Press release ALFRIED — Smart Delineators

Filancore GmbH has partnered with ETO GRUPPE to create a self-sovereign identity software solution as part of the ALFRIED program in the realm of autonomous infrastructure.

ALFRIED is the new project at the Friedrichshafen testbed Germany, which is being funded with over €11 million by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) in Germany. ALFRIED stands for “Automatisiertes und vernetztes Fahren in der Logistik am Testfeld Friedrichshafen” — Automated and connected driving in logistics at the Friedrichshafen testbed.

ETO GRUPPE`s goal is to provide a reliable, intelligent, and cost-optimized infrastructure for autonomous driving. This will be made possible by delineators equipped with sensors and communication technology that transmit important information to a smart control center and automotive cyber systems in real time. These smart delineators enable a data trail that communicates accurate and trustworthy parameters, which will be essential for future traffic.

To achieve this vision, a digital identity ecosystem is required, which connects millions of identifiable, unique, self-sovereign actors in a decentralized environment without middlemen or malicious influence by third parties.

“We spent a long time looking for suitable technologies and solutions for our project. In the end, we chose filancore’s solution. filancore offers us the level of expertise we require in the field of decentralized identity management and automotive security. In addition, their solution is based on the IOTA technology, which we have identified as the most promising distributed ledger technology for ETO GRUPPE.”

said Benjamin Bönisch, VP Strategy & Corporate Development at ETO GRUPPE.

Together with ETO GRUPPE, filancore leverages the IOTA distributed ledger in order to connect vehicles, infrastructure and smart delineators along the road. The smart delineators utilize the IOTA Identity framework and are therefore suitable for an integration with verifiable credentials offered by filancore.

It’s fantastic to see that we’re bringing great companies together in the IOTA ecosystem. We see here an excellent example of how the IOTA ecosystem is increasingly building momentum and producing significant innovative solutions such as the intelligent delineator. The trust that both companies have in IOTA Identity shows us that we at the IOTA Foundation are on the right track to meet the needs of the industry even in complex and heterogeneous areas.”

said Jelle Millenaar, Lead Identity at the IOTA Foundation.

The next steps in this project are to enable connectivity using Bluetooth Low Energy, LoRa WAN and the IEEE 802.11p standards. After further testing and deployment of 5G by service providers, 5G will be evaluated as a fourth connectivity option. The intelligent delineators are designed to enable smooth, autonomous and connected driving in difficult road situations such as construction sites or road constrictions. To establish the trustworthiness of the data, the delineators will be equipped with IOTA identities through which ETO GRUPPE ensures that the delineator and the transmitted data are not tampered with and can be managed through the filancore identity management solution.

“Filancore is pleased to work with ETO GRUPPE to enable the first secure autonomous mobility infrastructure in Germany with an IOTA SSI solution. Through this project, we are establishing ourselves as one of the world’s leading companies for decentralized identities in the field of the Internet of Things.”

said Markus Soppa, Managing Director at filancore.