Over the summer, the Fair Tracing Project has two more members: Adel Haider and Vishal Shah, two students at UCL. They are working together on a Fair Tracing Demo. Please have a look at the current status of their work: here or here (find the links on the sidebar as well).
Please note that this is still an early prototype. However, you can help them by leaving feedback which would be very much appreciated.
These are some ideas what a Fair Tracing interface might look like. You can click on the pictures for a larger version. A very simple user interface enables the user to look-up a Fair Tracing code.
She can then follow the supply chain of the product, for example, using Google Maps. Additional product information like ‘who gets what’ or even third party information is available. She can then follow the supply chain of the product, for example, using Google Maps. Additional product information like or even third party information is available.
She can then follow the supply chain of the product, for example, using Google Maps. Additional product information like or even third party information is available. Moreover, multimedia like pictures or videos can be displayed together with information about the product journey from the producer…
… to the retailer or consumer.
Please let us now what you think about it by leaving a comment.
It seems that retailers are already having trouble getting over complex information about carbon footprints using small labels on products. A fair tracing-style product information system could overcome this difficulty — and also be used to provide much more dynamic information. After all, supply chains are unlikely to remain static throughout the lifetime of a particular product’s packaging design…
Plan for carbon footprint on every label – Daily Telegraph
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs joined forces yesterday with the Carbon Trust, a Government advisory body, to try to agree how to measure greenhouse gases in the manufacturing process.This would allow retailers eventually to label their products with a “carbon point” score in the same way that electrical appliances receive an energy score.
User interfaces for harried supermarket shoppers need to summarise information into small easily consumed packages that make sense quickly. But once you’ve got your chilled products home, perhaps you have time to find out more about their ethical and environmental impact? Hacked fridge to the rescue:
Did you small-talk, chat or SMS with your fridge today? Is the milk past its sell-by date? Am I out of butter? By now, we have written several lengthy and long-winded articles about it – this, the intelligent refrigerator; and now we’re at it again. Why? Simply because the fridge talking to its owners and to the foodstuffs in its care has now become a reality. And we made it ourselves – well, almost… The fridge has now become aware of its contents; and it is capable of establishing direct contact between you and their producers. Like you, the fridge is on the Internet and thus able to get hold of you – even on your mobile. It will let you know what you need to buy if you want to prepare a simmering beef stroganoff; also, it will alert you if you are out of chocolate-and-fruit flavoured ice cream. But this is as much about security! In case a food producer detects a potential health hazard in a shipment, he can – via the fridge – send out a warning and withdraw the product in question.
