Germany’s largest airline, Lufthansa, and enterprise software giant SAP have announced the so-called Aviation Blockchain Challenge, a competition that invites startups to come up with ideas for blockchain use cases in the aviation industry, from enhancing travelers’ experience to streamlining processes like supply chain and maintenance.
As SAP noted in a media release on Friday, the distributed ledger technology (DLT), as blockchain is also known, is already adopted in the financial sector, while the travel and mobility sector is only exploring it. To boost uptake, especially in the air transport market, the two German companies have decided to challenge startups to develop project ideas revolving around this new technology. The initiative is backed by Lufthansa Innovation Hub and the SAP.iO Foundry.
The challenge aims to collect the best blockchain project ideas that fall under the following three categories:
- Traveler Challenge – startups are invited to come up with ideas that would improve the travel experience and consider uses cases like booking, buying tickets, accessing loyalty programs, and getting checked at the airport.
- Airline Challenge – this category is focused on ideas that address airline-specific processes like optimizing data sharing across company divisions and entities.
- Supplier Challenge – the third category seeks project ideas that can transform maintenance in the aviation supply chain, with blockchain potentially used to streamline processes like document digitizing and tracking.
The deadline for submissions is August 31, 2018. The best ideas will be selected in Berlin, Germany, in October this year by a jury with five members including Christian Langer, Lufthansa’s chief digital officer; Roland Schuetz, CIO at Lufthansa; Alexa Gorman, senior VP of SAP.iO Fund & Foundry; and Artiona Bogo, software engineer at SAP.
Startups are quote motivated as they can win a potential pilot project with Lufthansa, increase their media visibility, get professional mentoring, and secure an office space in Berlin for three months to develop the project ideas. The finalists will also access SAP’s blockchain-as-a-service platform, which was launched last month.
Gleb Tritus, managing director of the Lufthansa Innovation Hub, commented:
“First of all, we are looking for a great variety of inspiring and groundbreaking blockchain ideas across the whole aviation value chain. It is crucial to “filter the noise” and to find the right starting point where blockchain can deliver clear value. The rest is up to a pilot project that we certainly would love to facilitate together with SAP.”
“The best-case result would be a blockchain-based solution that fits certain aspects of our IT agenda and infrastructure, our strategic focus areas regarding digitization, and has a potential to scale and create clear bottom-line impact,” he added.
Last year, Lufthansa invested in Swiss blockchain startup Winding Tree by taking part in its initial coin offering (ICO).
This article appeared first on Cryptovest
