BITA Standards Council Merges with GBBC

On July 17, it was announced that the BITA Standards Council (BSC) will be merging with the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC) and become the global transportation and commerce initiative of the GBBC. The two organizations, dedicated to global commerce and blockchain technology respectively, seek to improve global supply chains with blockchain.

The merger between the two organizations will have more than 500 institutional members and 231 Ambassadors across 109 jurisdictions and disciplines. Significantly, BITA’s Board of Directors composed of leaders from FedEx, Delta Air Lines, UPS, Salesforce and GBBC will become the BITA Leadership Team and will drive strategy with GBBC’s Leadership Team.

“GBBC welcomes BITA and its esteemed leadership team to our ‘global village of leaders, doers, and change-makers.’ This merger underscores GBBC’s continued commitment to convening different communities together to solve some of the biggest business challenges of today,” said Sandra Ro, the CEO of GBBC on the cooperation between the two organizations.

BITA’s Leadership Team will be led by Dale Chrystie, BSC Chairman and FedEx Business Fellow and Blockchain Strategist. On behalf of BITA, he states that, “blockchain and emerging technologies will transform global commerce but… it will take a pro-competitive global village and a ‘coopetition’ to scale this technology, and the standards supporting this technology.” (x)

Currently, BITA is focused on Multi-Modal Shipment/Inventory Tracking and Tracing (STT) in which shipment will be tracked throughout its journey between different logistics providers and types of transport (i.e. shipment location, party, and tracking). Complementary areas that may be explored in the future include distributed identity, customs clearance and IoT metadata.

David Treat, GBBC Chair and Senior Managing Director at Accenture, said, “This significant milestone is underpinned by a shared vision… to accelerate the development of standards that benefit businesses and consumers around the world. (By) combining (the) scale and expertise of these two entities, we will help to shape a future for Web3 and blockchain that will enable businesses to collaborate more effectively and efficiently across the global supply chain.”

Kenja also celebrates this important milestone in modernizing the supply chain process and anticipates the positive impact of the project together with the GBBC. The company and its CEO, Ted Katagi, who is an ambassador for GBBC in Japan, has been working towards the advancement of various fields including supply chain with the power of blockchain technology.

The GBBC is associated with two other organizations next to BITA. InterWork Alliance joined the GBBC in 2021 as an initiative that empowers organizations to adopt and use token-powered services in day-to-day operations, bringing inclusivity to globally distributed applications. Global Digital Finance (GDF) merged with GBBC last year and operates as the UK-based financial services division of the GBBC. They are focused on the adoption of best practices for crypto-assets and digital finance technologies through the development of conduct standards.

For the official press release by the GBBC, please visit newswire.