Bosch, Siemens to work on e-mobility blockchain challenge

Yesterday the Trusted IoT Alliance (TIoTA) announced the competitors for its Smart E-Mobility Challenge which includes Bosch and Siemens. The Alliance is a group of more than 50 organizations that aim to build open source trusted systems for IoT using blockchain and other technologies. The ultimate objective is to enhance the connectivity of IoT devices.

The competition’s purpose is to help to create a marketplace for e-mobility services. The sorts of applications envisaged include the discovery of charging stations, paying for electricity, and finding additional services.

Bosch is providing an all-electric Jaguar I-PACE for the challenge. There will be a PACE tour in which the car is available in various European cities so that competitors can work on their solutions and run hackathons. The Tour started at Deutsche Telekom’s T-Labs blockchain mobility hackathon in February.

“The Internet of Things, or IoT, is a network comprising billions of web-enabled devices. Even now, these devices are everyday companions,” said Peter Busch, Product Owner, DLT Mobility at Bosch. “As a participant in the E-Mobility Challenge of the Trusted IoT Alliance, we are exploring the future potential of blockchain and similar distributed LEDGER technological approaches for the future of mobility.”

“The work, together with international partners, is inspiring, and all companies and start-ups will gain valuable insights to continuously improve the security of IoT devices and increase users’ trust in IoT solutions.”

The judging criteria for the competition include interoperability, ease of use, and the ability to pay for electricity on a single invoice. The challenge is co-produced by MachNation which specializes in testing and researching IoT platforms, middleware and services.

Outside of automotive, TIoTA is also eyeing other sectors such as trade finance, insurance, drones, industrial and supply chains. Founding members include numerous high profile startups such as Chronicled, ConsenSys, Hedera Hashgraph and VeChain. Apart from Bosch, Siemens and Deutsche Telekom, enterprise members include BNY Mellon, Cisco, KPMG, Swiss Re and others.