The National Automobile Dealers Association is doing more than just gearing up for NADA Show 2023 this week in Dallas.
On Monday, the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI) welcomed NADA to the organization that aims to develop and accelerate adoption of zero trust Web3 standards and solutions to enable seamless and secure business processes, while safeguarding sensitive business and consumer data.
MOBI highlighted NADA brings a critical dealer viewpoint to this process.
According to a news release, MOBI and NADA agree that the widespread adoption of a shared technology-agnostic framework will be critical to future innovations for members of both consortia. NADA and MOBI also believe that compliance with the Federal Zero Trust Strategy issued by the White House in 2022 will be crucial to maintain their competitive edge.
“We are thrilled to team up with NADA to co-develop solutions to help solve pain points for use cases such as vehicle registration, titling, and dealer floorplan audit,” MOBI CEO and founder Tram Vo said in the news release. “We look forward to collaborating on additional mobility and geolocation applications that improve security while preserving customer privacy.”
MOBI anticipates that NADA’s entry into the community at large will play a critical role in igniting a two-way exchange of expertise between the organizations’ respective communities, enabling greater collaboration on the road to more resilient mobility value chains and accelerating related innovations in research, development, and implementation.
“NADA is excited to work with the experts at MOBI on behalf of dealers to ensure that this important technology improves and modernizes the auto retail experience, generates efficiencies, and brings increased convenience for dealers and consumers alike,” NADA president and CEO Mike Stanton said in the news release.
MOBI welcomes organizations of all sizes, industries, and locations to share expertise, define industry standards, and improve the sustainability, efficiency, and accessibility of mobility services around the world.
For additional information about joining MOBI, reach out to Griffin Haskins via email at [email protected] or visit www.dlt.mobi.
How blockchain can be used in the automotive industry continues to make significant progress, according to a leading organization’s update shared on Monday.
The Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI) is working with BMW, Ford, General Motors, Groupe Renault, Honda and other major automakers to develop a multi-stakeholder proof of concept (PoC) for a blockchain-based vehicle identity (VID).
In September, MOBI members launched an important joint initiative to test implementation of the first VID standard, released earlier this year, taking a critical step towards the new economy of movement with blockchain.
“Creating a trusted digital identity for a vehicle unlocks the potential for a mobility payments network, including: V2V/V2X transactions, electric vehicle to grid integration, usage-based services, fleet operations, congestion pricing, carbon footprint management and more,” MOBI chief executive officer Chris Ballinger said in a news release.
“We are delighted that a large segment of the industry is partnering with MOBI to build the foundation to prove existence, manage access control, confirm product definition and ownership history, and track events in the life of a vehicle.,” Ballinger continued.
Blockchain-based VID can make it easy to associate vehicle payments directly to a vehicle rather than needing a payment account associated with a person or business. Smart contracts can then enable direct and low-cost micropayments to and from multiple parties in response to detectable events. This will accelerate existing trends toward pay-per-use mobility and Mobility-as-a-Service.
“The Vehicle Identity Standard is a critical enabler for future blockchain-based vehicle and mobility services. We are excited to participate in the multi-stakeholder Proof-of-Concept to foster the advancement of the standard and to explore its application,” said Andre Luckow, head of distributed ledger and emerging technologies at BMW Group.
Vehicle digital identities also can facilitate the creation of mobility networks, in which vehicles can communicate with each other and track movement: speed, location, direction of travel, braking, and even intention. Thus, blockchain and vehicle identity unlock safer road sharing.
MOBI insisted that the release of the first VID standard was a crucial first step in creating an ecosystem in which vehicles can securely identify themselves and communicate with other vehicles. Development of common protocols and ways of communicating are critical to adoption of new technology. Through standards development, MOBI and its partner standard bodies spur innovation and speed development.
“IEEE has been a leader in creating open standards for new and cutting edge technologies for 56 years. We look forward to working closely with MOBI to develop standards in areas of blockchain and mobility,” said Remy Lyon, chair of the Los Angeles IEEE Blockchain Group.
