This article gives an overview over some of the most interesting community projects. Of course there are a lot more interesting projects than the ones mentioned here. You can find more projects on the official homepage of the ecosystem.
IOTA Experience Teams
IOTA Experience Teams are groups of dedicated community members who collaborate on different projects in various stages of development with members of the IOTA Foundation. If you want to follow news or discussions about this, you can visit the IOTA Discord channel.
The Ecosystem Development Fund (EDF) was created to fund new innovation from developers considered beneficial for the overall IOTA ecosystem. Ideas can be from proof-of-concepts to utilities, libraries, and more. Everyone who requires financial support in the broader IOTA developer community can be encouraged to develop, collaborate, learn, inspire and build for the greater good.
honeycombOS is an Embedded Linux Distribution tailored for IOTA nodes, clients and Tangle related tools. It is mainly based on Poky, and it is built with tools from Yocto Project and OpenEmbedded.
Fognet is a peer-to-peer Internet router and design system that enables decentralized web access, among other things, based on Bluetooth and IOTA Technology. In Fognet, data is transferred directly from peer-to-peer. The Fognet routers automatically organize themselves into a resilient mesh network without a single point of control. The Fognet router works with phones and laptops in the area to distribute data with little or no Internet access.
The project of the two community members Hans Tischer and Tristan Feldbusch, is dedicated to the development and provision of a vending machine for the sale of various goods (chewing gum, chocolate bars or similar) and the simple payment with the cryptocurrency IOTA.
The payment process itself is done using a smartphone and the IOTA Trinity wallet app. After selecting the goods at the vending machine, an address QR code and the number of IOTA tokens to be paid are shown on the vending machine’s display. Subsequently, this QR code is scanned by the mobile app. The payment of the IOTA tokens to the vending machine takes place immediately after pressing the send command in the app. After the wallet of the vending machine confirms the receipt of the IOTA tokens, the purchased goods are issued.
This article gives an overview over some of the most important working groups the IF is part of. You can also find an overview on the Official Homepage.
Project Alvarium
On Oct 28, 2019 the IF announced Project Alvarium. The goal of the project is to create intrinsic trust across exceedingly diverse systems. It will bring together systems from different industries, to build a common platform that enables trust from the point of data generation, or on chip, up to an operational platform. It comprises multiple components that give intrinsic trust to data within every sector, including operations, database integration, process control, telecom, and supply chain. IOTA adds strong security and trust capabilities and aims to be the connective tissue that binds the whole system together.
New Linux Foundation Effort to Focus on Data Confidence Fabrics to Scale Digital Transformation Initiatives – Linux Foundation
Gaia-X
Gaia-X is an initiative of leading companies, research institutions and the public sector in Europe with the goal of enabling secure, open and sovereign use of data in Europe and beyond. Gaia-X is a federated infrastructure designed for the next generation of interoperable data exchange and services. Infrastructure components include:
Sector-specific clouds
Network and interconnectivity providers
Edge devices
The IOTA Foundation joined Gaia-X to contribute its DLT expertise as well as the IOTA technology stack to facilitate the development of the Gaia-X core infrastructure and its application in various industry domains. The IF has joined several industry working groups, such as the mobility working group, and successfully submitted the iECO proposal for implementation under the Gaia-X umbrella. iECO is a project that was recently selected as the winner of the first funding competition. iECO aims to reduce inefficiencies and enable new data-driven services in the construction industry by using digital twins enabled by Gaia-X-compliant infrastructure to track buildings throughout their lifecycle.
The European blockchain sector is well positioned in international markets, but its competitiveness largely depends on the availability of a competent and diverse workforce. While demand for blockchain skills is steadily increasing, employers are facing a shortage of qualified professionals. The industry faces the challenge of a talent shortage, global competitive pressures, limited links between education and the market, and a lack of definition of key skills for the European industry.
