CottonTrack aims to develop an electronic access system for data entry, management and governance that will provide all the necessary information from the field and the producer, to the ginning plant, the intermediate stages to the final product, and its handling in the supply chain. It will consist of a management environment where each stakeholder will be able to enter relevant production certifications and metadata such as production date, release date, coding, barcode etc and other elements that contribute to traceability throughout the logistics value chain.

All involved, from the producer to the consumer, will be able to trace and display the features of a product through special interfaces developed for web and mobile devices. The use of Blockchain technology ensures data integrity and can therefore enhance confidence in the value of cotton products and thus their competitive advantage, as well as facilitate the creation of a “Quality Certification” system for cotton origins and cultivation practices.

• The international value chains of cotton as well as many other agri-food value chains require process of confirmation of origin and quality
• Increased transparency in the agri-food supply chains (origin and metadata of the product)
• Immediate identification and tracking capabilities of cotton products for all stakeholders in the value chain  through special interfaces (web and mobile)

The design and development of the blockchain technology platform will be based on the existing relevant know-how and research results of CERTH/ITI such as: (a) Blockchain-as-a-Service applications (BaaS), demonstrating extensive experience in developing smart contracts and decentralized apps (dApps) for privacy preserving  logging and auditing mechanisms, identity management and data handling and (b) various blockchain applications in research projects in Agrifood, Energy, Health and other sectors.

• To address data integrity and security, which can be achieved by leveraging decentralized ledger technologies such as blockchains
• To integrate decentralised applications and ensure that data integrity is preserved by blockchain mechanisms.
• To address critical programmatic integration of metadata and IoT data at various stages as it has not yet been incorporated because technical feasibility issues
• For all the above issues, a short pilot project is needed in close cooperation with an interested business partner from the cotton processing value chain.

The suggested concept can be implemented to many other and more generalized Blockchain based Supply Chain Traceability solutions for the wider Agro-Bioeconomy sector. Towards this end, more and more collaborations are emerging, such as Barilla², an Italian pasta maker, and Walmart's US chain with IBM³ to address transparency and traceability in the agri-food production and supply cycle⁴. Provenance⁵ also works to enable businesses to build trust in their products and supply chains using mobile, blockchain and open data supported software. This ensures food safety and also contributes to reducing food fraud and increasing brand reputation.