Trend Supply chain technology improving traceability but concentrating dependence

Summary

In the short term, the report expects new and improved technology to boost product traceability, monitoring and efficiency in supply chains. It judges, however, that the technology itself is likely to rely on a small number of key companies and regions. In other words, better tools for seeing into supply chains could come with a new concentration risk. The report explains that global supply chains are already complex, opaque and fragile, and that new technologies are one of the factors straining them. Its cross-cutting analysis likewise finds that concentration of risk through dominance of global technology affects 19 other risks and vulnerabilities. The report cites the National Semiconductor Strategy as a measure to help high-tech sectors prepare for supply shocks.