First Web3 Global Battery Passport Implementation for Current and Future Regulatory Compliance

DENSO, Honda, Mazda, and Nissan among MOBI members who have completed Stage 1 of the Cross-Industry Interoperable Minimum Viable Product, a three-year initiative towards a decentralized Global Battery Passport built for data privacy and selective disclosure  

LOS ANGELES, July 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- MOBI, a global nonprofit Web3 consortium, is thrilled to announce a significant milestone in development of the Web3 Global Battery Passport (GBP) Minimum Viable Product (MVP). In a historic first, the MVP has successfully demonstrated battery identity/data validation and exchange between nine organizations using open-standards — MOBI Battery Birth Certificate and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) framework — an achievement that carries exciting implications for stakeholders of the battery value chain and lays critical groundwork for the Web3 Economy. Organizations worldwide are invited to join and collaborate in this trailblazing effort.

Participants of MOBI Circular Economy and the GBP Working Group, constituting close to USD 1 Trillion in annual revenue and representing diverse functions within the global battery ecosystem, have successfully completed Stage 1 of the three-year MVP and are set to begin Stage 2. Implementers of the decentralized GBP include Anritsu, DENSO, HIOKI, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, and TradeLog Inc.

As the world increasingly turns to batteries for sustainable energy solutions, global battery value chains are making continuous improvements to enhance operational efficiency, circularity, and cross-border compliance. Forward-looking global policies like the US Treasury's Section 30D Guidance on EV Tax Credits and the EU Battery Regulation mandate digital recordkeeping to track battery life cycles, underscoring the need for a global battery passport — a digital credential containing key information about the battery's composition, state of health, history, and more.

Creating a scalable GBP will require cross-industry interoperability, such that entities across the value chain can securely coordinate and selectively share relevant data without the need to pay for costly one-off integrations or abandon their existing systems. MOBI and its members believe Web3 can become a key enabler for cross-industry interoperability at scale. SSI in particular introduces a promising approach to unlocking powerful synergies, enabling entities to securely control and share credentials across different web applications and platforms without the need for centralized intermediaries. To this end, MOBI and its members are building a decentralized Web3 marketplace ecosystem with standardized communication protocols for Self-Sovereign Data and SSI, designed such that the federated infrastructure and data therein are not controlled or managed by one organization. While MOBI MVP initiative demonstrates a specific use case for implementing the GBP, the benefits of MOBI Web3 implementation extend to almost any use case that involves multiparty transactions.

In Stage 1 of the initiative, implementers demonstrated the Integrated Trust Network (ITN) identity services of one-to-one cross-validation for battery identity and data. The ITN serves as a federated (member-built and operated) registry for W3C Decentralized Identifiers, offering SSI management for connected entities such as batteries and their value chain participants. The ITN is the first enterprise network supporting multiple blockchains at the same time. These features are unique to the ITN, built for high resilience by ensuring the network's functionality and sustainability do not rely on a single organization or blockchain.

Stage 2 will demonstrate Citopia decentralized marketplace services through creation of the cross-industry interoperable, privacy-preserving GBP. ITN services are one-to-one whereas Citopia services are one-to-many (and many-to-one). Through Web3 implementation, the availability and selective disclosure of trusted data and identities throughout the battery value chain will beget digital services and applications such as enhanced battery and carbon credits management, vehicle-to-grid communications and transactions, risk-based insurance calculations, and data-driven used electric vehicle pricing.

"Today's global battery value chain is complex and it's difficult to simultaneously ensure efficiency, scalability, safety, circularity, and regulatory compliance. To balance these priorities, we need to enhance battery lifecycle management through the creation of a shared ecosystem with SSI framework for secure coordination and selective disclosure of sensitive data," said MOBI CEO and Co-founder, Tram Vo. "Driving innovation at this scale requires cross-industry collaboration. We invite public and private organizations worldwide to join us in this critical pursuit."

"Web3 is an interesting technology which may facilitate a more scalable approach to exchanging battery data in a peer-to-peer fashion between organizations," said Christian Köbel, Senior Engineer at Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

"It is confirmed how Web3-based self-sovereign data management works throughout Stage 1 of the MVP," said Yusuke Zushi, Senior Manager at Nissan.

Said Mazda Motor Corporation, "Through participation in the GBP Working Group, we not only acquired the technical knowledge of Web3 but also understood a vision of an ecosystem that realizes the exchange of reliable information. We appreciate MOBI for giving us this invaluable opportunity."

"The Stage 1 MVP experiment was instrumental in deepening our understanding of a system that enables sovereign data management. In the current era of data, the integrity and safety of information flow are paramount. As an experienced manufacturer of measuring instruments, HIOKI has always placed a premium on the reliability and accuracy of data," said Kenneth Soh, Executive Officer at HIOKI. "We believe that the insights gained from this MVP are vital for the future progress of measurement instrument manufacturers and the industries we serve, from the perspective of innovation and societal contribution driven by mechanisms that offer both security and precision in data distribution."

"The successful implementation of the Web3 GBP MVP is a significant step towards a more transparent and sustainable battery ecosystem. We are honored to contribute to the realization of the GBP as participants in this important initiative," said Hisashi Matsumoto, Senior Manager at Anritsu.

"We, TradeLog, Inc., proudly support the decentralized Global Battery Passport project, driven by the efforts of MOBI and its dedicated Implementers," said Alvin Ishiguro, Project Coordinator at TradeLog, Inc. "Going forward, we will continue to deliver our customers new experiences through blockchain technologies in the energy sector."

About MOBI
MOBI is a global nonprofit Web3 consortium. We are creating standards for trusted Self-Sovereign Data and Identities (e.g. vehicles, people, businesses, things), verifiable credentials, and cross-industry interoperability. Our goal is to make the digital economy more efficient, equitable, decentralized, and circular while preserving data privacy for users and providers alike. For additional information about joining MOBI, please visit www.dlt.mobi.