Lockheed, Ericsson, Lenovo, Huawei, Bosch, and IoTeX kick off global IEEE blockchain Identity of Things standardization

Global firms announced the initiation of development of international decentralized identities for people worldwide and machines from all manufacturers in every country around the world to be able to communicate, monetize and interact with each other.

Researchers and scientists from Lockheed Martin, Ericsson, Lenovo, Huawei, Bosch, IoTeX, and China Academy of Information and Communications Technology have created the IEEE P2958 Identity of Things Working Group to develop the global blockchain identity standards, said Dr. Xinxin Fan, chair of the group.

"Today, I am pleased to say we have formed a fantastic initial class of forward-thinking enterprises to drive this standard forward," Dr. Fan added. "By co-creating standards with industry experts, IoTeX is committed to innovation in the blockchain space via our real-world products, such as Ucam and Pebble Tracker. We want to help people securely own their data, earn by monetizing it and the value their smart devices generate, and make the world a better place."

Ericsson Head of Blockchain Business Development Giovanni Franzese said "it's a huge privilege to contribute to the IEEE P2958 standards development, bringing the market perspectives, the Ericsoon knowledge and participate in a cooperative cross-industry group to make the standards effective and fostering for adoptions with our clients.”

Interoperability is a crucial component of the working group's role in building standards that unleash the full power of the blockchain innovation ecosystem,” said Dr. Ramesh Ramadoss, the co-chair of the IEEE Blockchain Initiative.

Ramadoss explained interoperability using WiFi as an example. The IEEE set the global standard for WiFi. Thanks to that, people can travel anywhere worldwide and connect to the internet with only their username and password.

"Standards help with the growth and adoption of new technologies by lowering the technical barriers," Ramadoss said. "In the blockchain space, lack of interoperability is a technical barrier. There are many blockchains and the way devices are connected to blockchains to enable decentralized machine-to-machine communications should follow a universal standard."

After two years of tireless research, the six major global firms have approved the specification for blockchain-based decentralized identity (DID) for IoT devices that Dr. Fan — IoTeX Founding Member and Head of Cryptography— began in 2019 alongside the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

Blockchain identity standardization is critical to ensure interoperability and communications between Internet of Things (IoT) devices, people, and businesses. Eliminating technical barriers and enabling heterogeneous entities to communicate with global standards make possible global trade, economic growth, and local communities worldwide to prosper, 

Led by Dr. Fan, the working group is committed to ensuring that by defining a global DID standard for humans and machines to interoperate, the full $12.6 trillion potential value of the IoT that McKinsey predicts by 2030 can be unlocked globally.

Specifically, the Identity of Things standard defines a decentralized identity and access management (IAM) framework for the IoT to manage the lifecycle of IoT devices as well as IoT security services such as device authentication, data authorization, and access controls.

Dr. Ramadoss also used electrical sockets to explain why global standards are needed. People face issues when traveling to other countries with electronic or electrical devices that require a socket adapter. In the case of electrical sockets, there are multiple regional standards worldwide but no global standard.

The Identity of Things standard that the working group is developing aims to ensure that all people and machines can communicate frictionlessly no matter where they are. They will make it possible for billions of machines worldwide to communicate no matter who manufactured them or where. With countless industries adopting Internet-connected devices, the need for devices to exchange intelligence and value is paramount to a trusted and automated future.

"Despite technological innovations, today, even humans face communication barriers due to language barriers," Dr. Fan said. "This issue is compounded when we look at machines manufactured by different companies and deployed in different geographical regions."