Vodafone presented its latest development, the Digital Asset Broker (DAB). The Economy of Things platform is designed to enable networked devices to process payments on their own. Energy Web and Master Card have been recruited as partners for the project.
Limited automation through payment methods
Apologists for the total networking of all areas of life through Internet of Things (IoT) technologies have long been concerned about the slow penetration of these technologies into society. They now seem to have identified a reason for the slow progress of digitization in the form of payment.
Like many lobbyists in other sectors of the economy, they are now increasingly joining in the fact-resistant chorus calling for a better world through more digital payments. This is because manual payments for digital services are simply no longer in keeping with the times. They are therefore now increasingly preparing the ground for automated payment processes from IoT applications.
Field test with Energy Web
By cooperating with the non-profit organization Energy Web, the company is now trying to kill two birds with one stone. On the one hand, the so-called range anxiety about electric cars is to be countered by improved data availability.
At the same time, machine-to-machine money transfers are to be established as a new normality in the same process. In this way, users will not only have timely information that tells them where charging stations are located in their immediate vicinity. And whether they have compatible technology. Owners can also allow their vehicles to pay for the charged energy themselves on their behalf.
Enforcing green goals through autonomous payment
The partners also hope that the increased access to more and more data on electric cars and their charging stations will improve the implementation of environmentally friendly energies. This is because users of the new technology are increasingly gaining more insight into the nature of their drives. For example, customers will soon be able to decide for themselves where the electricity for their cars comes from, as long as it is as green and sustainable as possible.
Blockchain and Master Card for Africa and Europe
Vodafone is cooperating with Master Card for this project. The New York-based payment service provider was brought on board to ensure the smooth compatibility of the payment transactions to be processed in the process. DAB, in turn, is using blockchain technology to verify all devices and applications involved in these processes.
Progress for EoT
Progress for EoT
From the market launch of this new platform, the business partners expect a significant step forward in the ecosystem of the economy of things. In the future, machines will be able to negotiate prices and services with each other on behalf of their owners and sell to each other. Vodafone is also already working on other solutions to help realize scalable platforms for its customers in Africa and Europe. The acquisition of interested partners should ultimately change the global payment system.
