The Mobility

Blockchain Platform
A blueprint for the
future of mobility.

A joint white paper from bloXmove, Orange Business Services and Ciklum
We believe that:
The Future of Mobility is decentralized &
lies at the center of smart cities and urban planning.

Urban mobility will be based on public-private collaboration

while automotive and mobility services – on pay-per-use.


Platform economics and network effects are key to scaling ecosystems.
Shared, cooperative governance is the key to decentralization.

Sovereignty over identity and data lies with the user. Open source
protocols and standards are essential for a socially acceptable platform.


Blockchain/DLT, Decentralized Identifiers and IoT are key
technologies in building scalable, collaborative platforms.

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 2

Contents
Executive summary 4
The future of mobility: the CASE for urban mobility 6
The Mobility Blockchain Platform: 8
Vision and Mission 8
Architectural layers 11
Key capabilities of the platform 12
Applications of the MBP 15
Urban mobility: MaaS 16
Fleet sharing: increase utilization and enable asset-light rental services 17
Tokenization is a game changer for the financial service sector 18
Business model and stakeholders 19
Incentives for the different stakeholders 20
Principles of the decentralized platform economy 21
Ecosystem development and growth strategy: the decentralized way 23
Awareness and community building 24
Creating a positive feedback loop 24
Achieving critical mass 26
Governance 27
About the authors 28

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 3

Executive summary
The Mobility Blockchain Platform (MBP) is a In general, the capabilities within the network of the
software platform designed and built to provide MBP are offered by independent service providers
a common infrastructure around which mobility and can be divided into two categories:

services can be managed, operated and 1. Functional (technical platform) capabilities,

financially settled. such as digital identities, verification, service
discovery, contracting, settlement and payment.
Our mission is to establish an open mobility
2. Mobility services, such as car sharing, ride-
ecosystem that empowers users to access more
hailing, public transport, parking, charging and
integrated and transparent mobility services around
micro-insurance.
the world. With an emphasis on openness and
collaboration, the MBP utilizes blockchain and Service providers using the MBP can compile and
distributed ledger technology to provide trust realize new B2C offerings and offer them to their
and consensus for all business actors within the end-customers. In this regards, the MBP enables a
mobility ecosystem. participating provider to:
Based on a decentralized, shared approach to Access the service network through free and
cooperation, collaboration and competition among open-source protocols and APIs;
participants from the public as well as the private
Offer its own services as a verified ecosystem
sector, the Mobility Blockchain Platform can be
partner within the network;
used to develop an ecosystem bringing together
participants in the world of future mobility. Access available services, offered by other
verified providers within the network;
The MBP integrates the services of various
mobility services providers. It includes the required Order resources and services offered within the
functional capabilities necessary to conduct network; and
business without the need for a centralized party.
Settle the use of services or resources digitally.

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 4

Our vision for the
future mobility ecosystems

DREAMING PLANNING BOOKING EXPERIENCING POST

Information Selection of Payment Infotainment PROCESSING
gathering operators Additional Up-selling, Rating
Search for Data sharing services, VIP-services Retention
options e.g. insurance Itinerary adaptation Referral

MOBILITY SERVICES FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES

Car sharing Public

transport

MOBILITY
Digital identity Verification
Inter-urban Trucking
mobility

BLOCKCHAIN
PLATFORM
Infrastructure Insurance Contracting Payment

Logistics Urban mobility

Settlement Service discovery

Micromobility Ride hailing

TECHNOLOGY ENABLERS

Connected Autonomous Shared Electric

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 5

The future of mobility:
the CASE for urban mobility
In the past 20 years, there has been a drastic change in the way consumers, regulators and city
planners think about mobility. Environmental concerns, congestion, increased availability of
new, flexible and shared modes of transport have contributed to the new thinking in terms of how
mobility should be defined in the future.

