MOBI concludes Phase I of MOBI Grand Challenge

Los Angeles, California, January 24, 2019​ – The Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI) announces the conclusion of the submissions for the first stage of the MOBI Grand Challenge (MGC) on January 14, 2019. The challenge began on October 12, 2018 at the MGC launch event in New Mexico and since then teams of developers from around the world have come together to solve a piece of the blockchain, distributed ledger technology and mobility puzzle. The ultimate goal of the MGC is to create the first viable, decentralized, ad-hoc network of blockchain and distributed ledger technology connected vehicles and infrastructure that can reliably share data, coordinate behavior, and thereby improve urban mobility.

Winners of the first stage of the challenge will be announced on February 15, 2019 at the MOBI Colloquium hosted by the BMW Group, a MOBI community member, at their Innovation Center in Munich, Germany. The event will include a finalist presentation and public demonstration of selected technologies over the course of a two day, public and private event. Leading up to the Colloquium, MOBI is opening up a voting platform to the public, allowing anyone to individually review each submission themself and vote for their top three picks. The voting window will be announced on social media and voting will take place on MOBI’s new website.

“Teams that entered the MOBI Grand Challenge showed us a multitude of ways in which blockchain, IoT, and distributed ledger technology will impact mobility in the near future,” says MOBI’s Founder and CEO Chris Ballinger. “Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize the mobility industry and the solutions entered in this challenge display many of the positive effects on our environment and society that these advancements can have.”

Over 20 teams across four continents spent the past three months collaborating, coding, and creating a solution to a mobility issue of their choosing. A number of teams addressed the most common payment action in automobiles today — usage based payment for infrastructure, including BC tolls. The value in designing this transaction through cryptographic assets creates a more streamlined and transparent financial operation for all users. Other entrants focused on the broader idea of autonomous vehicles and how blockchain technology can allow autonomous machines to collectively plan motion paths to avoid collisions, coordinate behavior, and reduce congestion. Some teams monetized empty parking spaces and unused electric and hybrid vehicle chargers by registering assets and payments on a public or permissioned ledger, creating a tokenized environment. Platforms like this allow users to harness unused resources for financial benefit and contribute to a sharing ecosystem.

Overall, participants in the MOBI Grand Challenge succeeded in demonstrating how blockchain, distributed ledger, and IoT technology can address specific problems in urban mobility. The discoveries made in this first stage will lead the way for the next stage of the three-year challenge.

Active members in the MOBI Community have contributed to the challenge by donating tokens, cash prizes, and unique experiences for challenge winners!

Ocean Protocol​, a blockchain enabled data exchange protocol, has committed $100,000 in Ocean Protocol tokens to the MOBI Grand Challenge to enable the data sharing needed for developers, data and AI specialists to offer the world an autonomous and efficient mobility solution.

Accenture ​is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. They have extended an invitation to the top team for an exclusive tour of one of their Global Innovation Hubs. The team will have the opportunity to discuss their ideas and offerings with Accenture’s senior industry and technical experts to help them progress to the next stage of getting the solution to market.

Constellation Labs​ has contributed $5,000 in cash toward the prize pool. Constellation is a consumer and enterprise grade distributed ledger technology that enables the world’s smart devices and machines to seamlessly interact and transact.

Pravici​ has contributed $2,000 in cash towards the prize pool. Through the use of Hyperledger Fabric, they deliver a Tokenized Loyalty Platform (TLP) and help customers to integrate the TLP Blockchain with popular Loyalty Products.

A panel of MGC judges, consisting of industry leaders and blockchain experts, will be selecting the top three winners from a pool of over 20 teams. Teams will be judged on creativity, technical merit, impact, and project feasibility. Judges will be evaluating teams based on their submission of functioning blockchain software and a three to five minute video explainer of their application’s features and functionality through a comprehensive demonstration.

Prizes breakdown:

• First Place
  • $50,000 in Ocean Protocol Tokens
  • $4,000 Cash Prize from Constellation Labs
  • Invitation to an Accenture Global Innovation Hub
• Second Place
  • $30,000 in Ocean Protocol Tokens
  • $2,000 Cash Prize from Pravici
• Third Place
  • $20,000 in Ocean Protocol Tokens
  • $1,000 cash prize from Constellation Labs
• Public Vote Winner
  • A spotlight on our website and the next newsletter

Judges Panel:

• Jamie Burke​, Founder & CEO of O​ utlier Ventures
• Lasse Clausen,​ Founding Partner at ​1kx
• Dan Harple,​ CEO at C​ontext Labs
• Mike Hearn,​ Lead Platform Engineer at ​R3 CEV
• Lars Klawitter,​ Executive Director at ​JLR InMotion Ventures
• Ashley Lannquist​, Blockchain Project Manager at W​ orld Economic Forumand Co-Founder of M​ OBI
• Zaki Manian​, Executive Director at ​Trusted IoT Alliance
• Dr. Klaus Schaaf,​ Director at ​Volkswagen’s Electronics Research Lab
• Iliana Oris Valiente​, Managing Director at Accenture

About MOBI
MOBI is a nonprofit foundation formed to accelerate adoption of and to promote standards in blockchain, distributed ledgers, and related technologies for the benefit of the mobility industry, consumers, and communities. MOBI and our partners are creating simple, standard and digital ways of identifying cars, people, and trips, of paying for mobility services, and securely exchanging and monetizing data in ways that preserve property rights and privacy.

MOBI is working with most of the world’s large automakers and many mobility ecosystem players, along with many start-ups, non-profits, governments, transit agencies, and technology companies. We are convinced that by working together we can make mobility services more efficient, affordable, greener, safer and less congested.