As we previously stated, it appears like blockchain technology, or Distributed Ledger Technology(DLT), is poised to transform every element of online businesses. When you combine blockchain and IoT, you get two bigger deals than the Internet that require each other for various reasons.
Virtually all research firms have identified blockchain as a rapidly advancing innovation, and it’s not only about financial services companies.
Many enterprises are evaluating the integration of blockchain and the Internet of Things. As a result, implementations, strategies, and projects are already in place in various domains, including IoT and financial services transformation.
According to Gartner, blockchain adoption in combination with IoT adoption is a DX(Digital Transformation) sweet spot, particularly in the United States.
With these disruptive statistics, let’s dive in to know more about the attention-seeking combination of blockchain and IoT, along with a detailed overview of their exceptional use cases and real-world examples.
How is Blockchain Used in IoT?
So what makes blockchain merge well around IoT?
Despite its many advantages, the Internet of Things (IoT) is not without drawbacks. Connected IoT devices continue to rely on centralized infrastructure with minimal scalability. In addition, increased demand can result in overcrowded networks, low throughput, device dependability, and lack of supply chain transparency.
Additionally, unscrupulous hackers continue to target IoT devices. As a result, IoT can have potentially fatal consequences in the wrong hands, from breaches of cardiovascular devices and baby monitors to surveillance cameras and digital components in automobiles. Blockchain help IoT devices in overcoming these concerns by creating a safe, robust, and effective network.
Blockchain eliminates IoT’s reliance on centralized servers and single points of failure, which expose IoT devices to unscrupulous actors, thanks to its decentralized nature. Secondly, since all transactions are instantaneously visible on a shared, immutable ledger, blockchain IoT applications can improve supply chain transparency.
How Does Blockchain Technology Work For IoT Use Cases?
The three essential characteristics of blockchain technology in the form of a data structure are fundamental to the applications of blockchain IoT. The following are three fundamental aspects of blockchain technology that could assist IoT use cases:
1. Distribution
Through blockchain, data is spread across multiple computers on the network rather than in a single location. Consequently, hacking the monitoring system with many target devices is relatively challenging. Also, blockchain’s redundancy in storage improves data security accessibility.
IoT ecosystem users could quickly input and obtain their required data from various devices.
2. Immutability
The burglar may claim that video evidence recorded by surveillance cameras is fake, showcasing the blockchain IoT use cases. In these kinds of situations, the immutability of blockchain pops up, and it necessitates the detection of any modifications in the data that has been retained. As a result, the court could validate the burglar’s allegation by looking for evidence of data manipulation.
3. Decentralization
Although the security of IoT device data on blockchain networks is protected by distribution and immutability, decentralization could be a significant drawback. This could expose users’ sensitive data to third parties, and IoT blockchain use cases might include recording access records and permissions.
Big data storage can be prohibitively expensive due to blockchain’s distributed and decentralized nature. In this scenario, the central database would be stored in a central database, and data access records would be stored on a blockchain platform. As a result, users can obtain an immutable data structure that allows them to identify an individual accessing data and the time of the incident.
Now, keeping all of these advantages in mind, let’s take detailed knowledge of the top 9 Blockchain IoT use cases.
Top 9 Blockchain IoT Use Cases
Here are a few Enterprise use cases that illustrate how integrating IoT and Blockchain could have a big impact:
1. Supply Chain Logistics
For manufacturers, retailers, and other participants, tracing and surveilling items across the supply chain has long been a technical difficulty. Verifying a good’s source, whereabouts, or state is often dependent on trusting a third party in a world littered with opaque procedures and multiple changes of hands throughout the globe.
However, we can’t trust IoT devices solely. Instead, businesses can use blockchain to ensure that all essential participants in the supply chain access the data they require because it is stored on an immutable ledger.
All parties can verify the same ledger, which serves as a consistent source of truth, increasing transparency and enhancing stakeholder relationships. As a result, consumers gain from increased performance and high-quality, genuine products, while businesses save money by avoiding faulty goods, missing components, and costly product recalls.
