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An initiative of the B-Corporation ImpactBuying that serves buying organizations with assured ESG supply chain data since 2009.
An initiative of the B-Corporation ImpactBuying that serves buying organizations with assured ESG supply chain data since 2009.
The B-Corporation ImpactBuying (previously known as SIM Supply Chain) started the initiative in 2019 to support their clients in getting a better insight into complex supply chains. They were actively supported by Rudi Hagedorn of the CGF End2End value chain pillar.
How can companies get trusted data from the first mile of their supply chains until the individual small-holder farmer and supply chain actors? There is a clear opportunity for all actors to collaboratively deliver the answers buyers are looking for that are now locked in data silo’s. The True-code.org initiative solves the lack of access and drastically improves the transparency of complex, high-risk supply chains by addressing the barriers that proprietary tech-based solutions alone can’t solve.
True-code.org tests if a free facility passport- and number in combination with Zero Knowledge Proof technology on a distributed ledger could solve the upstream data challenge. ImpactBuying will continue with several pilots where the main focus is verified deforestation related facts. ImpactBuying’s roadmap is to transfer the True-code.org to a Distributed Autonomous Organisation (DAO) at the end of 2023. As a next step, it will be tested to use for fair value distribution linked to living wages and living income.
Develop solutions that allows free of cost digital passports until the first mile of supply chains and enable actors to interrogate facility passports on ESG questions and receive verified answers that do not reveal private details of the facility if not released by the facility passport owner.
A world where products that facility have a connected string of verified ESG facts, coming from identified facilities, are rewarded.
By following these principles we aim to encourage industry-wide collaboration while at the same time, preserving the incentive for any actor in the supply chain to be rewarded for providing a connected string of verified ESG facts coming from digitally identified facilities. Leading to democratizing of supply chain data and ultimately to fair value distribution until the first mile.
True-Code.org itself is a non- profit organization.
Participation in the True-Code.org network will be open to anyone with a role in the supply chain.
We will provide a True-Code.org facility passport with unique UUID free of charge to any facility in the supply chain.
We will embrace inter-operability with any pre-existing ID system and data repository e.g. supporting seamless links through APIs.
We will protect private details per default – our Zero Knowledge Proof technology is based on hashing of private fields.
The True-code.org (Technical Resource Uniquely Encrypted)is a unique facility identifier, free of charge, that allows to keep sensitive data private. It can be connected to any other identifiers or database: company-owned databases, identification numbers from sustainability standards, etc. This makes it possible to efficiently combine risk data, even if it is kept private, with trusted and verified information from the first to the last mile on compliance and risk.
It’s developed to enable traders and cooperatives to identify their production facilities and deliver focused and validated ESG sustainability information on these to their customers. At the same time they can protect the private details of their business partners. The only public (shared) data on the True-code.org facility passport are country, product category and activity. Suppliers can demonstrate their willingness to deliver transparency and compliance, while respecting their need to guarantee privacy of actors in the supply chain. This allows retailers and brands to financially reward suppliers that deliver the needed answers, as they obtain the evidence that the money is truly received at the location that provided the insights.
A large part of sustainability impact of consumer products is made in ‘the first mile’ of supply chains: in primary production. Traders, connecting both ends of the supply chain, have to protect their business. They want to stay in control of what data on their production facilities they share with their customers. Full end-to-end transparency of high-risk supply chains is not possible today because:
Millions of (smallholder) farmers and producers are not digitally identified.
Transparency requires collaboration but supply chain actors have different interests.
Transparency is costly.
Complete transparency requires connecting data from different sources.
The concept is simple and straightforward. It starts with a buyer that needs transparency until the first mile of a supply chain of a consumer product or ingredient. Because of upcoming due diligence legislation or ESG reporting requirements the buyer needs verified information on the origin of the product and how it was produced. The buyer then requests their supplier to deliver the details of the production locations in their supply chain. The producer organization or trader recognizes the commercial opportunity, however they do not want to share certain data of their supply chain partners to protect their business, and/or to protect their farmers’ privacy.
Through the True-code.org, they can create a facility passport that is based on a unique location with a GPS coordinate. With these facility passports and True-code/UUID numbers, a buyer can ask Zero Knowledge Proof questions that can only be answered by yes/no. It allows getting verified answers on risk related questions for the buyer, while at the same time, protect the data of the rest of the supply chain.
We are taking action to create end-to-end transparency by offering two key services:
1. Free self-service for traders and cooperatives to generate True-code.org facility passports and True-code.org ID’s for (smallholder) farmers and other supply chain actors with a guarantee that private details of facilities are hashed.
2. Free interrogation by buyers on the True-code.org facility passport numbers received from traders or cooperatives that are part of the True-code.org distributed network. With the numbers, Zero Knowledge Proof answers can be asked. The answers that are then received, can be verified by a third party. All verification and validation will be done at a fee, depending on the verification partner.
The majority of ESG supply chain issues are in the first mile of supply chains and linked to the location of each supply chain actor. Deforestation being one of the most important ESG topics. For companies to understand if they are connected to deforestation risks in commodity supply chains, transparency is key.
We are using Ethereum blockchain technology to enable safely storing and distributing the information in the True-code.org network. With this technology we can also use zero-knowledge proof questioning to allow answering simple Yes/No questions without sharing any actual private data information of the True-code.org passports. The only public (shared) data on the True-code.org facility passport are country, product category and activity.
The True-code/UUID serves as a unique identifier and basic set of data for every facility that plays a role in a supply chain. The data with the True-code.org network is exchanged via an API layer. It is also possible to run an on-premise deployment where only the smart contracts will be communicating with the blockchain layer, but no un-hashed passport data will leave the on-premise environment of the True-code.org network participant.
1. Smart contracts acts as the carrier of the location passport and contains public and private parts. From this structure, we determine which data gets shared.
2. Zero Knowledge Proof
is a method that allows us to check if a certain statement is true or not without disclosing any additional information apart from the confirmation.
True-code.org was founded for traders and cooperatives to identify their supply chain facilities for free, hide vulnerable business assets and deliver verified facts to measure progress on positive impact, for example on CO2 reduction, deforestation and living wages. Suppliers can demonstrate their willingness to deliver transparency and compliance, while respecting their need to guarantee privacy of actors in the supply chain.
We are taking action to create end-to-end transparency by offering three key services: free facility passports for smallholders and other supply chain actors, automated access to all existing verified safety and sustainability databases, and an interface that protects commercially sensitive information.
The technology is especially interesting for retailers who have committed to deforestation pledges, need (verified) answers from commodity traders and or cooperatives that are not willing and/or able to share the private details of their business partners. True-code.org allows traders and/or cooperatives to demonstrate their willingness to deliver transparency, while respecting their need for privacy.
The True-Code.org is free to use, because we believe that only then real transparency in end-to-end value chains can be reached.
No, right now it has only been tested in the food industry but can be applied in the whole FMCG market.
The True-code.org is available for everyone in the supply chain. It mainly was founded for traders and cooperatives, to identify their supply chain facilities and deliver verified facts for free while hiding vulnerable business assets.