CHAISE will propose an open, inclusive blockchain skills governance system to address skills mismatches and deliver appropriate training, information provision and solutions tailored to the needs of the sector. CHAISE is not just another European project. The CHAISE consortium reflects the paradigm shift that blockchain has ushered in by representing a diverse ecosystem of European DLT pioneers. Led by Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 , the project’s consortium consists of European and global leaders in blockchain and DLTs, including academic and industrial partners as well as sectoral organizations and communities.
On Feb 11, 2020 the IF announced the launch of the Tangle EE Working Group. The goal of the working group is to create an open infrastructure that forms the backbone of the digital economy. Using its vendor-neutral open framework organizations can build their own products, services and intellectual property based on IOTA. The working group provides a professional environment to:
Benefit from the open and vendor-neutral governance framework
Collaborate on innovative projects that span industries and regions
Have their say on the future of IOTA’s development
Obtain a first-mover advantage in their respective fields
Interact with the Eclipse and IOTA developer communities
On May 2, 2018 the IF announced their participation in the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI). The goal of the initiative is to make transportation greener, more efficient, and more affordable, using blockchain and related technologies. Possible projects using IOTA could be 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
Car sharing and ride hailing
Usage based mobility pricing for vehicles, insurance, energy, congestion, pollution, infrastructure, etc.
On Apr 3, 2019 the IF announced its participation in the founding of the International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA). The goal of the association is to promote the use of DLT technology by developing a predictable, transparent, and trust-based global framework. INATBA provides a global forum for DLT developers and users to interact with regulators and policymakers to take DLT and blockchain technology to the next level.
The main goals of the association are:
Maintain a permanent and constructive dialogue with public authorities and regulators
Promote an open, transparent and inclusive global model of governance for blockchain and other distributed ledger technology infrastructures and applications
Support the development and adoption of interoperability guidelines, specifications and global standards
Develop sector-specific guidelines and specifications for the development and acceleration of trusted sectorial blockchain and DLT applications in specific sectors
On May 19, 2020 the Object Management Group announced the founding of the Digital Twin Consortium. Digital twins enable companies to avoid problems before they occur, prevent downtime, improve the customer experience, develop new ways to drive innovation and plan for the future using simulation. Members of the Digital Twin Consortium will collaborate across industries to learn from each other, develop and apply best practices.
The main goals of the Digital Twin Consortium are:
Accelerate the market for digital twin technology by establishing roadmaps and industry guidelines through an ecosystem of digital twin experts
Improve interoperability of digital twin technologies by developing best practices for security, privacy, and trustworthiness and influencing requirements for digital twin standards
Reduce the risk of investment projects and demonstrate the value of digital twin technologies through peer-to-peer use cases and open source code development
This article gives an overview over some of the most important partnerships of the IF. There are a lot more partnerships, some of them still unannounced. You can find more partnerships of the IF on the Official Homepage.
Jaguar Landrover
On Apr 29, 2019 the IF announced a partnership with Jaguar Landrover. The new Jaguar Land Rover ‘Smart Wallet’ technology utilizes the IOTA Tangle for data and value transfer and has already been equipped on several research vehicles including F-PACE and Range Rover Velar models.
Innovative ‘Smart Wallet’ technology will let drivers earn cryptocurrency on the go
Credits can be earned for sharing information about traffic jams and potholes and used to automatically pay for tolls, parking and electric charging
Connected services are part of Jaguar Land Rover’s Destination Zero vision — zero accidents, zero congestion and zero emissions
Technology on test at new Jaguar Land Rover software engineering centre in Shannon, Republic of Ireland
On Nov 29, 2019 the IF announced a partnership with EDAG. EDAG has created the CityBot, an autonomous and modular vehicle that can be applied in a multitude of different scenarios and use cases, like cleaning, leaf collecting, delivering goods or it can be used as a cab. The common goal is to use IOTA for secure communications and payments which enables new digital business models for CityBot owners.
