The U.S. State Department along with companies like Coca Cola, Bitfury and Emercoin are joining hands to fight forced labor, by using blockchain technology. The objective is to leverage the ledger technology and create a secure registry for workers that can be used to fight forced labor, child labor and other such exploitative malpractices.
Blockchain technology is quite popular in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. However, lately there has been a constant endeavor to use the ledger technology of blockchain for humanitarian purposes. This will be the first instance when the State Department will use this technology in such a manner.
Non-profit organization Blockchain Trust Accelerator, who is involved in this project, stated that the objective is to use the ledger to ensure a safe and secure way to validate all contractual labors of Coca-Cola and other organizations.
Companies like Bitfury and Emercoin will be developing the technology behind successful functioning of this project.
The role of the State Department will be more of an advisory level, where they will furnish their expertise on labor rights and worker protection.
The reason for this approach is because lately, companies like Coca-Cola faced severe flak for failing to protect their workers who harvest sugarcane. Hence, companies like Coca-Cola have committed to addressing this issue and this collaboration with the State Department is one such initiative.
Brent Wilson, Head of global workplace rights at Coca Cola stated, “We are partnering with the pilot of this project to further increase transparency and efficiency of the verification process related to labor policies within our supply chain.”
