Blockchain backed First Vehicle Identity (VID) Standard announced

MOBI along with Groupe Renault, Ford, and BMW announced the First Vehicle Identity (VID) Standard on Blockchain for digital vehicle identification system.

MOBI, Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative, is a nonprofit global foundation. It aims to promote the adoption of blockchain technologies for the smart cities and mobility industries, consumers, and communities. On their website, MOBI lists many community members such as BMW, BOSCH, IBM, Consensys, IOTA, Ford and many more.

According to the announcement, Vehicle Identification Working Group created for Vehicle Identity (VID) Standard on Blockchain.

Executive Opinion

MOBI's Founder and CEO, Chris Ballinger, said, "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. We hope these standards will ultimately make urban environments greener, safer, and more livable by enabling usage-based payment for congestion, pollution, and infrastructure.'

Chair of the VID Working Group, and Renault's Silicon Valley Innovation Lab Manager of Business Innovation, Sebastien Henot, added, "A standard for Digital Vehicle Identity will be the cornerstone of a new realm of blockchain-based solutions for the mobility ecosystem. 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."

Ford's Alan Gordon, the co-chair of MOBI's VID Working Group states, said, "The real power of blockchain comes from enabling networks of people and things to transact with each other without intermediaries. 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."

The First Vehicle Identity (VID) Standard

The standard establishes the birth of vehicle as a representation of the vehicle. It further adds product definition, ownership history, and key-events logs in the vehicle's lifecycle. This creates a trusted and immutable master record of the vehicle's history and data usage, says the announcement. The standard also enables trusted data communication amongst inter-operating stakeholders within the mobility ecosystem.

Groupe Renault and Ford chaired VID Working Group. Other participants include Accenture, AIOI Insurance, BMW, Car Vertical, Cerebri AI, Cognizant, ConsenSys, CPChain, Dealer Market Exchange, DLT Labs, GM, Honda, Hyperledger, IBM, IOTA,  Kar Auction Services, Luxoft, MintBit, Netsol Tech, Oaken Innovations, On The Road Lending, Trusted IoT Alliance, and Xapix.

To build security to the standard implementations, Formal verification experts have also thoroughly reviewed the standard, notes the announcement.

In October 2018, SHIFTMobility, an Automotive Cloud Platform, announced the release of its Vehicle Passport, the Blockchain Application for Car Ownership that Delivers Rewards for Every Mile Driven. After a month, on November 2018, Filament announced Automotive Blockchain Platform Blocklet for Trusted Vehicle Applications (TVA).