Italian Ministry of Economic Development To Use Blockchain To Protect SMEs

Stefano PATUANELLI, Minister of Economic Development of Italy, presented a pilot project, developed jointly with IBM and a number of Italian textile and high fashion enterprises, aimed at protecting national manufacturers from counterfeiting.

The project was presented in the building of the Ministry of Economic Development of Italy, in the presence of Minister Patuanelli himself and manager of the Italian branch of IBM Enrico CEREDA, who said the following:

“This is the first experimental model that meets specific needs and can be developed on the basis of a progressive approach and long-term vision, as well as being easily reproduced in other industrial conditions, also because small and medium-sized enterprises today need system support to increase transparency and protect their brands. This is the first project of its kind in global practice.”

Minister Patuanelli said that blockchain technology has huge potential, in particular for the textile industry and high fashion. Enterprises will not incur any costs in the implementation of this project. The goal of the project is the traceability of Italian-made products using blockchain and distributed ledgers.

“We work at the European level in the field of blockchain with the aim of exporting the Italian model of protecting production chains through innovative technologies. We believe that our country can play a leading role at the EU level in this area, ”

— emphasized the Minister of Economic Development. The main task set by the project developers is to allow the consumer to make the choice of goods based on the full information.