Several automakers joined a blockchain project this week that has truly a global footprint and objectives.

MOBI — the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative — announced its formation to explore blockchain for use in a new digital mobility ecosystem that could make transportation safer, more affordable and more widely accessible.

Officials from MOBI said they are actively working with companies accounting for over 70 percent of global vehicle production in terms of the market share.

MOBI and partners — including BMW, Bosch, Ford, General Motors, Groupe Renault, ZF, Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Services USA and others — seek to foster an ecosystem where businesses and consumers have security and sovereignty over their driving data, manage ride-share and car-share transactions, and store vehicle identity and usage information.

Officials explained blockchain technology operates by distributing information to a network of independent computers and ensuring that transactions are secure and data privacy, ownership rights and integrity are protected. Working in a consortium can allow MOBI and partners to create transparency and trust among users, reduce risk of fraud, and reduce frictions and transaction costs in mobility, such as fees or surcharges applied by third-parties.

Chris Ballinger, former chief financial officer and director of mobility services at Toyota Research Institute, is joining MOBI as chairman and chief executive officer to coordinate this initiative and use blockchain to create a more open platform where users, owners, mobility service companies, and infrastructure providers can better control and monetize their assets, including their data.

Ballinger noted that blockchain and related trust enhancing technologies are poised to redefine the automotive industry and how consumers purchase, insure and use vehicles. By bringing together automakers, suppliers, startups, and government agencies, he believes the industry can accelerate adoption for the benefit of businesses, consumers and communities.

“Blockchain and related trust enhancing technologies are poised to redefine the automotive industry and how consumers purchase, insure and use vehicles,” Ballinger said. “By bringing together automakers, suppliers, startups, and government agencies, we can accelerate adoption for the benefit of businesses, consumers and communities.”

Through an open-source approach to blockchain software tools and standards, the MOBI consortium hopes to stimulate more rapid and scalable adoption of the technology by other companies developing autonomous vehicle and mobility services.

MOBI is pleased to connect a majority of global mobility providers with blockchain innovators as well as government and non-government agencies, and institutions to collaborate on the development of blockchain-enabled vehicle data and mobility services applications.

MOBI added that its approach to ecosystem development is open and inclusive, inviting stakeholders from across the entire mobility value chain and helps to establish a “minimum viable network.” This includes automakers, public transportation, toll road providers, other forms of transportation, technology firms, blockchain firms, academic institutions, startup innovators, and regulatory bodies across the globe — all designed to further the MOBI’s mission.

Joining Chris Ballinger as co-founders and serving on the initial board of directors are Ashley Lannquist from Blockchain at Berkeley and David Luce, a veteran technology leader.

Dan Harple, internet pioneer and CEO of Context Lab, Brian Behlendorf, executive director of Hyperledger, Jamie Burke, CEO of Outlier Ventures, are part of MOBI’s board of advisors, which will grow to include more experts needed to ensure MOBI achieves its goals.

“Our collaboration with Chris Ballinger and MOBI’s founding team has integrated key structural and governance elements from the MIT-researched Pentalytics modeling we deployed in the co-founding of the Open Music Initiative, which brought together over 250 leading global stakeholders pursuing interoperability and transparency in their industry. MOBI’s model further offers great potential for accelerated market adoption of transformative blockchain-enabled technologies,” Harple said.

Behlendorf added, “We’re pleased to be a part of MOBI and collaborating with industry leaders on the development of blockchain-enabled vehicle data and mobility services applications and systems. We look forward to working together with this community to create transparency and trust among users, as well as reduce risk of fraud and transaction costs in mobility with open distributed ledger technologies.”

Initially, MOBI will be working with its partners on projects related to:

— Vehicle identity, history and data tracking

— Supply chain tracking, transparency, and efficiency

— Autonomous machine and vehicle payments

— Secure mobility ecosystem commerce

— Data markets for autonomous and human driving

— Carsharing and ride hailing

— Usage-based mobility pricing for vehicles, insurance, energy, congestion, pollution, infrastructure, etc.

