The secret of leading the IoT + Blockchain revolution: Accelerate the implementation of application scenarios
Looking back on a previous interview given to C114 by Mr. Leo Lin, CEO of aitos.io, he had championed a vision of a blockchain application framework, also known as the “BoAT”. Leo envisioned the convergence of three technologies, namely the internet of things, artificial intelligence and blockchain, that when integrated together, would create a trusted digital foundation.
Now, after more than one year, aitos.io certainly plays to its strengths with its forward-looking perspective, and risen from the starter to the front-runner of the IoT and Blockchain revolution.
You might be asking what the latest developments are for aitos.io BoAT blockchain application framework ecosystem construction? What are the up-and-coming industry trends for development of IoT and Blockchain? It’s impossible to ignore emerging trends like Web 3.0, the creation of the Metaverse, and the rise of value for NFTs; naturally, you might ask where the sweet spot is for aitos.io to benefit from these new trends? Leo Lin, CEO of aitos.io succinctly navigates a discussion on these questions. Let’s eavesdrop into this recent interview by C114.
A thriving ecosystem
It is reported that the aitos.io BoAT blockchain application framework has successfully deepen the ecological cooperation of Internet of Things + blockchain in 2021 and kept building ecological collaborations, growing the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain. The BoAT ecosystem scope is vast, with chipset IP, chipset manufacturers, IoT module manufacturers, Mobile network operators (MNOs), major standards organizations, cloud service providers, financial institutions, and systems integrators/service providers, among multiple vertical industries. The framework covers data producers and data consumers to help ensure the credibility of data from the source.
aitos.io, for standardization purposes, has pooled resources together with CTTL(China Telecommunications Technology Labs) Terminal labs , part of the parent CAICT(China Academy of Information and Communications Technology), to initiate the establishment of group & industry standards related to technical requirements of trusted blockchain access for IoT terminals under the TAF Telecom Terminal Industry Forum Association and CCSA China Communications Standardization Association.
In terms of fundamental chipset-level technology, aitos.io works closely with mainstream IoT chipset manufacturers, becoming the blockchain technology partner of Unisoc and Qualcomm During the Shanghai #MWC21, aitos.io officially announced joining the RISC-V Foundation as strategic member and co-launched a Blockchain SIG(Special Interest Group) along with other ecosystem partners.
Accelerate the implementation of application scenarios of IoT + Blockchain
As was masterfully pointed out by Leo Lin, presently the major roadblock to integration of IoT and Blockchain is slow vendor implementation of business use cases, but aitos.io has been the first to achieve a breakthrough. The aitos.io BoAT trusted data-on-chain solution are helping industry enterprise customers achieve cost-effective blockchain enablement for multiple application scenarios. Also making news headlines for aitos.io was the successful launch of an Azure Sphere + BoAT IoT Blockchain solution; a joint solution for enterprise-grade trusted digital transformation, partnered with Microsoft, the leading cloud service provider. aitos.io is a Microsoft IoT Edge Partner Of The Year 2021 award winner. The cattle financing biological asset management solution launched by aitos.io has been commercialized in Shandong, Jiangxi and other places, and won the second prize in the Smart FinTech Competition of the 4th "Blooming Cup" 5G Application Contest held by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) in 2021.
During October, 2021, aitos.io officially strengthened its global market strategy by signing a Memorandum of Understanding known as "5G Internet of Things and Blockchain Joint Innovation” project with NCS a leading digital and technology service provider under Singtel Group. aitos.io milestones include cooperation with enterprises in Southeast Asia to carry out digital transformation through the integration and innovation of IoT + Blockchain technologies. This program was kicked-off jointly by both Shenzhen and Singapore governments as a "Singapore-China (Shenzhen) Smart City Initiative (SCI)".
SCI is also an important part of aitos.io’s key strategy focusing on smart city innovation and overseas expansion. By actively applying IoT and blockchain technology to various scenarios of smart cities, aitos.io will work with NCS to further improve the SCI cooperation. Integrate cross-region Internet of Things and blockchain fundamental technology to open up and realize further integration innovation of business and ecology, empower the industry with digital technology to be green and zero-carbon.
Leo mentioned “In 2022, aitos.io is laser focused on accelerating commercial implementations for application use cases”.
Leo declared aitos.io fully expects to play a crucial role using our BoAT IoT trusted digital base to participate in upcoming carbon neutrality pilot projects for major smart cities inside China and globally with the goal of duality of green sustainability and digital transformation.
Leo expressed his view that aitos.io, as a technology-based company with technological innovation, is experiencing a strong need to expand beyond China into global markets for growth. He added, that growth comes with its share of challenges to overcome, in order to sustain its development goals. The combination of the IoT, Blockchain and artificial intelligence will help digital transformation enterprises to achieve innovation in green energy, decarbonization , recycling and other major benefits. Key initiatives in corporate carbon neutrality strategies will depend more and more on trusted carbon data Monitoring, Reporting and Verification processes via IoT + Blockchain integrated technology.
