This week I took the time to sit down and really take a hard look at Hyperledger Sawtooth, the blockchain technology our group will be using for the project. Hyperledger is the open source blockchain technology that is hosted by the Linux Foundation. Basically, Hyperledger is trying to create stable frameworks and tools so that the blockchain technology is accessible to businesses for any number of use-cases. Our group chose the Sawtooth at the request of our project partner.
Hyperledger Sawtooth is a blockchain system that was designed to be used by enterprises for creating and operating distributed ledger applications and networks. Sawtooth stands out from other Hyperledger systems because it allows for permissionless networks as well as permissioned ones. This allows for networks to be used for both private and public affairs. For our project, this works out well because we do not need to hide any information, so we would want to setup a permissionless network. This will allow anyone to hop on and view the data as they see fit. One of the key goals of our project from the start has been transparency of transactions, and a permissionless network allows us to do just that.
Sawtooth is currently one of the less represented technologies underneath the Hyperledger umbrella. One company that is using it similarly to our goal is Scan Trust. Scan Trust utilizes copy-proof QR codes to give different company supply chains traceability and transparency. They used Sawtooth to allow users to trace things using the blockchain technology so that there is a guarantee of no tampering and complete clarity of transactions. So after implementing the changes and using Sawtooth, users now log all data on the blockchain and the data is then accessible through the QR codes on each product. This is a near exact implementation that our group is looking for.
