensure that it will operate as it was designed to. As an open system, which usually requires no authorization to participate, the technology behind cryptocurrencies could upend applications that we know, build and use today.

“We’re looking at it from a whole ecosystem perspective,” Krug said. “There is a pretty mature technology stack right now that’s powering cryptocurrencies, and it’s turning into a more and more mature infrastructure and ecosystem for decentralized applications.”

The technology and ecosystem provide developers with new possibilities for building applications, which don’t require authorized intermediaries who see the transaction through its completion and providing a level of trust that the transaction will occur correctly.

This infrastructure is most popularly used for cryptocurrencies today.

“For me, it’s only a matter of time until that level of innovation is unlocked for different types of cryptocurrencies,” Krug said. “Probably consumer applications, but then increasingly for the enterprise space.”

That will likely generate new demand for cryptocurrencies.

“The more decentralized applications we see, the more this ecosystem will have an intrinsic value, which will be intrinsically linked to the value of the cryptocurrencies that will be used to pay for transactions and the work that’s happening in that ecosystem,” Krug said. “I think that will ultimately underpin the value that cryptocurrencies have.”

Cryptocurrencies also could make payment and business simpler.

“There are a lot of benefits that could come from using stable coins in B2B transactions, because you could get rid of currency volatility, and you could start using one stable coin across the entire business spectrum of your suppliers across the globe,” Krug said. “That comes with a lot of simplification, a lot of benefits on the business side and on the financial side for customers.”

Contact:
Ilaina Jonas
Senior Director, �鶹ԭ�� Global PR
+1 (646) 923-2834
ilaina.jonas@sap.com