How to monetize the information from your IoT sensors through Smart Contract
We live in a world where technology is constantly evolving, and with it, there are more and more disruptive ideas that are born with the purpose of making life easier for people and companies in their daily processes.
In this article, we will see why IoT (Internet of Things)
technology and sensors are going to revolutionize the world around us and how
users can take advantage of all this sensor pottery, in addition to obtaining
certain remunerations for giving such information.
Before we get down to business, it doesn't hurt to review a
historical level. Where were we a few years ago and where are we now ?:
• 2G,
implemented in the early 1990s, was the first networks based on a standard
protocol that allowed interconnection between networks as well as connecting to
them through the same terminal.
• The 3G
stood out for the improvement of the power of the antennas, a fact that allowed
more connected mobiles and achieve 2 Mbps of speed. In addition, it also
allowed integration with the Internet through the use of protocols (IP,
TCP-IP).
• 4G has improved the speed of data transmission; it allows Internet browsing of up to 20 Mbps (currently up to 150 Mbps) and has latencies between 40 and 50 ms (in fact, thanks to these benefits, streaming has appeared). All this has led to this technology allowing us to use all the features of Smartphones.
Now, what is the next evolution? How could it be another,
5G. Its main characteristic is that it provides great improvements in 10 Gbps
speed and low latency (between 1 and 2 ms compared to 4G). This makes it possible
to tackle very complex and precise topics such as the smart car, surgical
operations with robots, Smart Cities, etc.
What do these networks have to do with the IoT devices that
we talked about at the beginning? These devices are very compatible with these
new networks because they allow the connection of multiple high-demand devices
connected to the same network. As a result, we will have more people and IoT
devices that can transmit data at the same time.
How can we monetize the data processed through Smart
Contracts and a Blockchain network?
Currently, the path that the IoT industry is following is
the use of sensors with Internet gateways using TCP / IP protocols and with
connectivity to centralized server systems (there, later, the data is processed
and viewed by users) . However, this technology has associated risks such as:
security holes in device updates, physical manipulations of the device itself,
vulnerability to cyber attacks, etc.
Blockchain technology can help mitigate all the above risks
and also help users obtain a certain amount of money to share the information
with third parties.
What does the Blockchain bring us?
Mostly trust. The Blockchain is a technology that allows us
to verify all the information in addition to having autonomy when executing
automatic tasks. All this thanks to the use of Smart Contracts and cost
reduction, and without requiring an additional security network to protect the
IoT network.
Considering the aforementioned benefits, we see that both 5G
(which guarantees high availability), and Blockchain (which provides trust),
can offer high value to the world of the Internet of Things.
How could we monetize the data that is obtained from the
sensors?
It would only be necessary to create a private / consensual
/ public Blockchain network that was compatible with the ERC 20 standard. This
would allow us to create tokens and deploy a subset of nodes in all those
companies participating in the project and willing to buy and sell information.
between them to share it. It would also be useful for them to carry out market
studies and obtain KPIs that increase their sales. The Blockchain network
should be able to link IoT devices so that users who have transferred their
data can obtain tokens (change to euros) that would later be deposited into
their digital wallets.
Sounds cool doesn't it? Get money while you have IoT light
bulbs lit in your house, for example.
There would only be one question to solve, and that is that if we rely on the Blockchain philosophy, all this data should be stored on the network, and they should do so in a "public" way. But since we want to ensure the privacy of the information and that only those who pay for it can obtain it, an encrypted Peer-to-peer system would be used (where only the information would be sent between the user and the data buyer), always guaranteeing the immutability of the data.
In conclusion
We are in a totally changing world and new technologies can
increasingly help us to complement others; it is the only way to move forward
and continue in the line of change. This new world affects us directly and
indirectly, so it only remains to learn and adapt to the new change.