- BMW, Bosch, Ford, General Motors, Groupe Renault, ZF, Accenture, Context Labs, IBM among participating founding members of MOBI
- New MOBI consortium explores how blockchain will reinvent mobility and address industry shifts
A SIGNIFICANT step towards the establishment of successful mobility projects on a global scale has taken a step further forward with the creation of MOBI – the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative.
MOBI will explore blockchain for use in a new digital mobility ecosystem.
It aims to make transportation safer, more affordable, and more widely accessible.
MOBI is actively working with companies accounting for over 70% of global vehicle production in terms of market share.
MOBI and its partners wish to encourage the development of 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.
Founding MOBI partners includ:
- BMW,
- Bosch,
- Ford,
- General Motors,
- Groupe Renault,
- ZF, and
- Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Services USA
Why is blockchain important?
Blockchain technology operates by distributing information to a network of independent computers, ensuring that transactions are secure and data privacy, ownership rights, and integrity are protected.
MOBI says that working in a consortium allows the creation of transparency and trust among users, reducing the risk of fraud, 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 CEO to coordinate the initiative. He said:
“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, we can accelerate adoption for the benefit of businesses, consumers and communities.”
Where will MOBI’s work start?
MOBI says that, to start with, it will be working 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
- Car sharing and ride hailing
- Usage-based mobility pricing and payments for vehicles, insurance, energy, congestion, pollution, and infrastructure
Rich Strader, Vice President, Mobility Product Solutions, Ford Motor Corporation, said:
“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.”
MOBI partners
MOBI was establish at the Future Blockchain Summit Dubai, May 02-03, 2018).
MOBI’s partners include:
Accenture, Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Services USA, Beyond Protocol Inc, BigchainDB, Blockchain at Berkeley, BMW, Bosch, Chronicled, ConsenSys Systems, Context Labs, Crypto Valley Association, Dashride, Deon Digital AG, Digital Twin Labs, DOVU, Fetch.ai, FOAM, Ford, General Motors, Hyperledger, IBM, the IOTA Foundation, Luxoft, MotionWerk, NuCypher, Oaken Innovations, Ocean Protocol, Outlier Ventures, Groupe Renault, Ride Austin, Shareing, Shift, Spherical Analytics, the Trusted IoT Alliance, VeChain, Xain, and ZF Friedrichshafen AG.