In addition, there is an increasing trend towards This is accompanied by two strong trends affecting
urbanization, which increases the pressure on cities vehicle ownership and adding momentum to the
and municipal governments to balance the benefits transition towards pay-per-use mobility as a service
of aggregation with the challenges this places paradigm, replacing the own vehicle as the prime
on the environment, sustainability, quality of life mode of urban transport:
and congestion.
1. Mobility based on owner-driven vehicles is more
Mobility plays a major role in how society will and more discouraged by city planners;
function in the future.
2. A strong emphasis on electrification and carbon
People are moving more not less, while neutral transportation.
the need to reduce carbon footprint and
In 2019, there were estimated to be around 400
congestion necessitates:
different brands, offering around 750 mobility
More efficient utilization of vehicles than the services, operated by 180 providers worldwide.
traditional driver-owned car; Most of those providers have created a stand-
alone ecosystem with little or no interfaces to other
Electrification of fleets and vehicles; and
mobility players. From the consumer’s perspective,
with that;
this leads to inconvenience and nontransparency.
The emergence of electric charging When travelling, it is even more difficult to
infrastructure as a key element of e-mobility. find the optimal combination of multimodal
mobility services.
Citizens are expecting seamless “one-click”
mobility, which is eco-friendly, affordable and
on-demand.

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 6

Furthermore, the car market is undergoing a The automotive and mobility industry have long
transformation in terms of who is buying and who is recognized these trends and have developed a
using cars. The traditional idea of everyone owning strategic framework known by its acronym: CASE
their own car as the primary means of individual (Connected, Autonomous, Shared and Electric).
mobility is being questioned, especially as service
Autonomous driving (when it becomes ready and
operators have emerged who are providing
regulated) will be a true game changer in the
various means of mobility – ranging from scooters
business cases and profitability of mobility services.
to passenger cars and vans – on a transactional
As autonomous vehicle technology eliminates
basis. This leads towards more opportunity-based
direct costs (e.g. drivers), and provides 24-hour
and interconnected modes of transportation.
service availability, the usage of mobility solutions
Public transportation, car sharing or simply hiring
should become more flexible at a lower cost level,
a personal driver for short distances are becoming
which will make new mobility services an even
more common.
more attractive option for customers2. Thus, given
New business models and technologies are needed the high interest of OEMs in autonomous drive
in order to tackle such mobility challenges1. technology, it is expected that the levels four and
five of such technology will play a significant role in
Mobility offerings in modern cities need to offer a
the mobility market by 20303.
wide range of transport modes:
Public transport along the main trunks;
Micromobility for short-range transport; and
Car sharing for small groups
(e.g. shopping trips).

CASE: the trend towards automation in the delivery of mobility

Connected Autonomous Shared Electric

C stands for A stands for S stands for any of E stands for Electric,
Connectivity and Autonomous or Shared, Services or i.e. the trend by
the fact that cars are Automated driving, Software, describing which means of
becoming internet- which will be a true the means by which transportation (from
enabled, smart game changer mobility can be scooter to buses)
devices. Modern once it achieves delivered, based on will become electric.
vehicles (i.e. cars, critical mass. transactions rather This brings with it the
e-scooters and than ownership. challenge and also
e-bikes) contain edge the opportunity of
computers, which are how to build up the
always online and required charging
provide a constant infrastructure.
stream of telematics
data.

1 “Race 2050 – a vision for the European automotive industry”, January 2019, McKinsey Center for Future Mobility.
2 “The rise of mobility as a service”, January 2017, Deloitte.
3 “Urbane Mobilität 2030: zwischen Anarchie und Hypereffizienz”, October 2017, Roland Berger.

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 7

The Mobility Blockchain Platform:
Vision and Mission
As mentioned at the beginning of this The MBP is designed to:
whitepaper, we believe the future of mobility lies Allow urban planners to steer traffic and the
in an ecosystem where mobility services are utilization of urban infrastructure;
delivered over software platforms and based
Provide the market mechanisms, resulting in the
on a pay-per-use business model. Therefore, supply of services best suited to urban policy
it is crucial to develop a modular platform and market demand;
that is simple to integrate and automate. This
Be effective in transporting people and goods;
means ensuring an optimal fit with existing
Be efficient in terms of resources needed to
infrastructure, enabling mobility service
transport, increasing number of people and
providers to dock flexibly on an existing, volumes of goods;
technical back end without cost-intensive and
Be flexible in providing the appropriate mode of
time-consuming development efforts.
transport and vehicle, according to requirements
All the actions we are undertaking aim to ensure the and preferences;
success of our vision. We want to make the world of Provide users with a choice of operators,
mobility better and simpler. services and pricing models.
The Mobility Blockchain Platform’s mission is Such a Mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) platform
to establish an open mobility ecosystem that needs to provide a common and jointly used
empowers people to access more integrated and transaction infrastructure for service providers,
transparent mobility services around the world. providing their individual services, ranging from
We believe that decentralized, open and public transport, taxi and ride-hailing to car sharing
cooperative systems offer many benefits compared and micromobility as well as financing, leasing,
to existing, centralized platforms controlled by insurance and fleet operations.
a single owner. An open ecosystem benefits all Users should be provided with one fully bundled
participants. Customers enjoy a seamless journey ticket, allowing them to “roam” through individual
and transparent billing. Service providers not only operators offerings, including access control and
get better utilization and broader reach for their billing. Operators should be able to create feature-
offerings, but also seamless revenue distribution rich products without having to own and operate
and real-time settlement of liabilities. all assets needed for the delivery of the service.
Furthermore, service providers can monetize And all of this needs to be provided with the
their data to develop new products for insurance, ease-of-use, efficiency and scalability we see in
credit or finance. platform economics.
The platform provides the business protocols
common to all service offerings, such as verification
of identity and credentials, as well as managing
contract signing and financial settlement processes.

