IOTA Completes Final Phase of European Blockchain PCP Initiative

The
IOTA
Foundation
has
successfully
completed
the
final
phase
of
the
European
Blockchain
Pre-Commercial
Procurement
(PCP),
according
to

IOTA
Foundation
Blog.
This
milestone
marks
a
significant
achievement
in
developing
pre-commercial
blockchain
solutions
for
Intellectual
Property
Rights
Management
and
Digital
Product
Passports.

Background
and
Selection

In
2021,
IOTA
was
selected
as
one
of
seven
projects
from
over
30
applications
to
participate
in
the
European
Blockchain
PCP,
funded
by
the
European
Commission.
The
initiative
aims
to
design
new
Distributed
Ledger
Technology
(DLT)
solutions
for
Europe,
to
be
integrated
into
the
European
Blockchain
Services
Infrastructure
(EBSI)
and
its
next
evolution,
the
European
Digital
Infrastructure
Consortium
for
Blockchain
(EUROPEUM-EDIC).

Technological
Developments

Since
the
initiative
began
in
2020,
IOTA
has
documented
its
progress
through
various
phases.
The
final
solution
combines
IOTA’s
DAG-based
Tangle
technology
with
open-source
building
blocks,
APIs,
and
potential
third-party
platforms.
Key
components
include:

• 
  Core
  DLT
  Layer:
  Built
  on
  the
  Stardust
  version
  of
  the
  Tangle
  protocol,
  featuring
  a
  Decentralized
  Coordinator
  and
  Proof-of-Authority
  consensus
  mechanism.
• 
  Satellite
  Systems:
  Linking
  third-party
  platforms
  through
  IOTA-EBSI
  connectors,
  featuring
  an
  Auditable
  Item
  Graph
  for
  object
  traceability.

Solution
Prototypes

IOTA
has
developed
several
solution
prototypes,
including:

• 
  Intellectual
  Property
  Rights
  (IPR)
  Management:
  Using
  smart
  contracts,
  NFTs,
  and
  decentralized
  identities
  to
  automate
  and
  ensure
  transparent
  royalty
  payments
  for
  music
  in
  films.
• 
  Digital
  Product
  Passports
  (DPP):
  Tracking
  device
  life
  cycles
  from
  manufacturing
  to
  recycling,
  and
  recording
  the
  transformation
  of
  agricultural
  plastic
  waste
  into
  bioplastic.

Performance
Metrics

IOTA’s
solutions
demonstrated
significant
advancements
in
scalability,
sustainability,
and
security:

• 
  Scalability:
  The
  Tangle
  protocol
  handled
  up
  to
  90K
  confirmed
  transactions
  per
  second,
  meeting
  the
  PCP’s
  scalability
  ambitions.
• 
  Sustainability:
  The
  Tangle
  protocol’s
  energy
  consumption
  scales
  logarithmically
  with
  transaction
  volume,
  making
  it
  more
  energy-efficient
  than
  other
  solutions.
• 
  Security
  and
  Privacy:
  Compliance
  with
  industry
  standards,
  including
  quantum-resistant
  cryptographic
  methods
  and
  comprehensive
  cybersecurity
  assessments.

Future
Prospects

Completing
the
European
Blockchain
PCP
is
just
the
beginning
for
IOTA.
The
foundation
aims
to
continue
developing
its
pilot
use
cases
in
an
IOTA-EBSI
Sandbox
available
to
EU
member
states
and
EBSI
projects.
As
EBSI
evolves
into
EUROPEUM-EDIC,
IOTA
plans
to
establish
partnerships
to
further
enhance
the
European
blockchain
ecosystem.

According
to
Dominik
Schiener,
Chairman
of
the
IOTA
Foundation, “EBSI
is
a
crucial
step
towards
a
cohesive
digital
future
for
Europe,
providing
the
necessary
framework
for
innovation
and
collaboration
across
various
sectors.”

By
participating
in
the
European
Blockchain
PCP,
IOTA
has
showcased
scalable,
sustainable,
and
secure
solutions,
reinforcing
its
commitment
to
enhancing
Europe’s
digital
infrastructure.

Image
source:
Shutterstock