IoT and Blockchain, a Match Made in Heaven

IoT (Internet of Things) is a term that refers to physical objects that are integrated with sensors, trackers and other technologies which connect or exchange data with additional systems over the internet. Examples include a doorbell camera, wearable health monitors, smart padlocks, and vehicle CCTV.

In the world of supply chains, two major benefits of using IoT devices are process automation and reduced human error. These benefits can translate into cost savings, increased efficiencies, risk reduction, greater safety and security, enriched reporting, and enhanced tracking.

However, with all the significant improvements and positive flow-on effects, the supply chain ecosystem is only as strong as its weakest link. What if someone wants to hide or change something that an IoT device detected or recorded? A simple edit to a database could severely impact outcomes and insights.

So how do you secure and verify the recorded data?

Blockchain offers immense value for securing and validating data collected by IoTs. One of the characteristics of blockchain is its immutability which prevents anyone from tampering with the recorded data. If records are sensitive or confidential in nature, an encrypted digital fingerprint of the record can be secured on the blockchain for the sole purpose of verifying that the data is correct and hasn’t been compromised.

Use Case: Fleet Management

VeriDoc Global’s technology partner, VIEWTRACK is an Australian IoT, GPS and Ai company.

Benefits of the VIEWTRACK fleet management system include:

Figure 1: Benefits of the VIEWTRACK Fleet Management solution

By communicating with the VIEWTRACK application via an API, event data is encrypted and stored on the blockchain using VeriDoc Global Supply Chain application for verification purposes. This provides integrity to the data collected by the IoT devices and prevents tampering of the records. This is important when there are multiple stakeholders in the supply chain and transparency is necessary to ensure that everyone is accountable and responsible for their contribution.

Below are the results of a Proof of Concept verifying and tracking the events related to the transport of goods from a fleet management perspective.

Figure 2: Proof of Concept: Fleet Management

Each event is tracked, location stamped, time stamped and verifiable by time stamp and metadata on the blockchain.

Results pages like the one above can be permissioned so that only the stakeholders can view and validate the events. In a situation where there is an IoT error due to a malfunction and edits to the database are required, the blockchain acts as an audit trail to track these changes.

The transparent nature of the blockchain provides a major upgrade to supply chains and other IoT applications. With the Industrial IoT market alone worth hundreds of billions of dollars each year it can be expected that companies will want to secure and validate the integrity of their IoT data as well.

To learn more about VeriDoc Global visit: https://veridocglobal.com

To learn more about VIEWTRACK visit: https://viewtrack.com.au

This article was written by Daniel da Silva Lay, COO VeriDoc Global.

This article was first posted on Medium.