JNA Awards 2020 - Jewellery Industry Best Practices

JNA AWARDS • 2020 105 among others. Around that time, Tracr also launched its Beta platform, which ran until March 2020. This gave room for more industry-wide testing, further developments, and eventually, its first release candidate, which offered enhanced integration tools and more complex analytics via the Tracr Insights Portal. To attract more users, Tracr turned to education. “We created the Tracr Community to strengthen our relationship with the diamond industry, and show them how our tool effectively connects the value chain and how it benefits their businesses,” adds Duffy. Diamond journey With Tracr, the journey starts when a producer inputs the stone’s original provenance as a “digital diamond asset” on a shared blockchain ledger. This digital asset is then double-checked using the Tracr Diamond ID and verification service. Once it matches the value chain, a diamond’s complete experience is made available for brands and consumers alike. As an added security feature, Tracr also has a document validation service that links a diamond grading certificate to the digital diamond asset, thus preventing forgery or swapping of certificates. The Tracr platform is a non-commercial initiative; fees for using the platform are kept as low as possible. The team also plans to develop a vibrant business ecosystem around the platform. After having carefully curated industry data, Tracr paves the way for the creation of more services that may range frombusiness and industry insights, to financing and insurance services. “All these services leveraging on the digital assets of Tracr would also be able to keep the industry’s inventory in motion, while reducing risk and increasing business efficiency,” elaborates Duffy. Track record At present, Tracr has registered over 150,000 high-value rough diamonds on the platform. By the end of 2020, it will have captured approximately 50 percent of De Beers’ diamonds, which accounts for approximately 15 percent of the world’s diamond industry. In Tracr’s short history, it has also been recognised for its leadership in the Blockchain space by Forbes , having been listed on The Blockchain 50 List. To ensure that it remains relevant and accessible to all types of businesses in and around the diamond industry, Tracr is currently engaging with over 80 entities and building the foundations for near collaborations. This includes sustainability consultants, non-government organisations and financial institutions, to name a few. It is also currently devising a solution for scanning rough diamonds smaller than four-grainers. “We are excited about the next stage in Tracr’s development, as we continue to prove the importance of having a connected value chain to the industry, ahead of the launch of the production platform later this year,” says Duffy. 1. Tracr’s world-class diverse team at its UK offices 2. The Tracr Diamond Industry Traceability Panel, consisting of representatives of the entire end-to-end diamond value chain 3. Tracr CEO Jim Duffy 4. Jim Duffy, CEO of Tracr, speaks about Tracr’s progress from pilot to production at the 2019 Summer Open House 2 3 4