The chain to empower the world
Ubiwhere’s implementation of blockchain technology
Current Landscape
In 2022, blockchain technology has reached everyone’s ears, ranging from crypto-currencies to NFTs and the aspirations of the “metaverse”. The market grew from about $700B to around $2T from crypto-currencies alone, having even reached $3T. That is about a three-fold increase in market capitalisation in 2021 alone (CoinMarketCap, n.d.)! Big names in the corporate world also see opportunity in this technology, from sectors like Bank, Finance, Insurance, Energy, Government, Real Estate, and the list goes on.
This post shows how Ubiwhere is leveraging the power of the blockchain to aim for sustainability, transparency, trustless and hence decentralised alternatives to old and new problems.
What are blockchain technologies?
Before jumping right into the work being done, it is useful to provide a short description for those who aren’t acquainted with the technology. Blockchain technologies are a subcategory of Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs).
DLTs have provided a way, for the first time, to have a ledger that is in everyone’s possession rather than trusting an entity to keep the records for themselves. This means that there is the option of a trustless ledger where no third parties are required to fact-check them. The mechanism for achieving this depends on the DLT itself, but what is important is that this is achievable for the time being.
Now, what makes blockchain so special for other DLTs? The most important aspect is that it can also be decentralised despite the ledger being distributed in a blockchain. For brevity, think of it as in the following diagram. The distinction is that in a purely distributed network, the whole network fails if a node fails, while this is not the case in a decentralised network.
How is a distributed and decentralised network, such as a blockchain orchestrated? This has been a several-decade effort culminating in Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin whitepaper (Nakamoto, 2008). Essentially, it is a network where each transaction is time-stamped via hashing algorithms into an ongoing chain of hash-based blocks of these transactions compliant with the consensus protocols. The longest chain proves the sequence of events and proves that the majority of the nodes that process the transactions achieved the consensus. As long as nodes that aren’t colluding to attack the network hold the bulk of the computational power, they’ll produce the longest chain and outrun attackers. These characteristics enable the blockchain to be tamper-proof, distributed, decentralised (in case this is intended), and pseudo-anonymous while also being a trustless network.
‘Consensus protocols,’ a keyword in the previous paragraph, is the basis for this trustless approach. There would be no guarantee that the system would act as intended if consensus protocols were not in place. They are incentive-based protocols that provide nodes with a reason to behave correctly. The most known of these is Proof of Work (PoW), employed in Bitcoin, which uses CPU-intensive problem-solving to create blocks of transactions that obey the blockchain’s rules. The reward for the work is some Bitcoin. Of course, there are disadvantages, the most significant of which is energy usage, but one thing we must acknowledge is that the Bitcoin blockchain is yet to be breached in its 14-year existence. Another prominent consensus protocol is Proof of Stake, which randomly selects a pool of token “donors” to create a block based on the number of tokens it has on stake (in the case the pool acts maliciously, a percentage of the tokens staked are taken away). This protocol is used in blockchains such as Cardano, Solana, Binance Smart Chain, and, in the future, Ethereum. Other consensus protocols are Proof of Elapsed Time (used in some Hyperledger blockchains), Proof of Burn, Proof of Capacity, and Proof of Weight, to name a few.
It is important to mention that the case for a public and decentralised blockchain might not be exactly what is desired, especially for performance, privacy and confidentiality reasons. For this reason, there exist private, or permissioned, blockchains. The most notorious of these promising blockchains are the ones provided by the Hyperledger Foundation and Ripple. Opposed to the public, or permissionless, blockchains, the access for new participants is given by the consortium, the regulated authority, or other members already in the network.
A smart contract is another important feature enabled by creating the blockchain. This concept isn’t new; it dates back to 1996, when Nick Szabo coined the word (Szabo, 1996), but it was Vitalik Buterin and his associates that popularised it with the launch of Ethereum (Ethereum Foundation, n.d.). Ethereum was established as a way to create and execute decentralised applications (often referred to as dApps) using their blockchain. In the context of Ethereum, a smart contract is essentially a script recorded in the blockchain as an account run by the network’s nodes when it interacts with. Because no work is done for free, “gas fees” are associated with the script. Also, since the smart contract is stored on the blockchain, it cannot be changed once deployed.
How is Ubiwhere implementing blockchain technology?
As presented in a previous article, Ubiwhere has been active in the blockchain space and has already taken part in several applications from supply chain to 5G.
Transportation
The first blockchain application developed at Ubiwhere was on the scope of Vicinity 2020. The drEVen project is a European-funded effort that abstracts all the issues associated with user management, charging sessions, settlements, and billing for decentralised electric vehicle (EV) charging. DrEVen is built on Ethereum using smart contracts, which are the critical component that allows for trustless transactions between any unknown energy and charging station provider and the actual EV owner. Besides the owners, no one can tamper with the energy pricing or monetary transactions between peers because it is transparently stored on-chain.
Still, on vehicle sustainability, the Thumbeo project, developed in collaboration with PROEF, is a decentralised marketplace for fleet sharing, allowing vehicles from various organisations to be shared. Because it is built on Polygon, transaction fees are kept to a minimum while providing transparency, a ledger for improved car tracking, and prices set by the owners. This strategy allows businesses to maintain a certain level of profitability by lending their vehicles during periods of low productivity and providing a considerably more cost-effective alternative to purchasing or renting a car on a long-term basis.
