powers in quantities of one-tenth the cost of an individual mining machine . In another example , Ahoy LLC [ 21 ] and IoTeX [ 22 ] are applying the concept of fractional ownership to an Industry IoT Consortium test drive [ 23 ] that aims to facilitate boat owners to monetize underutilized resources , stagnant occupancies , and user data globally .
4.3 TRUSTED AND TRANSPARENT ASSET TRACKING IN SUPPLY CHAINS
A lack of transparency , integrity , and availability of supply chain data has plagued its operations and made collaboration among stakeholders very difficult . To address these industry-wide challenges , the Industry IoT Consortium test drive [ 24 ] initiated by IoTeX [ 22 ] combines tamperproof hardware and blockchain software to create a trusted and transparent asset-tracking solution for valuable assets within a medical facility or among entities of a healthcare network .
In the test drive , secure edge devices capture the real-time status ( e . g ., location , temperature , humidity , etc .) of physical assets when the freight carrier network is moving them . The asset status is then sent to a smart contract on the blockchain for service level agreement ( SLA ) validation . Given an SLA breach , the stakeholders involved in that SLA see penalties automatically settled [ 25 ]. Using machine data and blockchain to coordinate and automate the business process has shown great potential for improving supply chain efficiency and user experience and reducing business expenses .
4.4 INDUSTRIAL METAVERSE
Industrial Metaverse is an emerging trend that targets combining immersiveness , real-time data and digital twins to create new business models and accelerate digitalization . One of the puzzle pieces of Industrial Metaverse will be connecting the edge devices and trusted data flow with the digital twins to create near real-time simulation and prediction for real-world situations [ 26 ]. To enable ecosystem-based participation and growth of the Industrial Metaverse , it will be important to incentivize network participants .. This incentivization could be for data sharing , verifying the origin or authenticity of components , designs and assets , or creating new ones within the metaverse . Enabling edge devices to directly participate in the incentivization mechanism would create further autonomy and highly efficient digitalization use cases .
5 CONCLUSIONS
In this article , we introduced the machine economy , a new frontier of digital transformation in IoT . We have explored why IoT and DLT are key and complementary technologies that will enable the growth of the machine economy and unlock new opportunities for IoT manufacturers and end-users . We described some of the disrupting business models that the industry is witnessing and provided tangible examples of their implementation .
The combination of web2 companies with their significant footprint in the IoT markets and the vibrant , ultra-dynamic environment of web3 creates the perfect ground for significant disruption . While there are challenges to be addressed , we are undoubtedly entering a new era where IoT and machine economy will shake the status quo for both IoT manufacturers and IoT users . In this context , once again speed of adoption will be once again the main driver for success .
10 January 2023