Deutsche Telekom Innovation Laboratories (T-Labs) recently launched Xride, a first-of-its-kind, blockchain based e-mobility pilot.
As e-mobility is a focus topic in the machine and sharing economy and the e-scooters are very popular they have been chosen for the showcase. The mobility industry is a natural entrant into the decentralized world but the technology can be further extended for other items e.g. healthcare, utility networks, logistics, etc.
In the centralized mobility systems of today, users are required to register new identity and payment credentials with each service subscription. Verification can be a lengthy and costly process with users required to manage multiple logins for different mobility providers, and providers required to store this sensitive user data, which is not only expensive but can be subject to hacking.
Xride is powered by a blockchain operating stack, called ståx. Developed by T-Labs, ståx enables the creation of decentralized, trusted and secure IoT ecostructures - ecosystem infrastructures - which will be critical for the evolution of machine to machine economies. In such ecostructures, producers and consumers connect in a decentralized manner and share trusted data.
ståx connects blockchain technologies together into one operating stack and makes it easily manageable between multiple enterprises. In the Xride pilot, ståx enables shared deployment, where blockchain nodes run on machines, devices and clouds (such as IBM Cloud).
John Calian, SVP and Head of T-Labs
In Xride, historically centralized functionalities like identity management, data verification and storage, payments, and charging are fully decentralized. This allows for a less costly, more secure and more efficient vehicle sharing that benefits both providers and the user.
