IOTA and Zebra have joined forces to provide users with advanced digital product passports (DPPs) that are based on trustworthy value chains. This partnership aims to promote a circular economy model that incorporates new product data management.
DPPs allow users to track products and access information such as their origin, composition, durability, and end-of-life handling. This technology is targeted towards businesses, customs authorities, consumers, and more.
The blockchain industry has moved beyond the hype and is now focused on practical applications. The IOTA ecosystem, in particular, is a leading global player in this revolution. At the Zebra DevCon 2023, José Manuel Cantera, a senior ICT expert and consultant at the IOTA Foundation, discussed how the partnership with Zebra is transforming commerce through digital product passports (DPPs) and how IOTA’s scalability is driving this revolution.
Cantera delved into the details of the partnership with Zebra, highlighting how DPPs based on trustworthy and transparent value chains are made possible. He emphasized his role in providing strategic technical leadership, including the partnership with the European Commission under the EU Blockchain Services PCP.
For those who missed the Zebra DevCon 2023 event, José M. Cantera’s presentation on Digital Product Passports is now available to watch. The collaboration between Zebra and IOTA focuses on building DPPs that are based on transparent and trustworthy value chains. The video provides insights into this innovative technology.
DPPs are an initiative supported by the European Commission, aiming to facilitate the sharing of essential product information that is critical for sustainability and circularity. The concept of a circular economy is based on recycling and reusing materials and products to promote sustainability.
During his presentation at the Zebra DevCon, Cantera explained that DPPs provide various types of data, including product information, manufacturing procedures, and environmental footprint. They also offer important tracking events, such as transportation conditions, and certificates like warranty and compliance. The target audience for DPPs includes market surveillance authorities for compliance verification, consumers for promoting safer purchases and authenticity, customs authorities for efficient enforcement activities, and businesses.
DPPs are only possible with decentralized ledger technology (DLT). However, traditional blockchain-based DLT has limitations, such as slow periodic block creation and a tradeoff between security and speed. Blockchain also relies on sequential writing with one leader at a time, resulting in inefficient processing. Additionally, blockchain networks depend on a small group of miners.
IOTA’s Direct Acyclic Graph DLT offers an ideal solution by providing a fast and continuous message stream. It outperforms blockchain networks with its parallel writing and processing capabilities. Unlike blockchain, IOTA’s DAG does not rely on miners but instead utilizes many writers and a flexible incentive structure.
The partnership between IOTA and Zebra offers developers a framework to create data commitments through audit trails. These commitments consist of a chain of data records that capture a sequence of states.
Successful experiments have been conducted by these two entities to prove the feasibility of their solutions. One experiment focused on the use of DPPs for electronics, where they collaborated with Spain’s Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña and electronics giant HP. In another experiment, they partnered with American software company Digimarc for plastic upcycling.
The partnership is gaining momentum in Europe, with the IOTA Foundation being selected as one of three finalists out of over 30 applicants to participate in the final phase of the EU blockchain services PCP process.
If you’re interested in learning more about IOTA, we recommend checking out our Buy IOTA Guide, IOTA Wallet Tutorial, and keeping an eye on the 24-hour MIOTA price. Stay updated with the latest IOTA news and learn more about what IOTA is all about.