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.