Regarding mobility, Ubiwhere isn’t done here. We are currently trying to advocate the use of sustainable means of transportation for the individual through incentives. In the scope of NGI Explorers and URBAN SYSTEMS, the GoGreen project has been deployed in Portland, USA, that, by leveraging blockchain technology, has been able to provide incentives, stated in smart contracts, to the more considerate uses. Within GoGreen and NGI TruBlo is POSER, a blockchain-based solution for providing dynamic proofs of location that circumvent the need for GPS. This technology will take away the concern of “surveillance” since the data is cryptographically stored in the blockchain. This means that there isn’t a direct link between the user and his identity in the blockchain while still being eligible for rewards via GoGreen. This technology alone allows for a plethora of decentralised location-based applications, so stay tuned for more information!
Supply chain
The activities of the spinoff business Zenithwings, which are primarily focused on supply chain applications, notably for agri-food, and maritime-food items, are related to Ubiwhere.
More ambitious is SmartAgriChain, developed in collaboration with Sativa, Felba, Tice.pt, and Fraunhofer Portugal, a solution that uses blockchain and smart contracts to transfer assets seamlessly, securely, and without the use of intermediaries while retaining the traceability and tamperproof properties of blockchains. Producers, vendors, accreditation authorities, and consulting firms can use the platform to engage with one another in a more transparent, efficient, and dependable manner. The blockchain employed in this project is not a public blockchain but rather a permissioned blockchain, the Hyperledger Sawtooth, for scalability and cost concerns. The assets circulating can be authorised with various certificates thanks to this method. Aside from agri-food assets, this project also incorporates other product categories, which will be covered in the following project.
Recently, Zenithwings received an EEA grant to develop a follow up to SmartAgriChain but for the blue market. SmartBlueChain is a decentralised blue market where any supplier, distributor, certifier, or brand can participate. This mould would allow the product to be certified as it moves through each supply chain point, making it more understandable and transparent. In addition, the end customer serves as an active agent. The client may quickly access the path a product has crossed, and his feedback and loyalty to the product are rewarded with real-value tokens. It’s a win-win situation for both the product’s responsible entities and the consumer.
Telecommunications
As if it wasn’t enough, Ubiwhere shares plans for the Telecommunication front, especially regarding the adhesion of 5G technologies more transparently.
Along with its consortium members Altice Labs, Atos, Comunicare Digitale, Fondazione Bruno Kessler, i2CAT, IBM Israel, Intracom Telecom, Malta Communication Authority, Nextworks, Telefónica, and Universidad de Murcia, we are excited about the 5GZORRO’s blockchain capabilities for 5G. Blockchain will be used to automate the secure, flexible, and multi-stakeholder combination and composition of resources and services in this project. Smart contracts will also be used to standardise and map third-party technical data into these contracts and ubiquitous computing/connectivity, dynamic spectrum allocation, pervasive virtual content delivery network (CDN) services over third-party resources, and even service level agreement (SLA) management. Another application will be the formation of a shared spectrum market, which will allow real-time trading of spectrum allocations between parties with no pre-established trust relationship.
When it comes to 5G, it’s clear that infrastructure is becoming a concern, not just because of the increased visual congestion caused by all of the short-ranged transmitters but also because of the high cost of installation and access to new sites. With this in mind, Accelleran, i2CAT, E-REDES, Nextworks, and Ubiwhere aim to make the most of existing infrastructure while lowering capital and operational costs. The solution comes in the form of 5GaaS. Pre-designed agreements or contracts and an automatic billing system will be deployed in conjunction with smart contracts recorded on a blockchain. Spectrum, hardware, software components, virtual network operations, and lease agreements for passive and active infrastructure are just a few of the services available through smart contracts. The solution aspires to be one of the most straightforward and transparent ways to install new 5G equipment or utilise ready-to-use 5G equipment, making site acquisition, asset management, and network administration easier.
Closing remarks
As can be seen, blockchain has a wide range of applications across various industries. Many massive corporations, including Twitter, IBM, Microsoft, and a slew of others, are researching the space and figuring out how to use this technology to their advantage. Ubiwhere has shown that it is not frightened but rather thrives when working with cutting-edge technology like blockchain and smart contracts. In the case of Ubiwhere, we are leveraging this technology to promote sustainability, transparency and trustless alternatives to the already established solutions.
As with any emerging technology, blockchain provides new ways of solving old problems yet can still work hand in hand with other technologies of the future. It provides new revenue opportunities and even cuts costs otherwise impossible. But despite its many capabilities, it is not meant to be applied in every single area of the business. There are still many feasible uses that have yet to be imagined, just as the top blockchains of the future may not even exist. On the other hand, there are well-known issues, most of which are related to better managing the blockchain trilemma.
Blockchain has now begun to stand on its own two feet, and it is up to the community to nourish and evolve it to run towards the limitless potential it has demonstrated. Will you join Ubiwhere in lending a helping hand?
References
CoinMarketCap. (n.d.). Global Cryptocurrency Market Charts. CoinMarketCap. Retrieved March 29, 2022, from https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/
Ethereum Foundation. (n.d.). Ethereum Whitepaper | ethereum.org. Ethereum.org. Retrieved April 1, 2022, from https://ethereum.org/en/whitepaper/
Nakamoto, S. (2008). Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf
Szabo, N. (1996). Smart Contracts: Building Blocks for Digital Markets. Nick Szabo — Smart Contracts: Building Blocks for Digital Markets. Retrieved April 1, 2022, from https://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/rob/Courses/InformationInSpeech/CDROM/Literature/LOTwinterschool2006/szabo.best.vwh.net/smart_contracts_2.html