Example:
Golden State Foods is the most well-known example of combining blockchain and IoT functionality in supply chain management. It is a multi-faceted supplier specializing in producing and distributing food items. Golden State Foods has teamed up with IBM to use IoT and blockchain to improve its supply chain procedures.
2. Smart Homes
The usage of blockchain with IoT in smart homes provides an easy solution to the question, How can blockchain be used in IoT? IoT-enabled gadgets have laid the groundwork for the growth of smart homes to flourish.
Smart homes could discover new ways to manage surveillance equipment remotely from smartphones with the help of the IoT blockchain. The issues connected with the traditional centralized approach for transferring information generated by IoT devices are removed with blockchain.
Example:
Telstra is one of the most well-known blockchain IoT instances. The Australian telecommunications titan offers blockchain-based smart home solutions with biometric authentication. Telstra’s smart home solutions ensure sensitive user data is stored on the blockchain for increased security.
- Voice recognition
- Facial recognition
- Biometrics
3. Automotive Industry
Digitalization’s impact has resulted in a rapid increase in competitive demand. IoT-enabled sensors have been effectively used to create fully automated vehicles in the automotive industry.
Coupling blockchain with industrial IoT solutions is one of the most common uses of blockchain IoT in the automotive industry. As a result, it can enable multiple users to transmit critical information relatively easily and quickly.
The automotive industry provides the best environment for promoting blockchain IoT application cases. The integration of blockchain and IoT can cause major changes in the automotive industry, including:
- Automated traffic control
- Smart parking
- Autonomous cars
- Automated fuel payments
Example:
NetObjex is a blockchain IoT application case in the automotive industry. It’s a smart parking system combining blockchain and IoT technologies to find a vacant parking place. NetObjex can also help with payment automation through cryptocurrency wallets.
4. Agriculture
IoT finds new and revolutionary applications in agriculture, particularly for monitoring the effect of weather and other environmental events on crop quality and output. However, in agriculture, the emphasis on attaining maximum customer pleasure has brought attention to variables other than food production.
Aside from producing more food to feed the growing population, the agricultural industry must also work to reduce its environmental impact. At the same time, agricultural businesses strive to build customer trust by increasing transparency throughout the supply chain.
The deployment of IoT sensors in farms and direct data transmission to the blockchain could significantly improve the agricultural production supply chain. Let’s look at how we can use blockchain IoT to improve the agricultural supply chain.
Example:
Pavo is an excellent illustration of how blockchain IoT is used to alter the agriculture sector and its traditional practices. It’s yet another blockchain IoT use case targeted at bringing a new and smart agricultural strategy with unrivaled transparency. Pavo’s IoT hardware devices, put on farms, capture vital data and store it on the blockchain network.
5. Pharmacy
Blockchain IoT application cases handle key concerns such as counterfeit pharmaceuticals in the pharmaceutical industry. The pharmaceutical sector is responsible for medication production, manufacturing, and marketing, making it difficult to follow a medicine’s whole lifecycle.
The transparency and traceability provided by blockchain could aid in tracking medicine shipments from the point of manufacture to the end consumer.
Example:
Mediledger is the most well-known example of blockchain IoT in the drug industry. It’s a blockchain IoT application for tracking legal changes in prescription drug ownership. Traceability and transparency must be prioritized while monitoring sensitive healthcare goods.
Mediledger provides a user-friendly interface for combining blockchain with IoT functionality for various value-added services. It can provide the following benefits:
- Providing total control over user access
- Preventing the spread of counterfeit medications throughout the global pharmaceutical supply chain
- Providing more secure payment methods that are simpler and easier to navigate.
6. Machine Led Maintenance
IoT devices are already assisting manufacturers worldwide in reducing inefficiencies and increasing profits. In addition, businesses can decrease interruptions via machine-led maintenance by deploying smart sensors on their equipment.
The sensors broadcast real-time data on machinery and provide reports or error warnings to business owners, allowing them to plan regular maintenance and, in effect, solve a problem before it occurs.
Human intervention and inspections are still commonly employed to guarantee that error reports are not edited, tampered with, or erased, but blockchain can assist in eliminating this.
