Infineon Technologies AG and XAIN have agreed to work together on bringing blockchain technology into the car. The Munich semiconductor maker and the Berlin-based start-up have signed a corresponding Memorandum of Understanding at Infineon’s 1st Automotive Cybersecurity Forum, taking place today in Munich. The goal of the collaboration is to test possible applications and develop suitable ones to market maturity. A first demonstrator shows how access rights, e.g. for car sharing, can be granted decentrally with a smartphone app.
“Cybersecurity is crucial for the data-driven mobility of the future”, says Peter Schiefer, President of Infineon’s Automotive Division. “Blockchain technology has enormous potential in this regard, but its use requires a high degree of coordination between the selected blockchain methodology and the security hardware installed in the car itself. We will be working together with XAIN to achieve this level of configuration.”
A blockchain is a decentralized database that enables speedy transactions and particularly secure, tamper-free storage. In connection with cars, feasible applications for this technology include automated payments, keyless access for car sharing schemes, on-demand services, tuning protection and automated driving functions. Essentially, it is all about the granting of access rights, to the car itself or to specific data in the vehicle. An example involving specific data is when insurance companies offer low rates for car owners with good driving habits.
“We aim to turn cars into fully-fledged network participants”, says Leif-Nissen Lundbæk, Founder and CEO of XAIN AG. “As well as being important for offline and real-time capabilities, this also enables a particularly high level of privacy protection in connection with AI technologies. It ensures that private data for machine learning is kept exclusively in local storage. The goal of our collaboration with Infineon is to advance the use of XAIN’s AI technology in cars,” he adds.
At the Infineon Automotive Cybersecurity Forum, Infineon and XAIN are presenting their first demonstrator. It shows how access rights can be granted decentrally, swiftly and securely by means of a smartphone app. An application for this would be a car sharing scheme without a platform or back-office in which all participants are able to spontaneously share their cars with others. The Infineon Automotive Cybersecurity Forum is the first industry conference staged by Infineon at which automotive companies, suppliers and academics have come together to discuss cybersecurity in vehicles.
