T-Labs are launching Xride, a first-of-its-kind, blockchain based e-mobility pilot. As e-mobility is a focus topic in the machine and sharing economy and the e-scooters are very popular they have been chosen for the showcase. The mobility industry is a natural entrant into the decentralized world but the technology can be further extended for other items e.g. healthcare, utility networks, logistics, etc.

In the centralized mobility systems of today, users are required to register new identity and payment credentials with each service subscription. Verification can be a lengthy and costly process with users required to manage multiple logins for different mobility providers, and providers required to store this sensitive user data, which is not only expensive but can be subject to hacking.

John Calian, Senior Vice President and Head of T-Labs: „In Xride, historically centralized functionalities like identity management, data verification and storage, payments, and charging are fully decentralized. This allows for a less costly, more secure and more efficient vehicle sharing that benefits both providers and the user.”

Xride is powered by a blockchain operating stack, called ståx. Developed by T-Labs, ståx enables the creation of decentralized, trusted and secure IoT ecostructures – ecosystem infrastructures – which will be critical for the evolution of machine to machine economies. In such ecostructures, producers and consumers connect in a decentralized manner and share trusted data.

Blockchain e-mobility

ståx connects blockchain technologies together into one operating stack and makes it easily manageable between multiple enterprises. In the Xride pilot, ståx enables shared deployment, where blockchain nodes run on machines, devices and clouds (such as IBM Cloud).

The pilot will trial the benefits of ståx over a four-week period during September and October, 2019 at Deutsche Telekom headquarter in Bonn. A fleet of scooters will be provided for use to Deutsche Telekom employees. Participants will interact with the Xride mobile app and scooters, swap batteries on the go at extra installed stations, and share insights with the T-Labs Blockchain Group.

Partners in this showcase pilot are:

RIDDLE&CODE, Bundesdruckerei, and Jolocom to provide key software and hardware layers that fully decentralize identity verification and identity management.
Giesecke+Devrient Mobile Security together with Ubirch provide trusted connectivity and transport of cryptographically verifiable data from an eSIM card to ståx.
Simple Mobility and Telekom Mobility Solutions are two e-mobility providers that enjoy ecostructure efficiencies and cooperatively compete with their services within Xride.