Traceability for Overlooked Artisanal Diamond Miners
June 18, 25
(IDEX Online) - Belgian tech company iTraceiT is developing a user-friendly traceability app for artisanal diamond miners.
It says small-scale producers, often overlooked by other traceability solutions, will be able to add their stones to the blockchain to document their provenance.
"Our mission at iTraceiT has always been to make traceability accessible to every link in the chain—from multinationals to micro-producers," said Frederik Degryse (pictured), the company's CEO.
Its app is being designed to be accessible to users with limited reading or writing skills.
"Until now, artisanal miners - often working in remote areas with limited access to technology - have largely been excluded from traceability systems for luxury goods," the company said. "Yet, they represent the very starting point of a diamond's journey".
The project, a collaboration with Belgian innovation agency Verhaert, is part of the City of Antwerp's Diamond Innovation Opportunity Programme.