IOTA, the ninth largest cryptocurrency by market share on Coin Market Cap, recently partnered with more than 20 companies to launch the first publicly accessible data marketplace for the Internet of Things (IoT), TheNextWeb reports.
The marketplace, which is currently in beta testing and powered by a distributed ledger, allows stakeholders to share and monetize their data in a secure way, TheNextWeb says, and aims to show a proof of concept for a “tamper-proof” data marketplace. The idea of the marketplace, VentureBeat says, is to create a future where “any connected sensor or device can grab data from an open marketplace…to power an application.” Once the data is updated by end users to IOTA’s decentralized ledger, it is dispersed to multiple nodes to ensure immutability.
What makes IOTA stand out in the marketplace, TheNextWeb says, is that it uses a method called Tangle to distribute and decentralize its leger; Tangle “offers free transactions and much better scaling opportunities” for participants.
During the marketplace demo, which will run until January, IOTA will release blog posts and case studies to demonstrate how companies are benefitting from using its solutions. Individuals, or “netizens,” will also have the opportunity to sell their data on and will benefit from the marketplace by connecting their IoT devices to the IOTA ledger, TheNextWeb says.
What this means for decision makers:
According to VentureBeat, the goal is to use this new marketplace to power real world applications. For example, “smart city sensors, could use environmental data collected via Samsung’s ARTIK sensors to drive IoT-based pollution alerts,” VentureBeat says. “Connected cars could perhaps tap data from Bosch, the world’s largest automotive part supplier, to get details on a part that appears to be malfunctioning.”
This means that companies would have more access to infinite types of data in this marketplace, and can use that data to make effective decisions to move their unique business initiatives forward. Individuals could also purchase data packets, which would enable them to build their own applications, and share those resources with others across the network. The business model, VentureBeat suggests, could break down and improve connections between industries that are traditionally placed in siloes, from supply chain management to smart cities, and AI.
However, while the marketplace is still in the testing phase, decision makers still have time to decide if this type of data sharing is appropriate for their industry. There has not yet been a solution that can prevent a data breach, or one that can keep a network of information “tamper-proof.” As a result, seeking a piece of this marketplace’s pie may not be a safe fit for industries with sensitive information, such as colleges, hospitals, and financial institutions. Decision makers can keep tabs of IOTA’s progress over the next month or so through its blog posts.
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