ON TRACK
The Deputy Editor spoke to Pharma.Aero Chairman
Nathan De Valck and Vice Chairman Jaisey Yip about
the recent progress of the Global Pharma Tracker tool.
Back in March, nonprofi
t organisation
Pharma.Aero
announced its pharma
supply chain tracker tool,
Global Pharma Tracker
(GPT), which was developed
in collaboration with datasharing
platform provider
Nallian. GPT follows a
pharma shipment from A
to B, with the capabilities
of real-time tracking across
a number of KPIs, such as
shipment temperature and
location, on a blockchain
platform, thereby bringing
supply chain visibility to
stakeholders.
Since March, a pilot project
converting the initial Proof of
Concept to a prototype has
been concluded, with positive
results.
A successful prototype
Pharma.Aero and Nallian codeveloped
the GPT prototype
for a common, data-sharing
digital platform using live
data from real shipments on a
selected trade lane, belonging
to one of its shipper members.
“Nallian provided the
technology for the datasharing
platform; Pfi zer
allowed the use of its
shipments; the airline we used
in the testing of the lane was
Singapore Airlines; and DHL
Global Forwarding was the
forwarder actively involved in
the pilot,” explains De Valck.
“Together with our Pharma.
Aero members, we followed
22 pharma shipments on the
Brussels-Singapore-Sydney
trade lane and used the data of
these 22 shipments to test the
GPT platform. And we found
that from a technical point of
view, the platform allows the
users to visualise the door-todoor
performance of the entire
pharma supply chain.”
This effectively addresses
the visibility gaps in the
PHARMACEUTICALS
pharma supply chain,
says Yip. “Through
data sharing by and across
the different actors in the supply chain in a trusted and secured
environment, the GPT identifi es and aggregates essential data,
and provides the necessary transparency that the industry has
been demanding,” she enthuses.
The biggest hurdle
Proving the technological capability was the easy part, however;
the diffi cult part was convincing the supply chain participants
to share data. “As expected, there was initial reluctance in
data-sharing and we were confronted with questions on
data ownership,” De Valck relates of the challenges. “This
was basically overcome by a lot of hard work: by listening to
expectations and requirements of participants; by detailing the
value proposition that could be unlocked if data would be shared;
and, third, by very clearly stipulating what the data would be
used for in participation contracts,” he explains. Participants can
thus control accessibility of their data based on this agreement.
The data-sharing and governance protocol that was derived
from the prototype can now set the baseline for the GPT, Yip
stresses. “We now have that knowledge and understanding and
can apply them on other lanes. The groundwork has been done –
and it’s probably that aspect of the project that took us the most
time,” she admits.
This data-sharing protocol was one of the key deliverables
of the project, along with two others. “First, identifying value
creation for each participant. Many were reluctant even when we
had the legal framework in place, but we explained to them that
the perceived confl ict between transparency and liability should
not be a concern, and that the derived value is signifi cantly
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