The term Silicon Economy has meanwhile become widely known in academia, but in the business world there is still a lack of clarity about its specific content. However, the more specific applications find their way into production and logistics, the more tangible the vision becomes. With a multitude of application-oriented and illustrative projects, the path is currently leading step by step, but straight into the Silicon Economy. Dr. Stephan Peters, Member of the Board of the Rhenus Group, explains why the logistics service provider is so committed to the project.

Open Source has changed the way software is developed: it became an integral part of almost every modern software solution today. Initial approaches of providing source codes for solutions and creating community-based methods and tools for collaboration have evolved into perfected, highly professional approaches to modern software development and project management from which companies significantly benefit. DB Schenker is also among the companies that believe in open source: the group developed its own open source strategy and is consistently pursuing it.

The crypto currency “LogCoin” which is based on the blockchain technology should enable the conclusion of smart contracts in logistics. The start-up LedgerEngineers – a Fraunhofer IML spin-off – has been pushing this ahead for some time on the basis of the research in the institute, however, in the B2C area. CFO and Co-Founder Natalia Broza-Abut talks about the origins and objectives of the young company to make logistics more digital with “LogCoin” – and the commitment to the European Blockchain Institute.

Logistics and trade companies are constantly looking for digital solutions that make processes and systems more efficient, secure and user-friendly. At present, large companies in particular are deliberately using open source software for this purpose, i.e. freely available software instead of commercial programs. Stefan Reuss, Head of Digital Solutions and IT of Würth Industrie Service, also considers this approach to be the right way forward in the platform economy. In this article, he explains why the world market leader in the distribution of assembly and fastening materials is committing itself to the “Supply Chain Execution” innovation project within the “Silicon Economy Logistics Ecosystem” research project.