A blockchain association has collaborated with the European Commission and UCL (University College London) to organize blockchain solution providers in directing the coronavirus pandemic.

The organization, named the INATBA (International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications), was established at the order of the EU last year.

Its modern effort brings together multiple public and private entities in a “COVID Task Force,” the goal of which is to stimulate blockchain solutions that could fix some of the complicated difficulties of the pandemic.

Accurately, the task force will name enterprise blockchain solutions that could enhance political, social, and commercial challenges. As not all solutions are uniformly ready or appropriate to specific situations, it will be the task force’s job to recognize which blockchain products can be used quickly.

Its work will be made accessible in an “industry-wide intelligence engine” that would confer the state of the willingness of each potential solution. The database would also include data describing how some of the problems hindering readiness can be resolved.

Can blockchain help?

While blockchain technology absolutely cannot fix the pandemic by itself, various solutions that could restrict its spread are powered by it. 

Blockchain has been suggested as a solution to restrict the privacy influence of multiple contact tracing and immunity tracking apps. One such platform is Covi-ID, produced by a team of academics in South Africa. 

Another, developed by Chiliz, was explicitly proposed to make application of the possible idea of immunity passports. Numerous COVID-19 screening platforms are also set to apply blockchain in some form, distinctly one developed by the WHO (World Health Organization).

Possibly a more significant contribution can be observed in the supply chain field, where blockchain has been utilized to verify the origin of critically needed KN-95 masks, which are based on Chinese standards.

While their regulations are generally contemplated to be related to the United States, matters of authenticity swarm for many sanitary products coming from China, Supply chain tracking through blockchain can make a pressing contribution in this field.

Similar authenticity concerns led to the construction of a blockchain news certification platform by an Italian news company.

More directly, blockchain has supported the Italian Red Cross by enabling Bitcoin (BTC) donations to go through.

The INATBA task force is so likely to drive for the approval of similar technological solutions. Some may be more valuable than others and recognizing which is reportedly one of the task force’s intentions.