MOBI explained that adoption of the VID standard by a large group of manufacturers and blockchain developers immediately can create a minimum viable community, bringing together automakers and start-ups to test and verify the VID within individual car systems. The VID will then be tested for coordinated vehicle communication within the MOBI ecosystem.
The MOBI community is currently recruiting more companies and infrastructure owners to develop and execute a comprehensive solution in accordance with the VID standard. Selected companies are able to work with other MOBI members to validate real-world applications of the VID with blockchain and DLT.
MOBI expects the PoC will give governments and transit operators new tools, in the near future, to reduce congestion and combat pollution, thereby making mobility safer, greener and more affordable.
While the official PoC will take months to complete, key mobility stakeholders will be attending the seventh MOBI Colloquium, MoCo Los Angeles, in November for the first demonstration of car wallets using the MOBI VID standard.
Your birthday is easy to identify since it’s on your driver’s license and other official documents. But what about a vehicle’s birthday? Pinpointing that fact is part of the latest project orchestrated by the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI), which includes several automakers as well as KAR Auction Services.
The organization’s member-led vehicle identification working group created and launched what MOBI said is the industry’s first vehicle identity standard (VID) incorporating blockchain technology into a digital vehicle identification system.
In order to establish existence, MOBI explained this first standard focuses on the “birth” of the vehicle as a minimum representation of that vehicle’s creation. MOBI indicated subsequent VID phases will add additional product definition, ownership history, and a log of key-events in the vehicle’s lifecycle.
MOBI contends the result will be a trusted and immutable master record of the vehicle’s history and data usage.
“A blockchain identity standard could enable a diverse suite of mobility applications that result in more efficient supply-chains, lower-cost financing and safer roads,” MOBI founder and chief executive officer Chris Ballinger said in a news release.
“We hope these standards will ultimately make urban environments greener, safer, and more livable by enabling usage-based payment for congestion, pollution, and infrastructure,” Ballinger continued.
Created by a group of global automotive leaders, start-ups, and large technology companies, this VID standard emerged as the elementary step toward the digital evolution of the automotive and mobility industries. MOBI’s VID Working Group is chaired by Groupe Renault and Ford, with support from
— Accenture
— AIOI Insurance
— BMW
— Car Vertical
— Cerebri AI
— Cognizant
— ConsenSys
— CPChain
— Dealer Market Exchange
— DLT Labs
— General Motors
— Honda
— Hyperledger
— IBM
— IOTA
— KAR Auction Services
— Luxoft
— MintBit
— Netsol Tech
— Oaken Innovations
— On The Road Lending
— Trusted IoT Alliance
— Xapix
“A standard for Digital Vehicle Identity will be the cornerstone of a new realm of blockchain-based solutions for the mobility ecosystem,” said Sebastien Henot, chair of the VID working group and Renault’s Silicon Valley innovation lab manager of business innovation.
“The creation of a blockchain ‘digital twin’ will enable connected vehicles to securely identify themselves, share data, and transact with other vehicles, infrastructure and their environment,” Henot continued.
MOBI went on to say the first standard is the foundation developed by the working group to enable trusted data communication amongst inter-operating stakeholders within the mobility ecosystem. Experts emphasized the VID is the master data key to a vehicle’s existence, behavior, and performance, supporting data transparency, coordination and automation among stakeholders throughout its lifecycle.
“The real power of blockchain comes from enabling networks of people and things to transact with each other without intermediaries,” said Ford’s Alan Gordon, co-chair of MOBI’s VID working group.
“A crucial first step to enabling these networks is for participants to be able to identify each other in a way that everyone understands. Providing this identity for vehicles is the goal of the first phase of the VID standard,” Gordon went on to say.
In addition to the working group, MOBI noted the standard was thoroughly reviewed by formal verification experts – giving developers confidence their implementations adhere to the best practices in digital security.
