Product Tracing on Cardano

Build a Web3 interface to bring blockchain-based traceability to small producers needing it the most, abating costs and increasing adoption.

1. Stef - Single Pool Operator, eResearch Analyst (computing solutions for research), Research Scientist accustomed to public delivery

1. Michele - Single Pool Operator, Typescript developer, smart-contract (Plutus) developer

[IMPACT]

The solution will include an intuitive in-browser UI through which the producer can enter a number of details about their products. Some fields in the form will be mandatory (for example, time and location of production) and common fields will be handled as dropdown suggestions (for example, lot number). The form will also contain the possibility of creating custom fields.

Data added in this way will be “compressed” in a unique QR Code, to be added to the product in the physical world. This QR Code will accompany the product in its journey to the consumer, who, in turn, will be able to retrieve product information by scanning the QR Code.

During the process of QR Code creation, the product information will be included as metadata in a transaction which will be registered on Cardano’s Blockchain. Only users with the necessary NFT included in the transaction will be able to submit data relevant to their product. This represents both a “Quality Seal” and an anti-counterfeit measure (please see below in Foreseen challenges).

When the consumer retrieves the QR Code information, they will be able to share this information with their social network, increasing product visibility at no cost to the producer.

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A typical use case scenario could see Ann, who produces an organic-certified wine, and Joe, one of her customers.

Benefit - Increased direct visibility and time saving

Ann currently uses her website and labels to show Joe that her wine is organic. Joe verifies this information by contacting the certifying authority, which is time-consuming and heavily centralized.

In our solution the information is publicly visible on a blockchain. Joe can see it directly, saving time, and Ann can communicate important information directly to Joe. 👍

Benefit - safety of product data

Product certifications (where applicable) can still come from competent authorities, but Ann can show them directly to her customers.

Further, Joe can rest assured that product information registered on Cardano’s blockchain will be safe, nearly-impossible to hack or counterfeit and immutable through time. ⬅️

Benefit - product story-telling on the blockchain at a very low cost

Ann can add a lot more information about her product. Doing so on a website (hers or that of a consortium she is part of) requires a lot of investment in time and money.

With our solution, Ann’s story can be written on a safe, immutable and counterfeit-resistant digital database (the blockchain). All this at extremely low costs (the systems are already in place).

At this stage of the project the product will come at no cost to Ann, who is willing to test it with us. Ann will have a seed from us to start testing, but will need her own ADA to cover the cost of Cardano transactions going forward (a transaction on the Cardano blockchain costs roughly 0.17 ADA).

We plan to integrate our solution with most dApp connected ADA wallets. The in-browser wallet is where Ann will be storing her ADA and NFTs to record transactions on chain.

This is beneficial to Joe as well, because a blockchain-verified story is immutable and safe through time. This is in contrast to websites, which can be hacked, changed and have no version history.

Benefit - tracing in space and time

The above story-tracking has another benefit for Ann and her relationship with Joe: her wine bottles can be followed in space and time.

If Joe has a concern about one of her bottles, she can know in real-time which one, where it was purchased and when.

This makes Ann's life a lot easier if she needs to recall a product, compared to today's systems. This makes Joe happier too, because he can get a quick response to his issue, directly from Ann. 😀

Benefit - incentivize customers to engage with your products

Joe is not very keen to scan QR Codes. Today, there is little Ann can do to resolve this issue.

On Cardano, Ann can think of creative ways to incentivize Joe to do so: for example by offering Joe a collectible NFT, which could be specific to the vintage of one of her wines. Joe could trade these NFTs with his friends or exchange them for ADA on Cardano. He could also choose to try to collect them all, and become more affectionate to Ann's wines. ❤️

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References:

[1] Costs, Benefits and Business Value of Traceability: A Literature Review

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338038880_Costs_Benefits_and_Business_Value_of_Traceability_A_Literature_Review

[2] Consumer valuation of blockchain traceability for beef in the United States

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aepp.13157

Increasing the accessibility of blockchain solutions for traceability and supply chain management via web3 interfaces will help scale these solutions and increase adoption.

