BNSF Railway Joins Blockchain Alliance

BNSF Railway, a major U.S. freight railroad network owned by Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway, has become the latest member of the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA).

Announcing the news on Feb. 5, BNSF said in a statement that it joins the alliance in an effort to work with other members to set standards for how data can be transacted within a transportation blockchain, as well as how that data needs to be formatted and structured.

Muru Murugappan, BNSF's CIO and vice president of technology services, commented:

"Blockchain technology has the potential to change several aspects of the transportation industry and it is important that the industry comes together to align around a set of standards."

With the move, BNSF also becomes one of the first railroad network operators in North America eyeing a role for blockchain in pushing through an industry transformation.

BiTA currently has over 200 members from the logistics, transportation and technology industries, and aims to develop standard applications of blockchain technology for the group's members.

Current notably members include SAP, UPS as well as Fedex and the logistic arm of China's e-commerce giant JD.com – the latter two joining the alliance just last month in an effort to integrate blockchain into their daily operations.

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