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 8

The mobility blockchain platform will set the technical
backbone to enable service providers to offer an integrated
mobility and added-value services

Inter-urban mobility

Public
transport Trucking

Car sharing
MOBILITY Infrastructure

BLOCKCHAIN
PLATFORM
Ride hailing Insurance

Micromobility Logistics

Urban mobility

Technical backbone for Cross-use Establish an open MaaS

mobility services bundling (Mobility-as-a-Service)
to enable customers for future business ecosystem
using mobility seamlessly models in urban across industries by
and effortlessly and long-distance integrating partners
transportation

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 9

 The Mobility Blockchain Platform provides deep integration and seamless transactions to
mobility service operators

SCALABILITY

1-Click rental Self-service access E2E Real-time Settlement

Open standards, interfaces and protocols, in addition to decentralized governance can
provide needed scalability

INTEGRATION

Open and Open mobility Open and

democratized protocols business software decentralized platform

MOBI
BLOC
In-app SW Wallet Digital signature PLAT
One ticket shopping for users: Integrated, multi-modal transport is critical to address smart
city “liveability” challenges. Consumers want to travel from their home to their destination
and back again in as fast and cost-effective way, avoiding congestion and minimizing their
impact on the environment.

Home Car share

Flight 1

Flight 2

eScooter
Public transport

Car rental Car charging station

Mobility providers receive MOBILITY Settlement and

the money from home operator BLOCKCHAIN
revenue distribution
(who sold the ticket) PLATFORM

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 10

Architectural layers
MBP has been developed to be deployed Integration with a given business flow, use case and
as a common technical infrastructure within customer happens via well-defined interfaces.
an ecosystem. It should be noted that the actual integration,
on-boarding and deployment of customers
It provides generic business process functionality,
happens between the business domain and the
which is common to any digitally delivered service,
contract layer. This is where the solution and
for example, authentication, authorization, digital
integration architects of the two teams interact to
signatures and consent agreement, billing records,
connect the business and transaction systems to
pre-booking, booking and settlement. These
the MBP shared ecosystem platform.
functionalities are common to any use case.

Architectural layers of the Mobility Blockchain Platform

This layer represents the Business Domain and existing

or future production systems. At this layer, systems are
off-chain and under administration by customers and third
parties. Integration with the Mobility Blockchain Platform is BUSINESS APPLICATION
done through Oracle, APIs or message queues.

EVENT BUS APIs ORACLE

Blockchain Contract Layer provides an autonomous P2P

software fabric (“shared state”) based on smart contracts.
Fine-grained access control and role management is
needed to reflect the possible context within the Business
BLOCKCHAIN BUSINESS LOGIC
Process Layer from which the smart contract
LAYER (SMART CONTRACTS)
API is invoked.

APIs

The Ledger Layer provides the logic for an immutable

SPoT (Single Point of Truth) for financial transactions.
The focus is on atomic financial and ownership and
possession transactions. This layer provides the tamper-
proof transaction record and generates all positioning to
internal and external ledgers. It exposes atomic financing BLOCKCHAIN LEDGER LAYER
operations (assuming a limited number) to the Blockchain (immutability with automatic netting)
Contract Layer through API.
The Ledger Layer should achieve following design goals:
1. Consistent. 2. Correct. 3. Complete. 4. Consolidate.

