Late last week, a leading research company released a report on blockchain in the global telecommunications industry. The report forecast that the telecommunications market will likely grow at a CAGR of 77.9 percent during the forecast period and reach $1.37 billion in revenue by 2024. According to the report, North America will likely dominate the blockchain in the telecommunications market during the forecast period due to the high presence of key players offering solutions for the industry. Rising security concerns, demand for fraud management and 5G implementation are reportedly key factors driving the growth of blockchain in the telecommunications industry. According to a separate digital enterprise report released this week, 61 percent of high-profile digital companies worldwide are investing in blockchain. The report surveyed 1,050 IT, security and engineering purchasing decision-makers from global companies with at least $1 billion in revenue.

On Monday, a multinational Swiss food technology firm revealed two blockchain-based food safety products. The firm currently processes 70 percent of the world's chocolate, 65 percent of the world's grain products, and 30 percent of global rice and pulses. According to reports, storing this food safety data on the blockchain allows stakeholders to monitor and verify decontamination status during an outbreak with a high degree of certainty in seconds. In other supply-chain industry news, a nonprofit organization that develops and maintains global data standards for business communication announced that two of its supply-chain pilots are gearing up for full launch in November 2019. The first initiative is a traceability/recall mandate by a leading global retailer with their suppliers of green leafy vegetables; and the second is an initiative within the pharmaceutical industry to support new government regulations surrounding salable returns.

The International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA), which aims to implement data standards for the blockchain industry, officially launched this week. INATBA brings together blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) industry stakeholders (e.g., startups, policymakers, international organizations and regulators) and aims to develop a framework that promotes public and private sector collaboration, regulatory convergence, and legal predictability, and ensures the system's integrity and transparency. INATBA's goal is to facilitate the mainstream adoption and scale-up of blockchain and DLT across multiple sectors.

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