MOBI hopes that applications enabled by this standard will ultimately help lower carbon emissions, improve road safety, reduce traffic congestion and support a host of other socially desirable outcomes.
Members from the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI) and representatives from major technology companies and automakers convened at IBM’s China Headquarters in Shanghai on Wednesday to discuss the way forward to accelerate the development of connected cars and autonomous mobility solutions.
Organizers explained the first APAC MOBI Colloquium set out to explore the current state of blockchain research and development, IoT solutions and how these new technologies can make mobility greener, safer and more accessible for China and the region.
MOBI — which includes companies such as BMW, Ford, General Motors, KAR Auction Services and RouteOne — emphasized that today’s vehicles are evolving from a mode of transport to moving data centers with onboard sensors and computers that capture information about the vehicle and its surroundings.
Experts said blockchains can unleash this data to power a new and more sustainable future.
In China, MOBI pointed out that blockchain is undergoing a period of rapid growth and experimentation. Officials recapped several developments, including:
— The People’s Bank of China recently backed and piloted a new blockchain-based trade finance platform
— The judiciary adopted rules making blockchain evidence admissible in court
— The Agricultural Bank of China made a blockchain mortgage.
MOBI chief executive officer Chris Ballinger noted the development of blockchain technology itself is key to the nation’s technological advancement.
“Blockchain and decentralized ledger technology has great potential to make mobility greener, safer, and more accessible for cities around the world, especially for nations with rapid urbanization like China,” Ballinger said. “MOBI is set up to promote the advancement of a future solution that combines smart cities and connected cars to make people’s lives better. This is a big mission. It is not a task to be realized by a single company.
“By bringing together key stakeholders, experts, and partners, we believe MOBI is in the right position at the right time to advance this grand vision,” he added.
MOBI indicated China has more than 300 million registered vehicles — almost the same number as people in the United States — and the number continues to rise.
The organization also mentioned 10 out of the 25 most congested cities in the world are in mainland China, and vehicle emissions have become a major source of air pollution in China.
A new mobility solution is needed to ensure a sustainable future, according to MOBI.
If this vision can be realized, MOBI stressed the potential benefits it brings to society are immense. Officials cited studies that have shown that autonomous vehicles can optimize fuel efficiency and reduce emissions by 60%.
“In the U.S. alone, people in urban areas spend about 7 billion hours in traffic every year. That’s 3.1 billion gallons of fuel wasted and $160 billion lost due to traffic congestion,” MOBI said. “Most importantly, by minimizing human error, autonomous vehicle solutions can reduce accidents by 90%.”
According to a Rand Corp. study, 1 trillion miles of self-driving data is needed in order for autonomous vehicle models to be accurate and safe. Waymo, the former Google autonomous car project, is driving 25,000 miles a day. At this rate, MOBI calculated it would take close to 110,000 years to reach the Rand Corp. mileage target.
“The linchpin is data,” Ocean Protocol founder Trent McConaghy said. “We are bringing to MOBI a blockchain-powered platform that enables data to be shared in a safe, privacy-preserving, borderless fashion. Algorithms can travel to data to get trained without exposing the data or taking a copy.
This is ideal for MOBI’s partners and community to retain data privacy and ownership. For the first time we can unlock the value of data without unlocking data itself,” McConaghy continued.
Organizers added the MOBI Colloquium Shanghai brought together a diverse network of industry leaders and startups, providing them with a platform to share knowledge and innovate.
“Widespread adoption of blockchain technology cannot be achieved without the creation and agreement upon standards to regulate the ecosystem,” MOBI said. “By encouraging communication between differing industries, MOBI helps drive forward blockchain scalability.
“China’s robust mobility, blockchain, IoT, and AI ecosystem offers tremendous opportunities for MOBI community members to create a brighter and safer future,” the organization went on to say.
The first APAC MOBI Colloquium was hosted by IBM — also a member of the Auto Intel Council — and co-organized by CPChain and Tribe Accelerator.