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 11

Key capabilities of the platform
The Mobility Blockchain Platform provides 3. Discovery: A request and offer mechanism
automatic orchestration, execution and for the allocation of available services, enabling
settlement of online transactions: network participants to dynamically access
and check the availability of services offered on
1. Access: Standardized, open-source
the network.
protocols and APIs to interconnect capabilities
and services. 4. Contracting: Manage the contract-signing
procedure to ensure legalization of smart,
2. Verification: A standardized, open-source
digital contracts.
verification process to verify the identity
credentials of participating companies, 5. Settlement: Correct cross-party booking of
equipments or assets (CCC: Company, liabilities into the shared ledger (AR/AP).
Customer and Car; the “Identity Triangle”).
Providers use the access layer to plug into the
platform and deliver their services. Based on this
interconnection, participating providers can bundle
and realize new B2C offerings and offer them to
their customers.

Capabilities provided by MBP

Unified identities for customer, company New business models through trusted
and car, digitally secured and verified integration and value-added services

Open protocols for a minimally invasive Modular platform, designed for multiple
integration effort with legacy systems use cases and business models

Seamless revenue distribution and Enable and automate secure B2B

settlement of liabilities in real-time business transactions

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 12

 All services in the network are pluggable

Claims Verifications

MOBILITY
BLOCKCHAIN
PLATFORM
Open and democratized protocols
Identities Offerings
Open mobility business software
Open and centralized platform

Settlement Contracting

All services in the network are considered to be “pluggable”. This means, that services can also be
provided by any other provider meeting the standards of the MBP.
It should be noted that the described capabilities (verification, contracting and settlement) will be offered
and carried out by providers within the network. The MBP only defines the standards for those described
procedures and processes within the network.

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 13

Multi modal mobility service bundles & settlement

Mobility service
platform

Connection layer: Smart contract

Mobility Blockchain Platform Offer and accept = signature

Identity Digital identity Digital identity Digital identity

management User Car Company
level Natural entity Legal entity Legal identity

Car wallet: Turns a vehicle into an identifiable economic

agency capable of automated transactions

Mobility

By integrating a hardware
service
wallet, vehicles receive a
platforms digital identity with legal
capacities

The vehicle identifies itself
SERVICES

to other machines thanks to

Mobility the newly developed digital
HARDWARE vehicle-ID
Blockchain
Platform WALLET 
Supplementary vehicle wallet
platform technology makes it
possible to use the vehicle-
ID for payments and other
applications

Successful autonomous
Fleet
payment at electric charging
operators stations

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 14

Applications of the MBP
Examples of real-world business services

1 2 3
MOBILITY ASSET INSURANCE
SERVICES FINANCING SERVICES
AND LEASING

4 5 6
IDENTITY PAYMENT NOTARY AND
SERVICES SERVICES VERIFICATION
SERVICES
(for users, companies,
vehicles/machines)

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 15

Urban mobility: MaaS
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES combined and readily booked. Customer identity
data can be stored securely and utilized for any
The Mobility Blockchain Platform provides authentication process. The MBP executes financial
essential services and infrastructure for urban transactions with the highest possible level of
mobility. It also provides the transaction transparency and traceability.
platform for the operations of the infrastructure
For city governments, the MBP provides a
needed to deliver such services.
state-of-the-art-ecosystem that strengthens the
The benefits of the MBP in this use lies in the city’s position in future-oriented urban mobility
increased efficiency and convenience provided management. The city’s image benefits from
to all customers. Applications can always recall increasing usage of mobility services as well as
and verify customer data, which is validated by the public transport and traffic jams being minimized.
blockchain via cryptographic methods. At the same Eventually, by collecting and analyzing anonymized
time, the blockchain eliminates the need for building data from all services, urban traffic becomes more
trust among all network participants by ensuring predictable and thereby more controllable.
the validation of every transaction (i.e. a “chain of
For mobility service providers, the MBP provides
witnesses” for all transactions). Overall, blockchain
the opportunity to connect with other players more
technology provides a solution to all players within
easily, in order to bring a seamless user experience
such a business ecosystem:
to the consumers. Service providers can build
For customers, the usage of the MBP means partnerships directly and do not require the
convenient access to a variety of mobility services, approval of a third-party entity. In addition to adding
offered by different providers. Routes can be new distribution channels, they should benefit from
planned and different mobility services can be access to a larger customer base.

