The global nonprofit Web3 consortium, MOBI, has proudly announced a significant achievement in the development of the Web3 Global Battery Passport (GBP) Minimum Viable Product (MVP). For the first time, the MVP has demonstrated successful battery identity and data validation and exchange between nine organizations using open standards. This milestone, which utilizes the MOBI Battery Birth Certificate and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) framework, has profound implications for stakeholders within the battery value chain and lays critical groundwork for the Web3 economy. MOBI has invited organizations worldwide to join and collaborate in this pioneering effort.
Collaboration Among Leading Industry Players
Participants in the MOBI Circular Economy and GBP Working Group, representing nearly USD 1 trillion in annual revenue and diverse roles within the global battery ecosystem, have successfully completed Stage 1 of the three-year MVP and are now transitioning to Stage 2. The decentralized GBP initiative includes notable implementers such as Anritsu, DENSO, HIOKI, Honda, Mazda, Nissan, and TradeLog Inc.
As the world increasingly relies on batteries for sustainable energy solutions, the global battery value chains are continually enhancing operational efficiency, circularity, and cross-border compliance. Forward-thinking global policies, such as the US Treasury’s Section 30D Guidance on EV Tax Credits and the EU Battery Regulation, mandate digital recordkeeping to track battery life cycles. This underscores the necessity for a global battery passport, which is a digital credential containing essential information about the battery’s composition, state of health, history, and more.
Enhancing Interoperability Through Web3 Technology
The development of a scalable GBP necessitates cross-industry interoperability, allowing entities across the value chain to securely coordinate and selectively share relevant data without the need for expensive one-off integrations or abandoning existing systems. MOBI and its members see Web3 as a crucial enabler for large-scale cross-industry interoperability. SSI, in particular, offers a promising approach to unlocking powerful synergies by enabling entities to securely control and share credentials across different web applications and platforms without centralized intermediaries.
MOBI and its members are building a decentralized Web3 marketplace ecosystem with standardized communication protocols for Self-Sovereign Data and SSI. This design ensures that the federated infrastructure and data are not controlled or managed by a single organization. While the MOBI MVP initiative demonstrates a specific use case for implementing the GBP, the benefits of the MOBI Web3 implementation extend to almost any scenario involving multiparty transactions.
Achievements and Future Directions
In Stage 1 of the initiative, implementers showcased the Integrated Trust Network (ITN) identity services for one-to-one cross-validation of battery identity and data. The ITN serves as a federated registry for W3C Decentralized Identifiers, providing SSI management for connected entities such as batteries and their value chain participants. Unique to the ITN is its capability to support multiple blockchains simultaneously, ensuring high resilience by not relying on a single organization or blockchain for network functionality and sustainability.
Stage 2 will focus on demonstrating Citopia’s decentralized marketplace services through the creation of a cross-industry interoperable, privacy-preserving GBP. While ITN services are one-to-one, Citopia services operate on a one-to-many and many-to-one basis. By implementing Web3 technology, the availability and selective disclosure of trusted data and identities throughout the battery value chain will foster 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.
Vision for the Future
Tram Vo, CEO and Co-founder of MOBI, emphasized the complexity of the global battery value chain, noting the difficulty in simultaneously ensuring efficiency, scalability, safety, circularity, and regulatory compliance. To balance these priorities, there is a need to enhance battery lifecycle management through the creation of a shared ecosystem with an SSI framework for secure coordination and selective disclosure of sensitive data. Vo stressed that driving innovation at this scale requires cross-industry collaboration and invited public and private organizations worldwide to join this critical pursuit.
Christian Köbel, Senior Engineer at Honda Motor Co., Ltd., remarked on Web3 technology’s potential to facilitate a scalable approach to exchanging battery data in a peer-to-peer fashion between organizations. Yusuke Zushi, Senior Manager at Nissan, confirmed the effectiveness of Web3-based self-sovereign data management demonstrated throughout Stage 1 of the MVP.
Mazda Motor Corporation expressed their appreciation for participating in the GBP Working Group, which not only provided them with technical knowledge of Web3 but also helped them understand a vision of an ecosystem that enables the exchange of reliable information. HIOKI’s Executive Officer, Kenneth Soh, highlighted the importance of data integrity and safety, stating that the insights gained from the MVP are vital for future progress.
Anritsu’s Senior Manager, Hisashi Matsumoto, regarded the successful implementation of the Web3 GBP MVP as a significant step toward a more transparent and sustainable battery ecosystem. Alvin Ishiguro, Project Coordinator at TradeLog, Inc., expressed pride in supporting the decentralized Global Battery Passport project and a commitment to delivering new experiences through blockchain technologies in the energy sector.
The collaboration among these industry leaders marks a crucial step in advancing the Web3 economy and revolutionizing battery data management, fostering innovation and sustainability in the global battery value chain.