Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba Group, multinational telecom company ZTE, China Unicom, and China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology are going to team up for creating a blockchain framework for Internet of Things (IoT), Bitcoins Channel reported.
The group of companies has approached the International Telecommunication Union, the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies.
According to the report, the group has identified the current obstacles in the development of IoT. This includes high prices and centralized nature of connection, low scalability, network vulnerability, and many others.
The companies believe that integration of IoT and blockchain could solve these problems. The key benefits resulting from this integration includes higher trust, cryptographic security, low costs, and increased speed of operations.
CircleID reported last month that the group of companies called for a visionary multilateral technical and operational "framework for a Blockchain of Things." The 23-page document, SG20-C.008, was submitted into the ITU-T SG20 Internet of Things (IoT) Study Group meeting at Dubai, 13–23 March. The document states:
“Blockchain offers new ways for IoT/SC&C [Smart Cities and Communities] to automate business processes among partners without setting up a complex and expensive centralized IT infrastructure. Data protection of blockchain fosters stronger working relationship with partners and greater efficiency as partners take advantage of the information provided.”
“Blockchain with IoT/SC&C together becomes a potential game changer by opening the door to invent new styles of digital interactions, enabling IoT devices to participate in blockchain transactions, as well as creating opportunities to reduce the cost and complexity of operating and sustaining business.”