A two-day conference in Malta later this month on the future of medical cannabis will also feature a session on artificial intelligence and blockchain.
The Medical Cannabis World Forum, scheduled for November 20 and 21, has been endorsed by the government and several of its entities, with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat expected to deliver the closing keynote speech. While the conference is aimed at bringing together those working in the medical cannabis field, a programme of the different sessions taking place during the two-day events lists one entitled ‘AI and blockchain technology: how this can help to change legislation with the use of data’.
According to the information on the conference’s website, the session will be given by Damon Booth, an executive with a background in wealth management and tech start-ups.
Mr Booth has said that a user-based app with artificial technology that would be the “world’s first big data platform for the cannabis industry” is in the pipeline.
“Blockchain can be used to make the supply chain much more efficient than it currently is in the pharmaceutical industry – we will build a seed to a sale tracking ledger,” he said.
“All aspects of the process in cultivating right through to the prescription can be tracked using blockchain.
“It’s immutable, transparent and cleans up a lot of human error that currently plagues the pharma sector.”
He added that the cannabis industry would be used as “proof of concept”.
Tickets costing €540 for the two-day forum, including two networking dinners, have sold out. Apart from the Prime Minister, Health Minister Chris Fearne, Economy Minister Chris Cardona, Parliamentary Secretary Deo Debattista, Labour MEP Miriam Dalli, various CEOs of medical cannabis companies and experts will be also be addressing the conference.
In April, Parliament legalised the production of cannabis for medicinal use, with the Malta Enterprise approving projects from Canada, Australia and Israel.
When the law was first presented in Parliament last February, Dr Muscat had said that large-scale cultivation was unfeasible and that he expected companies to import pre-processed cannabis oils for further refinement and preparation here, then exporting the product to the European market. He had later said that only few plants would be allowed to be used, restricted only to research and development.
The government has been actively promoting Malta as the ‘Blockchain Island’ and unveiled its vision for artificial intelligence.
According to Digital Economy and Innovation Parliamentary Secretary Silvio Schembri a national artificial intelligence strategy will be launched next year.
Meanwhile, a task force responsible for the drafting of such a strategy has also been set up.