On the other hand, as data becomes more and more precious for companies, the privacy of that data, and the security of the citizens involved becomes equally important. The dangers of a surveillance state or data manipulation by larger tech companies becomes a serious possibility. The key question in this domain, centers upon creating a balance between data management, and a citizen’s privacy: how can one achieve some sort of equilibrium between massive data sharing and configuration, while also maintaining the privacy of each individual?

Ambrosus and the Future of Data:

For Ambrosus, smart cities provide an opportunity to increase the quality and safety of a person’s everyday life, while also spreading data out amidst a decentralised network so as to ensure that no data is used to infringe upon the privacy of a person. At the same time, AMB-NET will be readily applicable to a city’s smart supply chain; their air quality monitoring system; their water quality testing and management systems, and even a city’s local agricultural practices. The main point, is that Ambrosus is a holistic solution: it can accommodate any industry, or facet of the real world that requires an end-to-end secure data management solution.

Smart Supply Chain Management:

As detailed by Dr. Stefan Meyer, Chief Technology Officer, the future of food and medicine centers upon the concept of personalization: In the future, supply chains will become faster paced and more complex as more and more global products rise in demand for each consumer’s preference. Medicine, in contrast to how it is made today, will be made merely hours before it is used in a surgery or prescribed to a patient.

To make supply chains “smart” Ambrosus will eventually be capable of fully automatizing the supply chain process, enabling smart devices to make quick decisions, communicate with one another, automatically alert a stakeholder, and even execute a payment or provide a refund. Such solutions, involve machine learning and artificial intelligence, as well as features like smart containers made specifically for certain products, and even cutting edge supply chain security systems currently awaiting a patent. Based in the Ambrosus Innovation Laboratory, these ‘smart’ solutions demonstrate Ambrosus’ capability of not only providing a solution for the problems of today (basic track and trace), but even more so the demands of tomorrow.

Smart Solutions for Smart Cities:

While Ambrosus specializes in the quality assurance and management of food and pharmaceutical products, the Ambrosus Network (AMB-NET) has been designed in such a fashion to allow for the recording and configuration of data from virtually any source, including water, air, and the farming conditions of a crop or commodity.

Ambrosus’ solution to water centers upon smart water management and quality assurance: by using a smart sensor to monitor the arsenic or lead levels in the water supply of a city, the data from such water can be configured into an application whereby each and every individual can see in real-time the quality of the water they are using. Such a solution is ideal, given the fact that once the sensors are placed in a city’s water management system, or in the pipes beneath a city, the sensor will continue to send readings to the Ambrosus Network, without being consumed or needing immediate replacement.

A second use example of AMB-NET’s applicability to smart cities is in air quality monitoring: as the article discussed from Fortune explained, with changes in resource production levels, and increases in wildfires, earthquakes and other environmental events, the quality of a city’s air stands to become dangerously polluted. With future IoT sensors, it will become possible to connect smart devices to different parts of a city, in order to monitor a wide variety of gases:

· The carbon dioxide levels (CO2)

· Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

· Formaldehyde (HCHO)

· Phosphine (PH3)

· Hydrogen sulphide (H2S)

· Carbon monoxide (CO)

· Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)

As such, governments who wish to demonstrate their capabilities of ensuring safe living conditions for their citizens, will look to such systems. Meanwhile citizens, who need to decide what time of day is best to go exercise, shop, or socialize, will likewise be able to check up on the overall air quality, once a generic app has been designed.

Third and finally, Ambrosus has the potential to revolutionize agriculture and farming practices: as cities grow in size, and on-demand food, beverages, and medicines become the norm, significant amounts of food will need to be harvested or sourced nearby. For greenhouses and farmers, a variety of benefits can be derived from accessing real-time data of the status of their crops through the Ambrosus Network:

· Understanding the composition and quality of their soil.

· Planning based on the effect rain has on their fields.

· Having a GPS location certified for tax exemption purposes.

· Proving that there are no chemicals or pesticides in the soil and thus in the produce.

· Demonstrating the organic nature of certain products.

· When droughts occur, farmers who have data to prove the poor land composition can file effective claims with their insurance provider.

With many more possibilities also available, Ambrosus ultimately has the potential to transform not only entire supply chain industries but rather, entire smart cities. As data becomes more and more precious, having end-to-end security (from a hardware device all the way to the blockchain) around the data being used, becomes a valued necessity.

Most importantly, the best part of the Ambrosus solution is that it is decentralised: as there is no central node in the network, data cannot be held by a single central entity and used to invade the privacy of citizens or to manipulate consumer preferences. The fact that data will be scattered among thousands of Atlas nodes, and all private data will be stored on a number of Hermes nodes, means that all data will ultimately be visible to public scrutiny: no private companies will possess the capability of ‘weaponizing’ data, or increasing surveillance on citizens.

Within the next 5 to 10 years, smart cities, and other forms of smart management will ultimately become commonplace in the day to day lives of millions of people. Ambrosus can provide an integrated solution to the data needs of such people while also making sure that the same data is used strictly for the purpose that it is intended to be used for. At the end of the day, the consumer-centric model that Ambrosus has created, is revolutionary in the benefits and security it provides to consumers: not only does the consumer possess significant amounts of trustworthy data at their fingertips, but all such data is also secured, protected, and decentralised so as to be used ethically, and for its intended purpose.

Future Growth:

Altogether, in the future, the need for a public, decentralised, and secure data management solution will become a necessity for supply chains, cities, and farms alike. Ambrosus aspires to reach such heights based on the current growth of its ecosystem, as well as its expertise in IoT solutions.

Ultimately, the power of the Ambrosus ecosystem lies in the fact that AMB-NET is easily compatible with an indefinite number of data management solutions: whether a government, company, or individual wishes to track and trace water, chemicals, or rainfall, Ambrosus can digitally accommodate such problems in a cost-effective and efficient manner. As demand for such solutions increases into the future, Ambrosus will stand ready to deliver the most secure smart management solution currently in existence.