You never have to park again

27

September

2017

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Parking is not your thing but you like to drive? Mercedes Benz is working together with machine company Bosch to renew the way parking garages work. The two German giants announced on 24 July 2017 that they will run a pilot of an autonomous parking garage. In specific, this will be executed in the Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart in 2018. But how does it work?

Over a mobile application you can reserve your preferred car. Sensors in the garage and at the car guide the car to the designated pick-up spot where the customer awaits the car. After your trip, you can simply drop off the car at the same area. Then, the car will identify a free parking spot by itself.

Why is Mercedes Benz investing in an autonomous parking garage? First, of all it saves time, in specific in the finding and parking of the car by clients. Second, Mercedes Benz can optimize the usage of the existing parking spots by 20%, as the technology allows to park cars in designated spots, which are smaller than normal. Third, it is also gas friendly, as less unnecessary driving during the search for a parking spot will occur. On the contrary, in order to use the service you will need to download the application, which might present a barrier of usage to some.

If the necessary regulations are in place, I believe it is only a matter of time until the services will be offered for consumer cars. Next, the technology can then be easily applied to other garages, which can come in handy especially in bigger cities, where parking spots are scarce. It will be interesting to see what the findings of this pilot will show, allowing to evaluate the technologies potential impact in the future. The collaboration of the two firms. is therefore not only beneficial to themselves, but will also set an example for the industry and renew parking.

 

Sources:
Techcrunch (2017) ‘Daimler and Bosch create a driverless parking garage’. Accessed 27 September 2017 (Online). Available on: https://techcrunch.com/2017/07/24/daimler-and-bosch-create-a-driverless-parking-garage/

Bosch Presse (2017) ‘Bosch and Daimler demonstrate driverless praking in real life conditions. Accessed 27 September 2017 (Online). Available on: http://www.bosch-presse.de/pressportal/de/en/bosch-and-daimler-demonstrate-driverless-parking-in-real-life-conditions-116096.html

The Drive (2017) ‘Daimler, Bosch testing autonomous parking at the Mercedes Benz museum’. Accessed 27 September 2017 (Online). Available on: http://www.thedrive.com/tech/12789/daimler-bosch-testing-autonomous-parking-at-the-mercedes-benz-museum

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eID on the blockchain

20

September

2017

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Electronic identification, from here onwards referred to as eID, allows you to access for instance your virtual identity online and from everywhere. Taking Estonia as an example, where an e-resident card can be request without the requirement of being an Estonian citizen. The EU regulation eIDAS sets the legal foundations that make this possible; the law was passed in 2014.

As already greatly discussed on the Internet; a blockchain can be seemingly linked to every process, and simplify it. You would start with storing your eID on your own private shared ledger, storing information such as name, date of birth, gender. Additionally, there is the opportunity to upload official documents such as diplomas, driving license, marriage certificate. Up to here the data is simply on a shared ledger and not the blockchain. (Skinner 2016) A scenario for an individual could be to open a bank account with a new bank. Imagine giving access to your eID over a mobile application, by selecting the specific information required to this institution (e.g. maybe they do not need your driving license but instead a statement of enrolment). The bank can see that you were a previous client of one of their competitors and hence you can be trusted, saving the trouble of going through lengthly Know-Your-Customer (KYC) procedures. By giving your new bank access to this information, your encrypted identity becomes part of the blockchain. (Skinner 2016)

There are several benefits of this technology. However, I would like to further elaborate on three specific one’s. If we were to place our eID on the blockchain the resulting benefits are: (1) transaction costs are low, (2) the eID is placed on the blockchain is immutable, and (3) it is convenient to access your eID independent of physical location over a mobile application. (World Economic Forum 2016)

 

 

Sources:

World Economic Forum (2016) ‘A Blueprint for Digital Identity’. Accessed 20 September 2017 (Online). Available on: http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_A_Blueprint_for_Digital_Identity.pdf

Skinner, C. (2016) ‘Applying Blockchain to Identiy’, The Finanser. Accessed 20 September 2017 (Online). Available on: https://thefinanser.com/2016/08/applying-blockchain-identity.html/

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