EDAG presented the CityBot concept vehicle at the International Motor Show 2019.
Modularity and maximum flexibility allow it to be used for a wide variety of tasks.
The CityBot is an autonomous vehicle that never rests and uses urban resources efficiently.
IOTA as data transmission and payments protocol to enable new business models for CityBot owners.
On Mar 12, 2020 the IF announced a partnership with TradeMark East Africa. The organization is well known for its work on improving livelihoods through improved trade conditions. The common goal is to:
improve data management and collaboration along trade corridors
explore new ways to ensure digital solutions are inclusive and benefit both large corporations as well as smaller traders
work towards increasing the global competitiveness of East African products whether it is being more cost-effective or providing more transparent supply chains to the end consumer.
On Dec 5, 2018 the IF announced a partnership with ECLASS. ECLASS offers ISO approved standardized product data across 44 industry sectors. Through the collaboration, this standardized data can now be transmitted in a private, secure, reliable and accountable manner by utilizing the IOTA Tangle and Masked Authenticated Messaging (MAM). This leads to different use cases for this technology:
Secure, private exchange of sensitive product information and specifications
Compatibility across product groups and processes
Translation support for a borderless digital economy
Data consistency for flexible and automated supply chains
On May 26, 2018 the IF announced that Richard Soley, chairman and CEO of the Object Management Group (OMG) joined as a supervisory board member and advisor. The common goal is for IOTA to set and become a de facto standard in DLT and IoT technology. You can follow the latest developments here:
On Apr 17, 2019 the IF announced a partnership with EVRYTHING. The common goal is making product supply chains transparent in order to meet the urging demands for sustainability. The idea is to increase trust in the products data collected by the EVRYTHNG platform and to transfer this trust to the consumers of those goods. There is already a first use case with ALYX and Avery Dennison where the provenance and authenticity of shirts is tracked.
On Sep 6, 2018 the IF announced a partnership with ENGIE Lab CRIGEN. ENGIE Lab CRIGEN is the corporate research center of the ENGIE Group, a global energy player and an expert operator in electricity, natural gas and energy services. The common goal is to explore and test the use of IOTA to Energy and adjacent areas such as smart cities, smart buildings and mobility through joint Proofs of Concept and participation in collaborative IOTA initiatives.
On Sep 27, 2019 the IF announced a partnership with EIT Climate KIC. EIT Climate KIC is a Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) with currently over 370 partners working to accelerate the transition to a carbon-free economy. The goal is to explore how a more long-term mindset can transform the international development sector as a key driver in the global fight against the destruction of ecosystems and the improvement of human livelihoods.
The main goals of the use of the IOTA Tangle are:
Democratize access to trustworthy impact data and promote the sharing of impact data
Incentivize sustainable, long-term action
Harness the catalytic power of network effects and peer-to-peer economies
This article gives an overview over the different parts of the IOTA Ecosystem, including partnerships, research Projects, hardware and community projects.
IOTA collaborates with over 100 organizations across business, government and academia to develop open-source solutions and provide thought-leadership in key IOTA use case areas.
Different research projects the IF is directly involved in and funded by, as well as projects that use the IOTA technology without a direct participation of the IF.
Currently data is mostly limited to the control of a few entities and unavailable to the masses. Without access to diverse data, not everyone can develop new use cases or enter new business areas either. Data marketplaces are emerging as a means of exchanging data, monetizing data streams and as a basis for new smart business models.
For some time now, data has been described as the new oil of the digital world. Companies like Facebook, Google or Amazon earn a large part of their revenue from our user data by collecting it in advertising profiles and selling it to various advertising companies or by directly targeting us with advertising tailored to our web browsing behavior. But not only our collected browsing data is worth a lot. Sensor data such as the collected temperatures of a meteorological institute can be worth something or various data sets that can be collected by means of a so-called digital twin.