MOBI and its partners announced their collaboration at the Future Blockchain Summit.

MOBI’s partners announcing today include:

— Accenture
— Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Services USA
— Beyond Protocol
— BigChainDB
— Blockchain at Berkeley
— BMW
— Chronicled
— Context Labs
— Crypto Valley Association
— Dashride
— Deon Digital AG
— Digital Twin Labs
— DOVU
— Fetch
— Foam
— Ford
— General Motors
— Hyperledger
— IBM
— IOTA Foundation
— MotionWerk
— NuCypher
— Oaken Innovation
— Ocean Protocol
— Outlier Ventures
— Renault
— Ride Austin
— Shift
— Spherical Analytics
— Trusted IoT Alliance
— Vasily
— VeChain
— Xain
— ConsenSys
— ZF Friedrichshafen AG

Executive from several of those companies expressed excitement about MOBI’s possibilities, including:

— Rich Strader, vice president, mobility product solutions at Ford: “We believe blockchain will transform the way people and businesses interact, creating new opportunities in mobility. We look forward to working together with our industry colleagues as part of MOBI to set the standards for the mobility ecosystem of tomorrow.”

— Peter Busch, who is with distributed ledger technologies in automotive at Bosch: “Bosch is thrilled to be involved in this initiative to get nearer to its vision for a safer and more transparent connected future of the mobility industry.”

— Sophie Schmidtlin, alliance global director for advanced engineering at Groupe Renault: “Blockchain technology is by essence decentralized, and its full potential needs to be assessed by working in an open ecosystem. That is why, it is natural for Groupe Renault to take part of the MOBI consortium. This consortium will be a great opportunity to share and learn about the possibilities that can be opened by the Distributed Ledger Technology, applied to the automotive ecosystem. Ultimately, we aim to work together to define future standards and use-cases that will make an easier everyday life for our customers.” –

— Arwed Niestroj, vice president of global innovation hubs and digital transformation at ZF: “As one of the world’s leading companies for automotive technologies, ZF is constantly pushing to make mobility more efficient and convenient. In taking part in the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative, we can drive benefit for our customers by developing secure and efficient customer solutions for the future autonomous mobility.”

— Teodoro Lio, managing director and industrial and automotive innovation lead at Accenture: “From the handling of vehicle ID numbers and collision histories to the complex supply chains that lead to assembly lines and dealerships, blockchain offers new levels of data security and transparency. Industry leaders are just beginning to understand the unique characteristics of this technology and its diverse forms. This forum will help put them on the leading edge of blockchain’s possibilities to improve industry efficiencies, safety controls and the overall transportation experience.”

— Sachin Lulla, vice president and partner at IBM Automotive: “A set of blockchain standards for the mobility industry will allow auto, infrastructure and service providers to efficiently communicate and transact with each other. Bringing the industry together and building interoperable blockchain networks is key to helping the automotive industry unleash the potential of blockchain. IBM is contributing our expertise in building blockchain consortia to the group to help accelerate development and ultimately benefit consumers.”

— Joseph Lubin, founder of ConsenSys and co-founder of Ethereum: “At ConsenSys, we are dedicated to building the Ethereum ecosystem and are committed to supporting new use cases across all industries. As one of our first ventures into the automotive industry, we’re excited to support MOBI’s exploration and development of blockchain solutions that will enable all parties in the automotive supply chain to benefit from digitization and the seamless exchange of data and immutability of their records.”

— John Gerryts, CEO at Oaken Innovation: “After more than a year of discussions, it is encouraging to see a global industry gather around blockchain technology and begin to lay the groundwork for the future of mobility. We are excited for the opportunities that lie ahead as a member of MOBI and as a team will continue to work on implementations and applications that allow us to apply our unique skill set and knowledge in an industry we are passionate about.”