Sony’s New Blockchain System to Rationalize Public Transportation

• Toshendra Kumar Sharma
• April 24, 2020

Independently developed by Sony, it has introduced a blockchain system for rationalizing transportation services that will serve as a next-generation digital service integrating multiple transportation systems and services. The transportation services include trains, buses, taxis, car-sharing, and on-demand rental bicycles.

 

The multinational corporate Sony announced its Blockchain Common Database (BCDB), which will use Blockchain technology for Mobility as a Service (MaaS) that aims to provide people with data regarding optimal routes to their desired destinations.

 

Sony BCDB to Improve Mobility as a Service

 

MaaS integrates a variety of transportation, including trains, buses, car sharing, on-demand mobility services, and bike rentals. This is facilitated through IT and cloud technology, which provides users with essential data on routes to given destinations, and also recommends transportation ways along with additional services.

 

The successfully developed blockchain system helps integrate data and service provision across different forms of transportation — whether it be car-sharing, trains, buses, taxis, or on-demand rental bicycles. In addition, it also offers specific details on a route, travel time, and the overall cost of the chosen service.

 

The system aims to replace a type-specific interface for each part of the sector. With the help of a new blockchain-based solution, users can pay and choose their transport service in isolation from the broader urban transportation system by simply using a specific taxi-hailing app or paying for a local bus.

 

Sony’s BCDB will feature high-speed info-processing technology. It claims to make things easier for around 7 million traveling and commuting users per day, and it will empower them to keep track and share their anonymized travel history and revenue allocation.

 

According to Sony, BCDB is being calibrated for faster data processing and is not limited only to MaaS. The company mentioned in the report that the blockchain database could equally be utilized to record as well as to share different kinds of sensor data that are associated with the establishment of a smart city.

 

A Glimpse at Blockchain Success 

 

Sony already has such experience in participating in the Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management’s MaaS “Blockchain Challenge Program” in 2019. The trial ended in March, and the new Sony blockchain database was the project that met the ministry’s specifications.

 

Several other top multinational companies are up to Blockchain technology for additional purposes. Among them are Microsoft, Circle, Intel, Visa, Amazon, Walmart, etc. Sony, alongside other 34 other multinationals, has filed 212 Blockchain patents by the end of March 2020.

 

The US-based Cargill Incorporated and Agrocorp (a Singaporean international trading company) successfully completed a wheat shipment deal worth $12 million with the help of blockchain technology. Talking about Sony’s new blockchain system, the company mentioned in the report that the blockchain database could equally be utilized to record as well as to share different kinds of sensor data that are associated with the establishment of a smart city.

 

“Sony will continue to explore potential applications for blockchain in various fields with the aim of further popularizing blockchain technology,” says the report.

 

To get instant updates about Blockchain Technology and to learn more about online blockchain certifications and become a blockchain expert, check out Blockchain Council.