The CargoX open platform showcased with full functionality at JOC Logistics Technology conference in Las Vegas

(Las Vegas, 29 October 2018) - The CargoX platform was presented at the JOC Logistics Technology conference in Las Vegas by Patrick Vlačič, CargoX’s maritime legal expert, on stage with Andrew McLoone, director of operations at BDP International.

The Journal of Commerce held the conference with the purpose of disclosing to logistics companies the latest market forecasts and trend analyses, to enable them to stay on top of the market as transportation rates and shipping demands are changing constantly. The event also gave them a chance to meet with potential customers and nurture relationships. More than 250 attendees enjoyed the information-filled event.

Chris Brooks, the executive editor of JOC, opened the conference, and explained how the logistics industry will be impacted by the same technologies that have already transformed the commercial, financial, advertising, insurance, and manufacturing industries, and he pointed out how blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the internet of things will be reshaping the logistics business. He added the caveat that these technologies would be transformative if and only if they do not raise costs, and if they manage to capture the business imagination of the executives.

Peter Tirschwell, senior director of content, maritime and trade at IHS Markit, the leading source of information and insight in critical areas that shape today’s business landscape, has opened the discussion about blockchain’s impact on shipment documentation, where the CargoX open platform for shipping was presented. He emphasized that a host of purported use cases for blockchain technology exist in logistics, but they are mostly in testing phases.

Patrick Vlačič, CargoX’s legal advisor, and Andrew McLoone, director of operations at BDP International, showcased and discussed the finalized and deployed CargoX platform, based on the Blockchain Document Transaction System technology (BDTS), and its first solution - the Smart B/L™.

Vlačič demonstrated the CargoX platform, which, as the first open platform for the shipping industry, was recently fully developed, tested, and deployed into the production environment. He showcased how easy it is to use the public blockchain technology to move paper-based bills of lading to an electronic environment through a blockchain solution, where the targeted advantages of such an approach are reduced costs of physically moving paper documentation around the world while increasing data accuracy, security, and privacy.

“It is not a question whether blockchain is going to become a mainstream technology for information and document exchange and ownership transfer in shipping, logistics, and other industries - it is just a question of how soon this is going to happen,” said Patrick Vlačič, Ph.D., a legal advisor, an expert on maritime, transport and insurance law, a professor at two faculties and the former Minister of Transportation of the Republic of Slovenia.

Andrew McLoone, the director of operations at the global freight forwarder and non-vessel-operating common carrier BDP International, which has 5000+ employees in 133 countries, talked extensively about what the CargoX platform solution means to their business and their shipper customers and why they are looking forward to blockchain’s future.

Other sessions covered the global TMS and the visibility and fate of the forwarder in the digital world, global trade management, the benefits of real-time visibility and predictive analytics, customer engagement in the software age, blockchain adoption timing, logistics startup scaling, AI and machine learning buyer segmentation and analysis, and how VCs view the field.

The Journal of Commerce, the event’s organizer, is published by the IHS Markit group, which has 50,000+ customers in over 140 countries, among them 80+% of the Fortune Global 500 companies, and 94 of the 100 largest US corporations.