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Today, we are going to ask Léo Maurice, Kalima blockchain business developer, some questions to find out more about the relationship between blockchain and IoT as well as use cases for the ecosystem of permissioned decentralized blockchains that Kalima is building. This interview has been taken exclusively for the Hackernoon audience.
Adam: Hello Léo, and thank you for joining us today! Let’s begin with some clarifications for our readers. While we use IoT every day, not everyone knows exactly what that entails.
Léo: Thank you for having me! Yes, the IoT, or the Internet of Things, is a concept that a lot of people are probably unfamiliar with, but it is intertwined with their daily lives. Basically, this term refers to connected objects in all industries, industrial chains, materials, and items that are linked to the internet. Every day, these various links collect, transmit, and analyze millions of data points, such as data on the performance and maintenance of machines on production lines, alarms and sensors on nuclear sites, connected red lights that allow traffic to be streamlined, and weather forecasts on smartphones. So it’s basically any part of existing infrastructures that work via the Internet.
Adam: So how does Kalima define its mission in relation to IoT?
Léo: Our main mission is, facilitate, and streamline data monetization of companies, including IoT data. Kalima Blockchain is a way to create new business models and add value to the internet of things. We achieve this by enabling Internet-connected devices to transfer data to a blockchain network, which produces secure records of shared transactions.
Adam: How does monetization work?
Léo: Right now, we are focusing on the collection and monetization of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) data. This is important because, according to recent reporting frameworks, businesses must freely publish their data on sustainability commitments, ethical operations, and social conduct, making ESG data collection, management, and analysis a cross-industry use case.
We can verify ESG data as authenticated data as well as increase monitoring, decrease decision delay, and develop new business models. Blockchain IoT, when combined with sophisticated analytics, can offer the digital intelligence layer required for effective ESG initiatives.
Adam: What specific industries can benefit from this? Are you already partnering with any major companies?
Léo: Yes, we have clients across the globe. This includes Enedis, the first electricity distributor in France, ArcelorMittal, the world's leading steel and mining company, and Tenneco, one of the global leaders in automotive products.
Adam: Very impressive! Please share with us what other industries can potentially benefit from your technological approach?
Léo: Honestly, the possibilities are endless. We are looking at automotive supply chains, real estate, energy, finance, and infrastructure. Each of these industries can take advantage of the technology in order to improve the security and scalability with DApps developed by Kalima.
Adam: Okay, let’s dive into the potential uses of blockchain when applied to IoT. How does the technology address the challenges of the IoT architecture?
Léo: The distributed ledger in the blockchain system is tamper-proof, which eliminates the requirement for trust among the parties involved. As a result, no single entity has authority over the massive amounts of data created by IoT devices. Another layer of security is added when the data is stored on the blockchain instead of centralized storage. Blockchain encryption is way more robust than conventional storage methods which makes it nearly impossible to erase existing data records.
As with many other blockchain use cases, we highly value the transparency that comes with it. Anybody with authorized access to the network can view and track previous transactions. This can give a reliable technique to pinpoint the source of any data leaks and take immediate corrective action.
By establishing trust among stakeholders, blockchain technology also enables IoT organizations to save costs by eliminating the processing overheads associated with IoT gateways such as traditional protocol, hardware, or communication overhead costs.
Adam: These are some major advantages that can be applied to many industries. Thank you for sharing! Is there anything else you would like our readers to know?
Léo: Yes, I would just like to announce the ICO of our utility token that is used to monetize DApps and PrivaChains on Kalima. Kalima token (KLX) will at first be an ERC-20 token going to the ICO after which it’ll become a KL20 once it’s bridged with the Kalima Main Chain. The ICO is planned for Q3 2022, at the beginning of September.
Adam: Thank you for sharing and taking your time for this interview. Best of luck with the ICO!