Car trunks, tuna, smart factories and energy from the brewery What do , , and Berlin’s largest gas vendor have in common? They all launched pilot projects in collaboration with blockchain startups. Find out their project descriptions and key learnings from their projects in the article below. Porsche Bosch WWF GASAG 1. Bait to plate WWF & Viant.io (started in January 2017) and (a ConsenSys company) worked together on a track & trace use case for more transparent tuna fishing. WWF Viant.io : Production, live in market Current project state : Releasing transparency, traceability, tradability platforms that are more use case specific. Next project stage : WWF supported the capital investment in the project while also providing project management and technical fisheries expertise. Support by WWF One of the biggest challenges to full traceability is in the time it takes to process map with multiple participants . Additionally, large incumbents are just learning how to bring transparency to their consumers as well as manage a one on one digital relationship with them. — Key takeaway from Dragos Rizescu, Co-Founder of Viant.io A first step to using blockchain technology would need to be the utilisation of a digital traceability platform that can capture the KDEs necessary for traceability. Second, the authenticity of data is important: Any information system is only as good as the quality of its data. Cooperation of downstream supply chain actors is an important constraint on adopting blockchain traceability. — Key takeaways from Bubba Cook, Western and Central Pacific Tuna Programme Manager 2. Machine-as-a-Service Bosch & zkSystems (started in January 2019) Photo by on Samuel Zeller Unsplash ’ blockchain enables Bosch to potentially provide their customers with features such as pay-per-use and machine sharing between several stakeholders. zkSystems : Prototype Current project state : Presenting the prototype of the use case “Machine-as-a-Service” at and providing zkSystems’ API at Bosch ConnectedExperience Hackathon in May 2018 Next project stage Bosch Connected World : Bosch Rexroth provided the industrial Hardware, which they installed Zksystems’ client on. Support by Bosch Key learnings so far have been that it is important to consider different stakeholders within a large company and find ways to have them all on board. Another important point is that it is necessary to understand the customer’s context — technology alone is not enough. — Key takeaway from Diana Rees, CEO of zkSystems Key learnings from the project are so far that we need to work on real-world pain points and user-centric benefit s. With zkSystems, our approach has been to focus on how leading edge technology can help us create real value — beyond hype. — Key takeaway from Janette Kothe, Business Model Innovation for Bosch Rexroth 3. Energy from the brewery GASAG & Lition (started in December 2017) Photo by on Thomas Richter Unsplash Berlin startup launched an operating blockchain-powered energy market place in cooperation with Berlin’s main natural gas vendor . Using their platform you can buy energy from Berlin’s power plant built in a former brewery. Just German things. Lition GASAG : Live with customers and revenues from over 30 cities Current project state : Expanding in the mass market Next project stage : Support with operations, power plants on their P2P-exchange and coworking space. As part of a potential investment, Lition is currently also supported financially. Support by GASAG Experimental technology needs to be thrive and tech needs to be in the focus. But at some point in time, it needs to bring tangible business value . We realized that only when we could show this people got excited. — Key takeaway from Richard Lohwasser, CEO of Lition New technologies are new for everyone. This uncharted territory can however only be claimed if every party takes on a broad perspective and a clear vision for the future. — Key takeaway from Andreas Lampel, Strategy Department at GASAG 4. Accessing Porsche via blockchain Porsche Digital & XAIN (started in August 2017) tested various blockchain applications with the Berlin startup . Among other applications, they tested access to the car trunk via digital id shared via blockchain. Porsche Digital Labs XAIN : First project closed Current project state : Moved into a new project related to AI Next project stage One of the largest challenges is to really get a strong foot in the door, as a PR project can support you with a good name, it wont help you on the business side. Biggest challenge was finding the next project after the initial POC . We would recommend very early customer interaction with a very close feedback loop! — Key takeaway from Simon Schwerin, board member of XAIN foundation
