Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1275152
AUGUST 2020 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 17 In many cases, the build of the soft- ware is not necessarily unique, but it's somewhat specific to that order. Keeping track of which software we have built into that product—and then reporting the set of entitlement and renewals associated with that particu- lar build—is a good way to use block- chain because you can use it to manage your relationship with these different software providers. Johnson: That is an interesting point. When you have software and firm- ware that goes along with a particular piece of hardware, it isn't just about the components. That's a factor, but so is the overall configuration of what gets shipped. Begue: Yes. And you may have to renew that license or pay some royalty; otherwise, there may be some update to that configura- tion you need to take into account. Johnson: I have a hypothetical example in my mind. I have a Wi-Fi router that periodically gets firmware updates from the manufacturer. My router is now running on a different ver- sion of the firmware code than when I took it out of the box. Is that something that also would be tracked by the provider? Begue: It could be, but imagine you have firm- ware, with two or three open source compo- nents, and then an embedded database. When the firmware gets updated, maybe it updates the database, and then it renews your enti- tlement for that entire stack for another six months. But if one of the open-source compo- nents was not updated, it may be interesting information to know that you haven't updated all of the components at the same time. It may trigger a different form of software entitlement compared to your providers. Johnson: Where do you see this technology taking us with respect to making the supply chain more secure, more resilient, or more robust? What's the future for us in electronic manufacturing? Begue: The supply chain—particularly in elec- tronics—is going through pretty big changes. You have a different evolution of demand and supply in different parts of the world. You have tariff issues and relationships between differ- ent countries, COVID-19, and the transforma- tion of a product as a service. It's becoming more complicated. Blockchain is not going to make that go away, but it's going to allow dif- ferent participants to this complex supply chain to make their work a little bit easier in terms of visibility, trust, and maybe enter into relation- ships faster, onboard suppliers faster, and pro- vide that level of organization and trust across this complex and changing physical process. Lam: From a practitioner perspective, the key to the supply chain is collaboration. Whenever you talk about collaboration, it's really more human than technology. I see blockchain tech- nology, and there's no problem there. If we want to do it, we can achieve it in terms of data science and computer engineering. We're able to handle all kinds of features and plat- form requirements. Right now, we're at the