7. Monitoring Pollution in Smart Cities
The Internet of Things (IoT) is critical to developing smart cities. Data may be simply collected and evaluated utilizing connected sensors, lighting, and meters, enabling round-the-clock functioning. Once again, blockchain serves as the ideal foundation for IoT devices, ensuring data security, efficiency, and authenticity.
Air quality monitoring technologies based on blockchain and IoT are quickly gaining traction in smart cities. Because blockchain eliminates security risks and inefficiencies, blockchain can effectively monitor air quality and corrupted or evil actors will be unable to alter any data.
8. Sharing Economy
Blockchain IoT use cases could provide a solid foundation for the sharing economy. The development of decentralized, shared economy apps could be aided by blockchain technology. Through frictionless sharing of products and services, these applications may be able to generate promising revenue.
Example:
Consider the idea of an Airbnb apartment renting itself out based on vacancies and scheduled bookings. Slock.it is among the most potent examples of blockchain IoT applications in the sharing economy.
Slock is making significant progress in using blockchain technology to change the sharing economy. As a result, the USN may be able to create a secure online store for connected devices.
9. Water Management
Water management is critical for long-term sustainability, as malfunctioning water fixtures waste about one trillion gallons of water annually in the United States.
Example:
Aquai is the most promising application of blockchain IoT in water management. Puck is a smart water sensor produced by the business. It could assist in tracking the amount of water used and automating water shutoff in the event of a leak.
Aquai uses NetObjex’s IoT and blockchain services, such as data monitoring and storage. Aquai has also proposed plans for launching additional services related to the water damage caused by leaks.
4 Real-Life Blockchain IoT Use Cases
Some currently ongoing projects use the disruptive combination of Blockchain and IoT technologies.
1. Enhancing Efficiency With Automated Planning
Van Dorp is a facilities management (FM) organization that oversees over 17,000 properties in the Netherlands. The firm is in charge of keeping the air conditioners, lights, and heaters in working order. With 600 Van Dorp technicians in reach, maintaining these systems can be a huge burden.
TimeSeries employs blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT) to deliver management solutions to enterprises. For example, Van Dorp’s maintenance planning was improved by the company’s development of a management platform that allows them to organize mechanics by services, location, and historical data.
2. Improving Efficiency in Logistics With IoT Blockchain
SmartLog is studying and creating a proof of concept program that intends to reduce cargo unit transportation times over three years, from 2016 to the summer of 2019.
Poor communication in the cargo transport business is a problem that affects shipping times. Blockchain offers a straightforward answer to this problem because of its capacity to provide shareable real-time information.
The goal is to keep cargo operations on the SmartLog blockchain, monitor them via IoT, and automate operations using smart contracts, making the sector more organized and transparent.
3. Sustaining Palm Oil Industry
Apical, one of Indonesia’s top palm oil exporters, hopes that blockchain and IoT will make data collection for plantation productivity within the palm oil business easier.
We can use tags embedded in the soil, water, and plants to monitor the productivity and quality of palm oil plantations using IoT technology.
Apical collaborated with major members of the palm oil industry to launch the Sustainable Guarantee and Innovations Association or SUSTAIN, in September 2018, to use blockchain to ensure sustainability in the palm oil business.
4. Measuring River Contamination
Water quality monitoring is an expensive process; therefore, Libelium and Airalab have partnered up to offer a less expensive alternative. The two businesses completed a project called Drone on the Volga, which used a drone outfitted with IoT and blockchain technology to collect water pollution levels autonomously.
The drone captures real-time water readings from the Kuybyshev Reservoir on the Volga River and uploads the information to the Ethereum blockchain. In addition, drones can detect when and where readings were obtained using IoT, supporting researchers in deciding the source of contamination. The project combines Libelium’s water sensors with Airalab’s Robonomics Platform.
Wrapping Up Blockchain IoT Use Cases
Several businesses have begun investigating how IoT and Blockchain help increase efficiency and automate processes. This post looked at some real-world products that used this technology to provide solid business solutions.
Our specialists at Parangat will assist you and lead you through more blockchain IoT use cases to help you understand how IoT Blockchain coupled can help your business or whether you are seeking a blockchain IoT application development company.
