IOTA Foundation and Jaguar Land Rover Introduce Open-Source DLT Framework

IOTA Foundation, a distributed-ledger technology developer, and Jaguar Land Rover, a leading British luxury car manufacturer, have introduced IOTA Access, an open-source DLT framework, for decentralized and automated smart device access control capable of managing billions of machines.

The other launch partners include STMicroelectronics, an integrated device manufacturer, BiiLabs, ETO GRUPPE, EDAG, NTT DATA Romania, and RIDDLE&CODE. 

“Never trust, always check” 

The open-source DLT framework is based on a zero-trust architecture whose core philosophy is the slogan, “Never trust, always check.” Therefore, the network’s foundation is inherently designed so that trustworthy insiders are also viewed as vulnerabilities in the system.

IOTA Access will enable smart device owners and users to request or grant access to their data stream or device in an auditable, contactless, permissionless, and remote manner. This is automatically triggered by embedded access control policies. As per the announcement:

“IOTA Access is designed to bring fine-grained access control to any machine, device, or building without relying on a centralized system or requiring a constant internet connection.”

Thus, the decentralized access control will be availed even without a steady internet connection, and this will be undertaken in an efficient peer-to-peer way.

Balancing decentralized and semi-centralized management procedures

The open-source DLT framework is designed in such a manner that it balances decentralized and semi-centralized management procedures. As a result, key capabilities will be decentralized prompting the betterment of humanity in an open, secure, and trusted fashion. According to the IOTA Foundation:

“Without this balance, trust in technology and how it is used in a global society is eroded. In the case of access control, we would have instances, where car owners get locked out of their own vehicles, and homeowners get locked out of their own homes.” 

Pegging devices on IOTA Access

The application scenarios of the open-source DLT framework are diverse and extensive. For instance, any object like a house, car, scooter, and bicycle can be pegged on IOTA Access. As a result, it can be rented out or permission granted to a trusted individual without necessarily handing over a private key. The IOTA team noted:

“If you have a smart door lock, then it can integrate IOTA Access with embedded policies for pay per use rentals, or to simply increase the transparency and security of entering your home and allowing access to others. Signify your home is available on a decentralized marketplace, and anyone can find it and rent it.”

IOTA Access is developed with an embedded first approach in mind because it permits access service or pay-per-use models to be hardware-enforced. In June, The IOTA Foundation announced the launch of its testnet of a fully decentralized network, Pollen. The release of the testnet marked the first time it enabled developers and other parties to test the capabilities of a fully decentralized IOTA network.