Indian IT Giant Joins StaTwig on Blockchain-Based Vaccine Tracing System
- StaTwig’s VaccineLedger solution was first trialed in 2019, but will now be implemented worldwide thanks to Tech Mahindra’s partnership.
- The blockchain-based platform was designed to prevent the distribution of expired vaccines, stock depletion, and counterfeiting.
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Indian IT giant Tech Mahindra has partnered up with startup StaTwig to roll-out a blockchain-based solution for the global COVID-19 vaccine supply chain, Tech Mahindra said in a press release on 5 July.
According to the announcement, Tech Mahindra will leverage StaTwig’s VaccineLedger blockchain solution to improve transparency and prevent failures in the COVID-19 vaccine supply. Designed to trace vaccines from manufacturers to consumers, the platform will prevent the distribution of expired vaccines, stock depletion, and counterfeiting. The founder and CEO of StaTwig, Sid Chakravarthy, said in a statement:
“With VaccineLedger, we are aiming to re-design and re-engineer the traditional supply chain information systems to give continuous visibility and complete traceability. With the help of VaccineLedger, vaccine manufacturers and governments can work together to prevent counterfeiting, cold-chain failures and stock outs.”
A graduate of the UNICEF Innovation Fund, StaTwig has been trialing its blockchain-based solution since 2019. The company will finally be able to support VaccineLedger’s implementation worldwide thanks to its partnership with Tech Mahindra, which will support StaTwig with its expertise in resource scale and system integration.
VaccineLedger has been designed to support the integration of smart contracts and IoT technologies in order to monitor expiry dates and temperature controls for sensitive vaccines. Tech Mahindra has also decided to invest in the co-development and testing of various enterprise security modules for the mobile and web application of VaccineLedger, in order to meet the unique requirements from manufacturers and state governments.
The need for a blockchain-based vaccine solution became evident a couple of days ago, when a vaccine swap deal between Israel and the United Kingdom fell apart. Blamed on a technical problem, the failed deal resulted in the waste of around 1 million Pfizer vaccines.
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COVID-19 illustration. Shutterstock
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