Author: Ian Allison Translator: Ina
Four of the world's largest automakers have joined a number of technology suppliers and startups to form one of the industry's largest blockchain consortiums, focusing on the application of blockchain technology in the automotive sector.
The group, called MOBI (Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative), was announced on Tuesday, and its founding members include BMW, Ford, General Motors and Renault, auto parts makers Bosch and ZF, as well as some large companies (Accenture, IBM) and blockchain industry groups (Consensys, Hyperledger).
So while there have been some recent proof-of-concepts in the automotive space (for example, IBM and ZF tested a crypto car wallet last year), the consortium may be unique in its broad membership, backed by both private and public Participation of groups in the blockchain system.
The goal of MOBI is not to drive a specific type of distributed ledger, but to create common standards and APIs to enable payments and data sharing between cars, services designed to drive new digital mobility ecosystems - from car sharing to driverless cars.
Chris Ballinger, chairman and CEO of MOBI, said that while working at Toyota Research Institute, he did some blockchain proof-of-concepts with startups before realizing the need for such a consortium.
Driving these efforts forward requires a decentralized business network, he said.
Ballinger told CoinDesk:
“Everyone has to have common standards and ways to communicate between cars to identify themselves and make payments.”
He also noted:
"But if every car company is trying to develop its own car wallet or its own payment method, or offer a car-sharing service, it's not going to work at all, it's just fantasy."
Ballinger founded such a new alliance when he was still at Toyota, but his company is the only one among its members who shares this philosophy. However, the concept seems to be gaining some traction now, as 70% of global vehicle production is contributed by members of MOBI.
Dan Harple, CEO of Context Labs, is working closely with Ballinger. The first step in this new alliance will be to create a “minimum viable ecosystem” to gain network effects, he said.
The work will begin through face-to-face member meetings, with project teams working on different areas, including vehicle identity and data tracking, car-sharing, mobility ecosystem commerce, and unmanned and manned data marketplaces.
The original sin of the internet
All in all, the MOBI Alliance may be the first collaborative effort in the automotive industry. These companies realize that the data generated around cars is a valuable resource, and blockchain can help the automotive industry control and manage this data.
In fact, the fact that data lacks a legitimate property rights regime means that data ends up being owned only by big tech companies, which will become monopolies and grow in size — that's MIT's Michael J. Casey (CoinDesk columnist) ) called "the original sin of the Internet".
But while the automotive space is the next data battleground for Apple, Google and Amazon, MOBI believes that blockchain can provide a powerful decentralization tool. And, once shared, this data can bring benefits to society, such as improving road safety and reducing congestion.
Ballinger told CoinDesk:
"Everyone needs this data, and Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Google have their own systems in their cars. This is the next big data battleground, worth trillions of dollars."
As such, Ballinger expects a lot of data opportunities in the future.
One is data generated inside the car: The average commuter spends several hours a day in the car, and increasingly uses the internet during that time—for example, from virtual assistants for directions.
Ballinger said:
“The opportunity at this point is that, if property rights can be created, that data can ultimately be controlled and owned by its generator, whether that generator is an individual, a fleet operator, or a city government that controls traffic lights.”
The explosion of sensor data
MOBI希望利用分布式账本技术控制的另一类数据则更为抢手，即汽车本身通过其周围的多个传感器所产生的数据。
目前，与设备相连的汽车每小时能产生大约25千兆字节的数据，并且未来具有激光探测与测量（LIDAR）等遥感技术的有人或无人驾驶车辆所产生的数据还将成倍增长。
Ballinger表示：
“有了这么多传感器，汽车将生成大量的数据，可能连5G网络都无法处理。”
除此之外，还有实时天气传感器，还有就道路使用权、碳价、污染和使用能源等进行谈判的汽车。
所有这些数据如果能得到恰当的管理和使用，都可能使驾驶更加安全。
虽然谷歌和特斯拉等公司在收集无人驾驶汽车数据方面处于领先地位，但Ballinger认为，仍然需要超出想象的大量数据才能开发出真正安全的无人驾驶汽车，并处理所有现实中可能遇到的驾驶情况，如在极为拥堵的城市里驾驶或在暴雨中行驶。
然而，基于区块链的系统对此也有所帮助。
Ballinger在丰田时参与了创业公司BigChainDB的一项概念验证。该公司使用区块链为数据构建产权，以便汽车制造商共享数据，并且用它来训练机器学习算法。按照Ballinger的说法，分享这些数据是我们加速开发安全的无人驾驶汽车的唯一途径。
他指出：
“没有哪家公司能够拥有那么多数据，并且近期内无法拥有。这些数据可能就在那里，但没人分享，所以拥有安全汽车的那一天可能更遥远。”
本文仅代表作者个人观点，不代表区块链铅笔的立场，不构成投资建议，内容仅供参考。
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