IOTA has taken the digital currency market by storm last year, when only after a few months of trading, it jumped into the top ten cryptocurrencies on CoinMarketCap.
Following the market success and innovative approach, IOTA has also landed some significant partnerships with Microsoft and Bosch.
The start of the new year might have been disappointing in terms of the IOTA price, but not regarding the growth and evolution of this particular cryptocurrency.
On the recent world economic forum in Davos, the IOTA foundation has announced that IOTA is in partnership with Volkswagen.
While it’s not exactly a partnership with the German car manufacturer, the Chief Digital Officer (CDO) of Volkswagen, Johann Jungwirth, is joining the Foundation’s Supervisory Board.
Jungwirth won’t be the only representation of the German manufacturing industry on board – he will be accompanied by Dr. Hongquan Jiang, Partner at Robert Robert Bosch Venture Capital.
The foundation strongly believes that Jungwirth’s broad expertise in the automobile industry will help the IOTA Foundation work more efficiently to bring the technology to the market and it will enable new business models and applications for IoT and beyond.
The co-founder of IOTA Foundation, David Sønstebø, has expressed his enthusiasm:
“We are thrilled to have Johann join our Supervisory Board. Having a visionary like Johann on board is pivotal for Iota’s ambition to become a global standard that enables real-world use cases.”
Jungwirth has been the CDO at Volkswagen since November 2015 where he has been responsible for driving the digital transformation of Volkswagen Group’s 12 brands that include Porsche, Audi, Bentley, Buggatti and Lamborghini.
Prior to Volkswagen, Jungwirth was Director of Mac Systems Engineering at Apple and before that was President and CEO of Mercedez-Benz Research and Development branch of North America.
The Technology Behind IOTA
IOTA is the first distributed ledger technology that looks beyond blockchain technology and it’s built on the Tangle.
This blockless technology has been designed to facilitate the Internet of Things (IoT) industry and enable machines to securely transfer data and money between each other. It’s a stepping stone for the IoT-based applications and business models.
Unlike the majority of cryptocurrencies, IOTA hasn’t been created to facilitate everyday payments or settle legal disputes via smart contracts.
IOTA’s primary goal is to facilitate machine-to-machine micropayments that are not only instant and autonomous but also free of charge.
Ever since its launch, IOTA has been struggling with facilitating an increasing demand. Well-known are the wallet issues and days of missing funds due to technical issues.
All of that, however, is continually being worked on by the IOTA Foundation and the founders who don’t shy away and are active on various social media.
The Iota Foundation is a German non-profit organization headquartered in Berlin that coordinates and funds the development of the Iota ecosystem and is the first non-profit organization in Germany approved by the government focused on distributed ledger technology.
IOTA and The Automobile Industry
Getting on board a member of the Volkswagen group seems to be one of the steps of fulfilling IOTA’s aspiration of becoming the leader of the future automobile industry.
Earlier this year, top-tier automotive industry supplier Robert Bosch announced a $1.1bn semiconductor plant specialised in level 5 automotive technologies for driverless vehicles that will inevitably be a part of our lives in the near future.
After announcing the partnership in late 2017, Bosch invested in IOTA’s Tangle technology by buying the cryptocurrency and is looking into a possible implementation to the automated vehicles.
Another significant German car manufacturer, Daimler, has joined forces with Bosh to advance the development of fully automated and driverless driving. The two companies have agreed on brining driverless and fully automated vehicles to roads by the beginning of the next decade.
The prime objective of the project is to achieve the production-ready development of a driving system which will allow cars to drive fully autonomously in the city.
It goes without saying that the new technology will drastically improve the quality of an urban environment and the flow of traffic. Not to mention an enhanced safety on the road.
So Where Does IOTA Fit In?
The entire concept is focused on the idea that a vehicle should come to a driver, not the other way round. And within particular areas of town, customers will be able to order a car via an app, and the car will come to pick them up.
IOTA then would handle the micropayments between the vehicle and the customer.
The Future of IOTA
IOTA will undoubtedly keep on growing.
Despite several dips in the market and regular cryptocurrency fluctuation, IOTA is definitely one of the most significant digital currencies of the future.
We can clearly see that the IOTA Foundation is working hard on the project by continuously upgrading the network and by establishing important connections in the industrial sector.
The automobile industry is one of the largest industrial sectors, especially in Germany. And let’s not forget that Bosch is one of the biggest producers of electronics worldwide, and it will likely utilise the IOTA technology across its multiple products.
IOTA has already partnered with some of the biggest players of the mobility and IoT industry, which clearly signifies its potential for the future growth.
The fact that IOTA is in partnership with Volkswagen and it will announce further collaborations over the coming weeks, is a good sign for investors looking for the next long-term opportunity.
If you haven’t invested in IOTA yet, visit our guide on How To Buy IOTA or open an account with Bitfinex.