This proposal makes direct use of recent advances in Cardano, namely wallet dApp integration and smart contracts, to achieve this goal.

Cardano is an open system, where everyone is free to read and write (but not delete) data. This much freedom may be a problem if we want to be sure the data we read are generated from a trusted source (the Business owner in this case).

The solution we propose is to only consider metadata sent in a transaction containing an NFT (unique). This step will identify the metadata as being generated by someone who is allowed to do so.

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Adoption of blockchain technology at ground level may be faced with some resistance by the prospective client. This may be particularly true for people who have no experience of blockchain or associate blockchains to speculative cryptocurrency markets. 

Our solution to this potential issue lies in a carefully prepared marketing toolkit. In consultation with expert colleagues at Aptissio, we have determined that the product presentation should be clear but not exceedingly technical. Jargon should be avoided where possible, and terminology that may be perceived as negative or too complex replaced with more accessible terms. For example “cryptocurrency” can be “digital money” and “blockchain” can be “immutable digital ledger”.

[FEASIBILITY]

Proposed project phases (times are best estimates and refer to months after start of project):

MONTHS 1-3:

• Defining a metadata format to be used in the final process;
• “Trusted source” NFT minting policy release;
• Early Testnet phase, no UI, only raw transaction submitted and queried;

MONTHS 4-6:

• Creating a simple web UI to input metadata, sending transactions, and reading metadata;
• Creating a mobile UI to scan the generated QR codes;
• Early testers access the product in Testnet;
• Mainnet beta release (intended to be stable);
• Product release;

MONTHS 7-12:

• On-boarding of new clients;
• Scaling of solution;
• Further development (possible avenues may include payment platform and require further funding).

32GB Memory-optimized cloud server (USD 180 /mo) x 2 x 12 months = USD 4320;

Full time software development (40 hours per week - for 24 weeks) = USD 14400;

Full time product placement and client on-boarding (40 hours per week - for 24 weeks) = USD 14400;

Seed grants for beta clients = USD 200 (10 ADA per client, MAX 20 clients);

Travel costs for client on-boarding = USD 300;

Promotional material = USD 500;

Other project costs and incidentals = USD 500.

At this stage of the project we feel that a team of two, with the skills we currently possess, is sufficient to build the platform and engage the clients in the beta testing phase.

[AUDITABILITY]

Progress will be announced through socials such as Twitter and Telegram, through a dedicated profile or channel. We will be posting progress announcements on both the [RABIT] and [ARMN] stake pool webpages. Details will be provided with short videos demonstrating functionality. We aim to provide fortnightly updates and track engagement in the community over time.

Once the Testnet phase is complete (3-5 months after start of project, see above plan for delivery), we will start on-boarding clients for the beta phase on Mainnet. 

Transactions built by our clients will be submitted with their metadata directly to Cardano’s blockchain. We are aiming to see 100 transactions validated through our system within the first 6 months. These data will be visible and readable at a public level, therefore helping to track the project’s progress. 

• Demonstrable functionality of the interface;
• Definition of appropriate metadata format;
• Ease-of-use of web interface for creating appropriate metadata;
• Successful integration with currently available Cardano wallets with dApp connectors (at least 2 separate dApp-capable wallets);

These success metrics will be initially tested in-house in the first 3 months. Very relevant to our goal (bringing product tracing via blockchain to everyone’s reach) is the result of the testing done by our beta program participants in the first 6 months. This is because the level of expertise will vary a lot, and we must make sure that the user experience is fluid and easy to understand for all levels. 

• On-boarding of clients (6-12 months, 3 separate clients);
• Adoption of our solution across multiple enterprise sectors (at least 2);

This is important, because we want to avoid providing a solution that has a specific product or a specific sector in mind. We also want to steer clear of solutions that can only be made available to large entities. 

• Intuitive user experience reported through feedback of our beta program (within 6 months, questionnaires will be provided);
• Lowered costs to product story-telling (quantified independently by our clients);

This is a new proposal.

SDG Rating

9 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure;

12 - Responsible Consumption and Production