A year has passed since we developed the initial version of OriginTrail’s roadmap. Over the course of last year, we have achieved amazing things, met thousands of interesting people, shared excitement for blockchain technology with hundreds of companies, and — most importantly — started building the OriginTrail protocol, which is bound to become the standard for blockchain-based data exchange in global supply chains.

Protocol Adoption Has Always Been So Much More Than a Roadmap

We are immensely proud of everything our team achieved so far. More than 200 companies are already trailing and exploring protocol functionalities. We know our’s is a mission larger than one company, so, we successfully set up the Trace Alliance — a collaboration hub that already includes 46 member organizations (and is growing!) who are sharing their experience in implementing the blockchain and the OriginTrail protocol. We are proud to be pioneers in real-world blockchain implementation.

The previous roadmap was primarily focused on development releases, but the OriginTrail team has achieved many important business development milestones to this date. The following are some of the most important ones:

OriginTrail was the only blockchain project to receive an award from the Walmart Food Safety Collaboration Center in Beijing and be admitted to its inaugural Innovation Pipeline.

We implemented the first alpha project with Yimishiji, a premium online food marketplace from Shanghai, China.

OriginTrail partnered with forensic laboratories SCI and Hoan Vu in the world’s first case of connecting and integrating key scientific information and laboratory information management systems with the blockchain.

We signed a partnership with EVRYTHNG, a platform that collects, manages and applies real-time data from smart products and smart packaging to drive Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications. OriginTrail is part of their Blockchain Integration Hub, meaning that the protocol is offered as a solution to EVRYTHNG’s partners seeking to utilize the blockchain.

OriginTrail has partnered with GS1 Slovenia to promote GS1 standards and blockchain technology in global supply chains.

We partnered with TagItSmart to provide the foundation for tracking wine from the vineyard to the point of sale.

We were invited by the European Commission to present our project at their offices to the world’s leaders in e-commerce, as a part of EU’s anti-counterfeit initiative.

What We Learned After Launching the Testnet

This summer has been very busy for our team. Ever since the testnet went live on June 29th, after an intense six months of development, we have been testing and further improving it, alongside companies and our devoted community, both of whom contributed with a lot of valuable insights. The companies that participated in the testnet have started preparing their systems and processes for the mainnet and usage of the actual protocol.

The initial feedback was unanimous: the OriginTrail protocol is a great solution that shifts how we think about data exchange in the corporate environment today, and enables the extraction of new value out of data produced throughout the supply chain. Yet, by helping companies join the testnet and talking to hundreds of companies that are interested in joining the main network, it has become obvious that the OriginTrail protocol implementation can offer so much more.

Initially, we planned for the OriginTrail protocol to be used to tackle supply chain challenges for users who are directly or indirectly part of the physical goods distribution cycle. We have developed use cases (working pilots) with food and non-food producers, forensic laboratories, logistics companies and e-commerce providers. However, in the pipeline of companies interested in applying the protocol, there is a much greater variety of verticals (industries) and use cases outside supply chain management optimization. The protocol we are building is at its very core a data exchange solution. Using it makes sense in all instances of data exchange between partners who don’t necessarily trust each other.

The adoption, as seamless as it technically is, tends to take some time in organizations. The majority of larger companies require hands-on assistance with the implementation of the protocol and a reasonable adoption time is needed. In order to be able to offer quality service for organizations to leverage the technology for their benefit, we needed to re-allocate more resources to provide a highly-customized, good onboarding experience. Whereas it would be technically possible to launch the mainnet at the end of September, we would like to make the most out of this one-time opportunity for all the stakeholders in the OriginTrail ecosystem.

OriginTrail will move forward the launch of the OriginTrail Decentralized Network (ODN) for some months. It is now expected for Q1 2019. You can already find the updated roadmap on our website.

New Market Opportunities Ahead

Our strategic focus remains the global adoption of the OriginTrail Protocol. There is a lot of interest for the implementation of the blockchain-based solution. We are continuing to nurture opportunities and gain traction in Asia. In the EU, we will lead blockchain implementation for a major EU-funded project in agriculture with EUR 20 million of funding and over 100 collaborating partners across Europe.

We are excited to announce key activities for the following months, leading to a strong launch of the ODN (the mainnet). We have many things planned, but here are two that are coming very soon:

We will organize an ambitious open call for use cases and selected participants will receive valuable support in implementing the OriginTrail protocol. Up to 10 projects will be voted on by token holders. We are looking for a variety of projects, from niche to large-scale use, that will enable the trial of OriginTrail in a wide range of different use cases. Stay tuned for the open call announcement, coming out by the end of this month!

and selected participants will receive valuable support in implementing the OriginTrail protocol. Up to 10 projects will be voted on by token holders. We are looking for a variety of projects, from niche to large-scale use, that will enable the trial of OriginTrail in a wide range of different use cases. Stay tuned for the open call announcement, coming out by the end of this month! The OriginTrail Network Explorer, an exciting new web platform that will give us all an ability to verify data on the OriginTrail network and therefore easily check that data is authentic

Our goals are set higher than ever before. We are empowered by our experiences from the past year, strong partnerships we have built so far, and the amazing community that has supported us all this time. Thanks for your ongoing support.

Trace on!