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One of the most famous cryptographic machines was the one invented by Alan Turing to decrypt German message encryption during World War 2
Understanding blockchain A pharmaceutical supply chain case study
T Ashley Kemball-Cook HEAD OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, QADRE
Ashley Kemball-Cook is Head of Business Development for Qadre, a blockchain product development company with products in a number of sectors including: supply chain management, anti-counterfeiting, and identity
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ry to imagine if your life depended on medication but, without you realising, the medicine you’re actually receiving is only chalk or worse, poison. All around the world, real medicines are swapped with fake medicines as they are transported to the customer. Interpol estimates1 that around one million people die due to counterfeit pharmaceuticals each year. Blockchain technology can bring transparency, accountability and trust to the pharmaceutical supply chain, ensuring vital, life-saving medicine reaches the people that need it most.
W H AT I S B LO C K C H A I N ?
The technologies underpinning blockchain have existed for many years and are, in some sense, simple. The combination of four pre-existing technologies creates a new, transformational technology – blockchain. Blockchain technology holds the potential to save lives, transform many industries, and ultimately create significant value for both society and business around the globe.
These pre-existing technologies are: Databases: provide the ability to store, organise and query data. Cryptographic Systems: ensure that once stored, data can’t be modified. Primitive cryptography was used by the Egyptians, using only their sharp minds. The cryptography used in most blockchains is so complex it requires advanced computers with high computing power to process. Public Key Systems: provide individuals or items a digital identity that can be input onto the blockchain. Public key systems are split into two parts, public keys and private keys. For example: on twitter, I can be identified by my Twitter handle (which represents my public key in this example) but I can only control my twitter account if I have my password (private key). On a blockchain, a user or item can be identified through their public key, but the corresponding private key is needed to access or control the account.