Taipei government continues to embrace blockchain innovations through IOTA partnership

The IOTA Foundation has announced that it has signed a partnership with Taipei to foster a smart city based on the IOTA network’s Tangle ledger.

The most immediate use-case being implemented will be the issuance of Tangle-based ID cards to the citizens of Taipei. The ID card concept was designed to exclude risks of identity theft and voter fraud, and simultaneously represent a simple tool for tracking health history and other data for public services.

According to IOTA Co-Founder David Sonstebo, the company is very ‘excited about teaming up with Taipei City’. ‘It proves that our next-generation technology is ready for real world use-cases and is more than just a theory’, he added.

IOTA and the Tangle Protocol

The IOTA Foundation is a Germany-based non-profit foundation, focusing on employing open-source distributed ledger technology that does not use a blockchain. Its innovative, quantum-proof protocol Tangle is a software protocol that fundamentally differs from the blockchain protocol. Its genius lies in the fact that transactions are processed in parallel rather than sequentially, with network being capable of handling more transactions and faster processing as the user base grows – a complete antithesis to Bitcoin’s scalability issues. This has provided IOTA with several edges, including transactions with zero fees, infinite scalability, fast timings and secure data transfers among other benefits – read more about Tangle here.

Use-cases and implications for Taipei

Following the terms of the agreement, IOTA and Taipei City will develop methods of adapting IOTA’s technology that will contribute to achieving the city’s goals of transforming into a smart city through a number of projects, enhancing data integrity and authenticity concerns in public services and other spheres.

In addition to ID cards, the Tangle Protocol will be applied for Airbox data (a joint initiative with Taipei City aimed at creating palm-sized air sensors) with a view to integrate incentivized payment in IOTA. Hence, citizens of Taipei will receive the unique opportunity to monitor pollution levels in real time, owing to IOTA’s technology.

Short video about the Airbox project

