CAMBIAGO – Colnago is increasingly a brand capable of perfectly combining tradition and innovation. Confirmation came a couple of weeks ago when the Cambiago company received the "Innovation Award" in Milan. on the occasion of the 2023 edition of SMAU. This is a recognition for the adoption of blockchain technology on some of Colnago's main models, such as C68 e V4Rs, in addition to all Limited Edition models.
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As anticipated, at the 2023 edition of SMAU, Colnago received the "Innovation Award" thanks to the adoption of blockchain technology on some production models. This is not an absolute novelty since in 2021, exactly at the World Championships in Leuven, Tadej Pogacar had raced on a “special” Colnago V3Rs equipped with technology blockchainToday, however, the Lombardy company has decided to extend this technology to production bicycles.
Thanks to MyLime, an Italian technology company, Colnago has decided to register the production, transportation, and sales of its bicycles on the Polygon Blockchain. All these operations are saved securely and irrevocably on a widespread databaseThe recorded data cannot therefore be falsified or modified once recorded.
Manolo Bertocchi, Head of Marketing at Colnago, told us more about the Smau "Innovation Award," having personally received the prestigious award. During our meeting at the Colnago headquarters in Cambiago, just outside Milan, We had the opportunity to learn more about blockchain technology and its potential.
Let's start with the simplest question: Why did Colnago feel the need to use this particular technology?
We must start from an irrefutable fact. Today, bicycles are not registered goods like cars or motorcycles. The project to register our bicycles on the blockchain aims to solve the following two problems related to the lack of an official registry: counterfeiting and the reversal of the burden of proof. Every Colnago bicycle is a very valuable asset that unfortunately can be easily replicated and therefore counterfeited.Blockchain technology allows you to securely verify whether you're dealing with an original Colnago bicycle. The second problem we can overcome today thanks to this innovative technology it is the reversal of the burden of proof in the case of theftSince it is not registered property, if a bicycle is stolen, the onus is on the owner to prove that it is his.
How does Colnago come to the owner's aid then?
All Colnago models featuring blockchain technology have been equipped with an NFC tag that, when scanned, connects the digital information to the physical bicycle. The result is a digital certificate of authenticity that cannot be modified in any way.After purchasing the bicycle, the user registers the purchase via the Colnago App. This way, they receive a certificate of ownership that is also valid if the bicycle is sold, extending the warranty to the second owner. In the long term, the strong point of this procedure is the maintenance of value: Half of this is lost the moment you leave the store. This doesn't happen with luxury goods like Ferrari cars, and it won't happen with Colnago bikes, because the certainty of ownership gives further certainty of the goodness of the asset and consequently increases its value chain.
Why did you decide to present your blockchain technology adoption project at Smau?
Credit goes to Elena Moglia, CEO of MyLime (the two are together with the Smau managers in the opening photo, ed.), who invited us to present our project in July. We did it and after a short time they contacted us again for a sort of interview aimed at obtaining additional information about our project.. Subsequently, we received an invitation to participate in the event organized in Milan by Smau in mid-October. The funny thing is, we didn't realize we had won.. We were in fact convinced that we simply had to participate in a workshop ("Innovation, digitalization, and sustainability in the manufacturing sector," ed.) to present our project. Only once we got there did we realize we'd won.
We imagine that your satisfaction was great…
Absolutely yes, also because it is about an award that does not only concern the cycling world, but the manufacturing sector as a whole. All this undoubtedly gives it greater value.
The final feeling is that the blockchain technology adoption project, currently only applied to some Colnago models, could be the first step in something bigger and decidedly interesting. We just have to wait.
