A consortium made of five enterprises and six startups are working on leveraging blockchain to secure and improve IoT applications.

The groups, which counts Cisco Systems and Bosch Ltd amongst its members, have launched an IoT ‘thing’ registration API. The protocol is in collaboration with Skuchain and Chronicled and supports Ethereum, Quorom and Hyperledger.

The protocol will allow users to register different kinds of ‘weaker identities’ such as UPC code identities and serial numbers. These will then be bound to stronger cryptographic identities, which are linked ‘across the physical and digital worlds using blockchain technology.’

Intersection of blockchain and IoT

The launch of the common registration protocol brings closer secure interactions with cryptographic networks. The consortium hope that this will ‘fundamentally change the approaches to computing that underpin today’s IoT device identities, sensor data and business logic.’

The group will support the protocol with a number of proof-of-concept projects. Among these, Cisco are exploring using the protocol to register device identities and associated data.

“In the days of the railroad industry, there was a need to create standard dimensions for the gauge of the rail and width between the rails,” CTO of Chronicled Maurizo Greco said.

“Similarly, in the IoT and blockchain space, by creating standards around basic functions, such as registering cryptographic public keys to blockchain systems for ‘thing’ identity verification, we can set a strong foundation for the growth of this exciting new industry.”

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