Vodafone forms blockchain-based Economy of Things JV with Sumitomo

UK-headquartered telecoms group Vodafone and Japanese trading and electrical services company Sumitomo Corporation have announced an 80/20 stand-alone joint venture to drive the development of automated machine-to-machine IoT transactions, under the banner of the “economy of things”. Vodafone will contribute its blockchain-based Digital Asset Broker (DAB) IoT trading platform to the venture; Sumitomo will invest in the business and also attract more investors, partners and customers.

Vodafone also contributes with intellectual property, contracts, technology and software. Its DAB platform was unveiled at MWC last year, as an engine to support a new ‘economy of things’, enabling verified IoT devices to act securely without human intervention, but with human (‘owner’) control . It has laid the platform for use in the automotive, energy, manufacturing and supply chain sectors. With new support from Sumitomo, the venture will continue as a standalone business focused specifically on IoT devices, electric vehicles and smart street furniture

The initial ownership of the new Economy of Things project will be split 80/20 between Vodafone and Sumitomo respectively. It is subject to regulatory approval. The two parties will launch the DAB platform in a phased approach, they said, initially targeting the automotive and transport sectors in Germany and the UK, followed by other European countries and North America. They will also look to partner with Sumitomo group company SCSK Corporation to establish a presence in the Asian market, including Japan, with a long-term vision of entering the smart city game.

A statement said: “Customers can use the platform to assign a unique digital identity to any device… to seamlessly communicate and securely transact with other devices using blockchain technology where the wallet and payment services are secured by the mobile SIM .Machines … can be quickly verified as trustworthy and automatically authorized to exchange and exchange data and money … Businesses … can immediately launch new products and create new revenue streams while consumers will be confident in the knowledge that they are dealing with verified units.”

Vodafone and Sumitomo have been working together since late 2020, when they created Safaricom Ethiopia with an international consortium of partners.

Vinod Kumar, CEO of Vodafone Business, said: “Sumitomo is the ideal partner to help drive the economy of things and associated new business opportunities for us, our customers and partners. For example, a rental car can charge drivers on either pay-as-you-go -you-drive- or subscription basis; drivers of electric vehicles can receive real-time information about the availability of the nearest charging point and charge without hassle; and fleet management companies can automatically pay tolls.”