Some of the world’s biggest car manufactures, and some of the biggest tech powerhouses, have teamed up to launch the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI).

Chris Ballinger, former Chief Financial Officer and Director of Mobility Services at Toyota Research Institute, is MOBI’s first Chairman and CEO. He said:

“Blockchain and related trust enhancing technologies are poised to redefine the automotive industry and how consumers purchase, insure and use vehicles.”

The initiative plans to establish a “minimum viable network” across the entire mobility value chain to include automakers, public transportation and toll road providers, other forms of transportation, technology firms, blockchain firms, academic institutions, startup innovators, and regulatory bodies across the globe.

Their focus will be on the application of blockchain technology in a variety of areas related to mobility, including:

“As one of our first ventures into the automotive industry, we’re excited to support MOBI’s exploration and development of blockchain solutions that will enable all parties in the automotive supply chain to benefit from digitization and the seamless exchange of data and immutability of their records,” Joseph Lubin, Founder of ConsenSys & Co-Founder of Ethereum, said in a statement.

MOBI’s partners announced today include: Accenture, Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Services USA, Beyond Protocol Inc, BigchainDB, Blockchain at Berkeley, BMW, Bosch, Chronicled, ConsenSys Systems, Context Labs, Crypto Valley Association, Dashride, Deon Digital AG, Digital Twin Labs, DOVU, Fetch.ai, FOAM, Ford, General Motors, Hyperledger, IBM, the IOTA Foundation, Luxoft, MotionWerk, NuCypher, Oaken Innovations, Ocean Protocol, Outlier Ventures, Renault, Ride Austin, ShareRing, Shift, Spherical Analytics, the Trusted IoT Alliance, VeChain, Xain, and ZF Friedrichshafen AG.

“We believe blockchain will transform the way people and businesses interact, creating new opportunities in mobility. We look forward to working together with our industry colleagues as part of MOBI to set the standards for the mobility ecosystem of tomorrow.” – Rich Strader, Vice President, Mobility Product Solutions at Ford Motor Corporation, said.

While Sachin Lulla, Vice President & Partner, IBM Automotive Industry Leader, said:

“A set of blockchain standards for the mobility industry will allow auto, infrastructure and service providers to efficiently communicate and transact with each other.

Bringing the industry together and building interoperable blockchain networks is key to helping the automotive industry unleash the potential of blockchain.

IBM is contributing our expertise in building blockchain consortia to the group to help accelerate development and ultimately benefit consumers.”

The car industry has been one of the earliest adopters of blockchain technology due to its potential to facilitate new features and capabilities.

That could include from the simplest of automatic payments, to more complex arrangements of facilitating leasing of the car or a part of it through control management based on blockchain tech.

A number of global auto brands have previously announced numerous blockchain related pilots, but this is the biggest auto-industry consortium that includes 70% of car manufacturers and pretty much all of the big blockchain companies.

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