Blockchain is about the secure transfer of ownership, and logistics is about planning and executing the physical movement of a transfer. OpenPort will generate the OpenPort “Open” token (OPN), a secondary asset built on smart contracts within the blockchain ecosystem and used in running OpenPort’s decentralized applications.Tokens will fuel smart contracts.

Further, the OPN and platform are designed to deliver the following specific benefits:

• Speed and Cost Controls: OPN allows better control of speed and lowered transaction costs in an industry where margins for transporters can be slim (less than 5%, improving over time with the adoption of OpenPort technology). The need for controlled and responsive customer service timelines for OpenPort’s growing volume of shipment activity requires a solution where transactions can be completed more rapidly than with other existing solutions.
• Security: OPN is the principal mechanism of exchange in the OpenPort marketplace, allowing real-time spot bidding and contract settlement between shippers and transporters, and access to a full range of other services including the supply chain dashboard, ePOD, and Transport Management System (TMS) on a stand-alone basis. It is critical that these smart contracts be safe from external threats and that agreed rates and sales information be kept confidential and secure – a blockchain with proprietary tokens optimizes this security and reduces risk of improper data access.

Developing and Connecting the Logistics Ecosystem – the Value of dApps

Shipper and transporter requirements vary from market to market, and industry to industry. The exact data needed for Hong Kong – Macau – China cross border shipments for consumer goods is different from cement transport in Pakistan, or the needs of pharmaceutical suppliers and transporters in India. OpenPort will support our core mission bringing transparency to the often-opaque logistics industry with the power of decentralized technology, but at the same time use the OPN to connect this ecosystem, through basic licensing fees on participants in the transportation ecosystem. See section 2.6 below for more detail.