The convergence of Internet of Things, Blockchain and Connected Vehicles: Conceptual Advantages and Disadvantages of a new Cooperative Intelligent Transportation System

This paper intends to explore the convergence of some technological innovations that could lead to new cooperative Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). The technologies that might soon converge and lead to some new developments are: the Blockchain Technology (BT) concept, Internet of Things (IoT) and Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAV). Advantages and disadvantages of the new concepts founding a new ITS system are discussed in this conceptual paper. Blockchain technology has been recently introduced and many research ideas have been presented for application in the transportation sector. In this paper, we discuss a system that is based on a dedicated blockchain, able to involve both drivers and city administrations in the adoption of promising and innovative technologies that will create cooperation among connected vehicles. The proposed blockchain-based system can allow city administrators to reward drivers when they are willing to share travel data. The system manages in a special way the creation of rewards which are assigned to drivers and institutions participating actively in the system. Moreover, the system allows keeping a complete track of all transactions and interactions between drivers and city management on a completely open and shared platform. The main idea is to combine connected vehicles with BT to promote Cooperative ITS use, a better use of infrastructures and a more sustainable eco-system of cryptocurrencies. A short description of BT is introduced to evidence energy problems of sustainability in the implementation of Proof of Work (PoW) that is adopted by many blockchains.