If we take smart energy usage as an example, a new distributed power system based on a trusted new energy paradigm (integrated IoT + Blockchain) can strengthen the supply and usage of green energy. Blockchain technologies can help users to provide energy services independently, allowing smart energy to be flexibly deployed. By using the decentralization feature of blockchain technology, information sharing based on smart contracts helps deliver results to consumer energy users, energy equipment technology companies and IoT devices/things in the network. This improves overall quality levels for system operations and efficiency. On the other hand, deploying integrated Internet of Things and blockchain helps support the efficient development of renewable energy power transactions or renewable energy green power certificate transactions, while also encouraging an increased percentage of renewable energy utilization.
Capturing Industrial Opportunities in the Web3.0 Era
Web3.0 and Metaverse are hot topics right now, but the industry itself is still in its early stages. aitos.io is also constantly exploring opportunities in this thriving field.
First of all, the early-adopter IoT + blockchain evangelists normally categorized the evolution of the internet from Web 1.0 as the first iteration of the Internet, mainly solves the problem of static content transmission; Web2.0 has greatly enriched the connection between people, but massive data is stored on the centralized platform, personal information is easy to be abused, and data privacy is difficult to be guaranteed. Web3 implements a trust-minimized, permission less, distributed network around "data value", giving users complete control and ownership over their digital identity, creative content, data and assets. It enables users to read, write, and own their digital assets permanently. Therefore, the Internet of Things and blockchain technology have morphed into two key pillars supporting the concept of Web 3.0.
The intrinsic value of Boat’s IoT trusted digital base is keenly positioned as a composable infrastructure of Web 3.0 to support a modular construction, compatibility with other key software and protocols. Typical features include data storage, communication protocols, data analysis, AI algorithms, identity solutions, etc. Hence, It is convenient for Web3 developers to use BoAT to build related IoT + blockchain application-like building blocks.
Web 3.0 commercial applications are still evolving and quite streamlined at this early stage. Typical adoption mainly includes digital creation, social networking and games. The sweet spot of data value creation will be direct transactions based on blockchain addresses through distributed data storage and smart contracts evocation, with the ultimate objective of protecting users’ privacy while creating content security and preventing personal information from being abused.
Leo is quite adamant in his belief that the integration of Internet of Things with blockchain technologies is driving the commercial rise and adoption in a Web 3.0 World. If you take a realistic analysis of the current Internet of Things ecosystem, it’s natural to draw the same fragmented and distributed market conclusion. The data from IoT Analytics shows that the number of Internet-connected IoT devices produced worldwide will reach 12.3 billion actively connected IoT device in 2021. Massive deployments of IoT devices from every walk of life around the world can ready be observed within manufacturing, agriculture, home furnishing, the transportation sector with Internet of Vehicles, medical/health and other application use cases. This is highly consistent with the discussed characteristics of Web 3.0, especially with features of trust minimization, permission less and decentralization.
Leo specifically highlighted the continuous enrichment of Web 3.0 application use cases will further grant intelligent IoT devices the leverage to serve as trusted data entry points for massive and fragmented IoT applications in the Web3.0 era. This is because, on the one hand, IoT devices with built-in BoAT blockchain application framework become trusted collectors of IoT data. This helps to ensure data is credible and cannot be tampered with throughout its life cycle from the data source. On the other hand, the BoAT IoT trusted digital base will will become the fertile soil of Webeb3.0 ecosystem, which will be continuously consolidated with the prosperity and development of Web3.0, thus having better growth and more diversified development potential.
About aitos.io
aitos.io is a technology start-up focusing on the integrated innovation of IoT and Blockchain. By combining its own rich resources in the IoT industry, aitos.io has raised the standard for an open-sourced blockchain application framework BoAT (Blockchain of AI Things) with delivered via IoT chipset and module to enable IoT devices quickly implement trusted data on-chain and access the blockchain services. At the end of 2019, aitos.io and nine mainstream cellular wireless module manufacturers jointly initiated the Blockchain IoT Module alliance, and successively released their own brands of BoAT blockchain module products. This resulted in hundreds of millions of IoT devices equipped with the capability of blockchain services access as a trusted entry of IoT+Blockchain application. aitos.io’s vision is to leverage an alliance of global IoT vendors to empower them to tap the value of applications and data.
At the beginning of the project launch in the end of 2018, aitos.io received angel investment from the IoT industry expert group and strategic investment from Wanxiang Blockchain. In December 2018, aitos.io was awarded membership into ARM Accelerator Camp. In June 2019, aitos.io emerged as the founding member of China Unicom IoT and Wanxiang Blockchain IoT+Blockchain Joint Innovation Center. In November, aitos.io became a empowerment partner of Microsoft’s AI and IoT Lab . In August 2020, aitos.io transitioned into Tencent’s Blockchain Accelerator program as the first member. In February 2021, aitos.io joined RISC-V International as strategic member and initiated to form new Blockchain SIG (special interest group). In April, aitos.io initiated 1st China technical requirements standards for trusted blockchain access of IoT terminals.
