- An Irish start-up has won a European award for contributing to Blockchain Standards
- The start-up, Origin Chain Networks, uses Blockchain to create agri-food supply chain solutions
- OCN was nominated for the award by the National Standards Authority of Ireland
10th September 2020
Founder and CEO at Origin Chain Networks (OCN), Fiona Delaney, has picked up a prestigious award at the European Committee for Standardization’s (CEN and CENELEC) “Standards+Innovation” Awards. The 2020 ceremony took place this morning to celebrate andacknowledge the important contributions of research and innovation to standardization across Europe.
Ms. Delaney, who was nominated by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI), was awarded the accolade for her involvement in standardization in the field of interoperable blockchain infrastructure. Ms. Delaney and OCN submitted a unique agri-food application of blockchain called Universal Farm Compliance to the ‘Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies’ Standards Committee.
The use case describes a blockchain-enabled platform available to farmers and agri-compliance bodies, facilitating rapid and near real-time data-sharing. Universal Farm Compliance helps farmers and the entire agri-food ecosystem to implement a safer, more transparent food supply chain, and advances digital transformation in the agri-food industry.
Speaking on the achievement, Ms. Delaney said:
“’The team at Origin Chain are delighted to receive this European Innovation and Standards award from CEN-CENELEC. We have found Europe to be a strong and influential advocate for blockchain and other emerging technologies; providing infrastructure, guidance and mobilising a uniquely talented and technical community to pool insights, knowledge and new approaches. This atmosphere of excellence is one we are proud to be part of, to learn from, to share and to celebrate together our achievements. It is an honour to be acknowledged by our peers in this way. Thank you to our Technical Committee, NSAI and CEN-CENELEC for supporting our journey.”
Geraldine Larkin, CEO at NSAI said:
“This is a fantastic achievement for Origin Chain Networks and a proud day for NSAI. We thank and commend Fiona for her hard work, her contributions to Standardization, and the real difference she is making to the agri-food sector with her future-forward application of blockchain. OCN’s story is a shining example of how engaging with Standards can make a positive impact in a company, an industry, and indeed in wider society all over the world – In fact, the use case to which Ms. Delaney has contributed is now being adopted by the United Nations.”
In total, 18 projects and individuals had been nominated by Standards organisations across Europe. Other Irish nominees for the award included Gerald Craddock & James Hubbard of the National Disability Authority, and Aquasmart, a Horizon 2020 initiative led by Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) relating to the aquaculture sector.
