Skip to main content

2019 ‘won’t be the year of blockchain’, says Fujitsu

Blockchain technology will not break through into the mainstream of the British transportation sector during 2019, according to Fujitsu. Blockchain has been touted as the solution to a number of transportation issues, but Chris Patton from Fujitsu’s EMEIA transport team urges caution. While acknowledging that the technology holds ‘exciting’ operational and commercial potential for the public transport sector, he says: “The key word there, though, is potential. While it is undeniable blockchain will ma
February 6, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

Blockchain technology will not break through into the mainstream of the British transportation sector during 2019, according to 5163 Fujitsu.

%$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external Blockchain false http://www.itsinternational.com/categories/classification-data-collection/features/blockchain-the-next-big-thing-for-its-really/ false false%> has been touted as the solution to a number of transportation issues, but Chris Patton from Fujitsu’s EMEIA transport team urges caution.

While acknowledging that the technology holds ‘exciting’ operational and commercial potential for the public transport sector, he says: “The key word there, though, is potential. While it is undeniable blockchain will make an impact, it is not yet infallible and can fall prey to cyber-attacks.”

He believes that there will instead be a plethora of small blockchain projects this year “so that technology partners can demonstrate to stakeholders the benefits”. This will then lead to take-up by bigger transport organisations.

Patton’s prediction is one of several trends which Fujitsu sees emerging over the next 12 months. In a similar vein, he sees local use cases as vital to generate sufficient momentum in public sector Mobility as a Service (8356 MaaS) projects “before national scale overhauls can be made”.

Other trends identified are the need for increased security as transport becomes more connected. “It’s crucial to remember that if they are ‘connected’ they can be compromised,” he adds.

“Throughout 2019, there will undoubtedly be more significant attacks on national organisations, across sectors, which sees customer data falling into the wrong hands,” he warns.

While autonomous vehicle ride-sharing stands to be a useful addition to public transport, “the dangers involved with data hacking mean vehicles and services must be as close to impenetrable as possible before they are made widely available to consumers”.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • RobotTuner explores autonomous accreditation at Intertraffic
    March 19, 2018
    A newcomer at this year’s Intertraffic is RobotTuner which is displaying software for monitoring and remote control of autonomous vehicles and its simulation software for assessing object detection and classification safety systems. At Intertraffic it will highlight the ‘Digital driving license’ project it is undertaking with the Netherlands Vehicle Authority and the Netherlands Driver Exam Authority. The project aims to establish new methodology for the certification and type approval of autonomous
  • Uber’s self-driving cars resume trials in Pittsburgh in manual mode
    July 27, 2018
    Uber’s self-driving cars are being manually driven on public roads in Pittsburgh after a fatal crash which prompted the company to pull out of its testing programme in North America. The company is trialling new safeguards which it says will improve vehicle fleet safety and performance. According to a report by Medium, Eric Meyhofer, head of Uber Advanced Technologies, says: “While we are eager to resume testing of our self-driving system, we see manual driving as an important first step in piloting thes
  • IBTTA CEO: Industry can help solve climate crisis
    October 4, 2019
    IBTTA CEO Pat Jones has invoked the example of climate change protestor Greta Thunberg to insist that the tolling industry can help tackle global environmental concerns. Speaking at the IBTTA’s annual meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Jones said that members have the power to help arrest what the United Nations calls a “worsening climate crisis”. The event in Canada saw IBTTA members talking about decarbonising transport, the importance of eco-routes and sustainable mobility as ways of ensuring they re
  • MaaS Alliance joins Global New Mobility Coalition
    November 25, 2019
    MaaS Alliance has joined The Global New Mobility Coalition (GNMC), a community of more than 100 institutions which aim to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 95%. The GNMC also seeks to improve transport efficiency by 70% and reduce mobility costs by 40%. As part of the deal, MaaS Alliance is to share knowledge with the GNMC alongside other organisations such as C40, Polis and ITF. MaaS Alliance is a non-profit organisation which seeks to establish a common approach to Mobility as a Service. It entered i