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 International Business Machines Corp. said Thursday it has launched a platform for companies to test “blockchain” record-keeping technology in their supply chains.

The service is an attempt to expand the use of blockchain beyond the financial services industry, where the technology underpins the bitcoin digital currency and is used by banks and exchanges to track financial transactions. While firms such as Nasdaq Inc., Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. are experimenting with blockchain, only a handful of companies, including Toyota Motor Corp. , have explored using it to monitor their supply chains.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/ibm-pushes-blockchain-into-the-supply-chain-1468528824

A blockchain is a data structure that makes it possible to create and share a digital ledger of transactions. It uses cryptography to allow anyone granted access to add to the ledger in a secure way without the need for a central authority. Once a block of data is recorded on the blockchain ledger, it’s extremely difficult to change or remove.

Proponents say these traits make blockchain well-suited for logging and monitoring large amounts of data, such as short-term loans or the millions of parts coursing through the aviation industry’s supply chain.