Four Major Automotive Giants Launch the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI)
During the recently held Futures Blockchain Summit in Dubai on Tuesday, May 1st, top fours automotive giants - BMW, Ford, General Motors and Renault came together to form one of the biggest ever coalition groups called Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI) with an aim to implement the blockchain technology in the automobile and mobility segment.
Apart from this four giants, the association also includes blockchain industry groups like Hyperledger and Consensus, tech giants like IBM and Accenture as well as spare-part manufacturers like ZF and Bosch.
The new MOBI association aims at implementing the blockchain technology in the automotive space by further enhancing its services and making them more affordable. It will look after creating common standards and API while enabling data sharing and payments between cars. This MOBI association will be responsible to take forward the digital mobility ecosystem right from ride-sharing to self-driving vehicles. It will also look at streamlining process for supply-chain management as well as consumer financing and pricing.
Chris Ballinger, a former CFO and director of mobility services at the Toyota Research Institute will be the first chairman and CEO of MOBI. Ballinger said: “Blockchain and related trust enhancing technologies are poised to redefine the automotive industry and how consumers purchase, insure and use vehicles.”
He further added: “By bringing together automakers, suppliers, startups, and government agencies, we can accelerate adoption for the benefit of businesses, consumers and communities.”
In comparison to other coalitions in the DLT space, Ballinger said that MOBI is unique in a way horizontally integrated and focused on a particular industry. MOBI has an open-source business design in order to boost the blockchain adoption among businesses who either develop or deliver autonomous vehicles and mobility services.
Sophie Schmidtlin, currently the global director of Renault and also a fellow of the MOBI association praised blockchain calling it as one of the biggest technological breakthroughs of the current times.
She said: “Blockchain technology is by essence decentralized, and its full potential needs to be assessed by working in an open ecosystem. That is why it is natural for Groupe Renault to take part in the MOBI consortium. This consortium will be a great opportunity to share and learn about the possibilities that can be opened by the Distributed Ledger Technology while applied to the automotive ecosystem. Ultimately, we aim to work together to define future standards and use cases that will make an easier everyday life for our customers.”