A digital twin represents a real object in the digital world. It describes the properties and behavior of the real object under certain conditions and can be connected to the real world in real time via sensors. The mapped objects can be tangible or intangible objects such as products, services or processes. Thanks to the coupling with real data, such as environmental conditions or tool positions within the machines, the digital twins allow various analyses and simulations to be carried out. For the digitization of production processes, simulation, analysis, production and development processes with digital twins represent the basis. In Industry 4.0, digital twins will accompany the complete development, production and operating cycle of a product or service. Processes can be planned, optimized and adapted thanks to virtual simulation models.
A basic idea of the IoT is the exchange and trade of such data sets. With “machine-to-machine” communication, devices can autonomously trade a wide variety of data among themselves, but it could also become very interesting for humans to receive data directly from sensory end users without having to go through a third-party platform. Creating data marketplaces is an inevitable consequence of the IoT revolution. It will fundamentally change the way we connect, interact or trade data.
Moreover, currently diverse data is mostly limited to the control of a few entities and unavailable to the masses. Because no one has knowledge of these data sets, let alone would have access to them, many potential insights from a missing analysis of this data are lost. Without access to diverse data, not everyone can develop new use cases or enter new business areas either. Traditional value chains will change, forcing companies to rethink how they compete within ecosystems. Data marketplaces are emerging as a means of exchanging data, monetizing data streams and as a basis for new smart business models.
Particularly at a time when data is becoming increasingly important, IOTA and its data marketplace represent a counterpart to the status quo. The IOTA marketplace is a decentralized data market that aims to make data available to any compensation partner. They are a way to create and capture value in an environment where sensors and connected devices trade data directly with each other autonomously in real time. For example, smart city sensors can be paid for sharing valuable real-time data, or physical production equipment can now be leased, so “pay-per-use” models will shape the smart sharing economy and reorder value chains. Also, our personal data could soon be accessed only with our proactive consent through our digital twins or personal data management systems, enabling radically new personalized and real-time services. (e.g., eHealth)
In addition, the data marketplace enables the secure sale and access of these active data streams. As an IOTA Data Marketplace user, you will have the ability to buy or sell IOTA Streams-encrypted data.
Proof of concept and future development
The IF has already internally created a proof of concept for a data marketplace in the past. Since the beginning of the PoC development, a number of proactive industry participants have already progressively intensified their engagement and provided valuable feedback to the IF technical teams to help accelerate the development of the IOTA data marketplace to a production-ready product.
In 2017, the IF published this PoC (Open-Source) asking the community and interested companies to help fully decentralize all functions of the data marketplace to shape a common standard that works for everyone. With the published PoC, a major challenge has already been met and the IF is providing the first impulse for new business model thinking. For all participants, this platform provides a starting point for exploring new IoT / M2M solutions and business models for the “economy of things” and designing their own data marketplaces.
Outlook: Building an ecosystem to foster innovation
The IF will organize more co-creation workshops, webinars, hackathons, and information sessions with the topics of Data Marketplace, IOTA Streams, Trusted IoT, GDPR and Personal Data, Smart Energy, and Smart Cities to catalyze the triggered exploration process. External perspectives and capabilities will help deliver viable ideas for all. In cross-server data sharing, new models can only emerge through ecosystem collaborations, as existing value chains often need to be reconfigured. It takes a cooperative effort by all participants to enable a mutually beneficial business relationship. This co-creation process focuses on creating minimal viable ecosystems of partners around specific use cases. The key is building trust between partners and aligning them around a common goal.
In January 2019, a workshop in Berlin already attracted more than 80 participants from a wide range of industries, including mobility, energy, agriculture, real estate, eHealth, smart manufacturing, supply chain, financial services, semiconductors, IT integrators, consulting, universities, and industry clusters.
Conclusion: IOTA Data Marketplaces with all its forward-looking possibilities are eagerly awaited by many companies and for IF it is also one of the most important sub-sectors of the very large vision for the autonomous economy of the future.
