Evaluating the Role of IoT and Blockchain in Transportation

There is still a ways to go before blockchain and IoT reach the full potential of what they can accomplish together. Forrester Research last month wrote that despite seeming like an obvious technology pairing, blockchain and IoT integration continues to be held back by “cultural and organizational issues,” an observation that echoes Reichenbach’s.

For now, even as the gap in blockchain understanding is starting to close, and more integration of IoT and blockchain technologies falls into place, it seems unlikely the technologies will be deployed simultaneously as a bundled solution for enterprises, according to HPE’s Reichenbach. More likely, IoT platform companies may need to develop blockchain expertise or work with other technology partners as their customers start to see more need to share data generated by the IoT architectures they already have in place.

“IoT and blockchain as a single very tightly combined solution is not something I have seen so far,” Reichenbach said. “What I see most now is hugely scaled IoT platforms in terms of sensors and data analytics, and then blockchain coming in as an add-on because you want to start sharing some of that data.”