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”.

Classification & Data Collection

Related Content

  • November 30, 2018
    ITS Australia appoints first academic to board of directors
    ITS Australia has appointed Professor Majid Sarvi from the University of Melbourne to its board of directors. Sarvi, the founder of transport technology programme AIMES, is the first academic to join the board. AIMES (Australian Integrated Multimodal EcoSystem) includes the university’s live test bed on Melbourne’s streets, and has close links with Michigan Department of Transportation. Sarvi described it as a “great honour to be elected by my peers in the ITS industry and to have the opportunity t
    Read More
  • December 10, 2018
    Waymo trials commercial driverless taxi service in Phoenix, Arizona
    Waymo has launched a driverless taxi service in Phoenix, Arizona, where riders will be charged for the journeys they take. In a blog post, CEO John Krafcik says the commercial self-driving service – called Waymo One - is available to early riders who have already been using Waymo’s technology. The company hopes to make the service available to more members of the public as it adds more vehicles and drives in more places, he writes. “Self-driving technology is new to many, so we’re proceeding carefully wi
    Read More
  • January 16, 2019
    MaaS Market London: Top names debate local authorities’ digital dilemma
    Key players in the transport sector will debate the challenges faced by local authorities worldwide from new digitised platforms such as Mobility as a Service (MaaS) in a dedicated session at ITS International’s 2019 MaaS Market Conference in London this March. Taxi-hailing apps have already demonstrated the disruptive nature of new digitised transport services. As a result, some local authorities have struggled to retain control over issues such as traffic management and the vetting of taxi drivers and
    Read More
  • August 7, 2019
    Moovit: Gut feelings no match for data
    Cities that bring in mobility services without data might be missing out on areas where demand is highest. Ben Spencer talks to Moovit’s Alon Shantzer about how the company is helping customers to pinpoint the right locations Launching mobility services without taking into account public transportation data can lead to chaos in cities. That’s the view of Alon Shantzer, vice president international sales at Moovit, the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) provider and transit app. “The data we have can define
    Read More

Highlighted Content