MaaS: the Mobility Blockchain Platform way agency

capable of automated transactions

KYC once, grant access

to all mobility services

Offer ticket bundles as an

“all-in-one-stop” experience

Connect all services with

a minimal invasive approach

Don’t need to touch your

Back-end Back-end Back-end current infrastructure
system redco system blueco system greenco

Automated and secure

revenue distribution

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 16

Fleet sharing: increase utilization and
enable asset-light rental services

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES The fleet sharing use case enables a company
(e.g. fleet operators, like Athlon, or an asset-heavy
The way, in which the people approach the mobility service provider, like ShareNow) to either:
mobility changes, also fleet operators need to
Offer its currently available and unutilized

shift their focus to new service models.
vehicles to other companies (e.g. asset light
The main challenges for the fleet operators
mobility service provider or a fleet operator)
today are to understand the customer demand,
for utilization; or
the high administrative effort, the requirements
to reduce CO2 and shift to zero-emission, Request currently available and unutilized

and the biggest challenge of all, to optimize vehicles from other companies in order to
the fleet utilization. utilize them.
The use case aims to enable vehicle owners to
utilize their cars better by offering them on the
MBP to other companies.

Strategic scenario: Decentralized and fragmented fleet supply

Mobility
service
platforms

Standard interface and white label app

Connection
layer MOBILITY BLOCKCHAIN PLATFORM

Smartbox/hardware wallet

Fleet
operators

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 17

Tokenization is a game changer for the
financial service sector

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES Tokens and the smart contracts to which they
connect, provide traceable transaction records and
Tokenization4 is a new mechanism for financial thus provide a fully transparent – and real-time –
products, which is based on blockchain audit trail, which greatly improves the risk profile
technology5. Tokenization use cases range from of such financial products. Funding and treasury
so-called utility tokens, which pay for network departments stand to greatly benefit from this new
functionality, to tokenizing assets or their and fast channel for liquidity.
revenue streams.
Financial service providers traditionally offer
For the financial arms of large automotive players, various products and services to customers in
this means that traditional products – such as order to generate stable, free cash flow, alongside
finance and leasing as well as services, such as strengthening customer loyalty. At the same time,
mobility solutions – could be improved and scaled the main financial benefit is to get stable funding
beyond their current scope. support from money market players that hold secure
financial assets in their portfolios. Traditional identity
The point to bear in mind is that blockchain enables
management technologies, assets securitization
financial service providers to tokenize existing
and Know Your Customer (KYC) practices, however,
financial assets and, indeed, this is the most
have intrinsic risks and drawbacks that can lead to
important corporate use-case for tokenization.
inefficiencies in asset management and inaccurate
Token-based financial products can create a
asset valuation.
trustworthy financial portfolio by securitizing
revenue streams generated by an asset portfolio At the end of the day, blockchain enables automotive
such as vehicles or charging stations. financial businesses to fund their main assets
(e.g. fleets, charging infrastructure or floorplan).

Tokenization
Mobility Blockchain Platform

Tokenized identity and vehicle Fully tokenized service Tokenized money supplied
product supplied from DMO from banks and investors

4 The tokenization of assets refers to the process of issuing a blockchain token that digitally represents a real tradable asset.
5 D. Stewart and M. Simmons: The Business Playground: Where Creativity and Commerce Collide.
Berkeley, USA: New Riders Press, 2010.

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 18

Business model and stakeholders
For the Mobility Blockchain Platform to thrive, it needs a variety of members from different
industries and backgrounds to cooperate in creating, delivering and capturing value. This
collaboration will generate several incentives that will be more prominent as the members’ number
increases, following a “Star Alliance” model, where fleet operators benefit from having access to
selling tickets for flights that they do not operate, increasing the value they offer to their customers,
while, getting additional revenues on own flights, without having any cost of acquisition.

A parallelism for the MBP would be scooter 2. Business customers: Companies who offer
companies, owning the vehicles in several cities, their service over the platform
benefiting from offering access to scooters
They interact with the platform within a Software-
worldwide, increasing the value provided to their
as-a-Service (SaaS), or actually Transaction-as-
customers, and increasing the usage of their
a-Service, model. They can use the capabilities
vehicle thanks to the cooperation with other players,
provided by the platform itself as well as services
generating revenue in both cases. Companies that
provided by other service providers in a simple
do not own mobility-related assets can contribute
“plug-in” environment with low complexity
in increasing the demand, for example, travel
integration to generate new sources of revenue.
agencies offering third party scooter services
They benefit from the platform as it presents an
to their customer base. A general overview of
environment free of vendor lock-in and avoids the
incentives for the MBP stakeholders is described
risk of being devoured by quasi-monopolistic,
later in this chapter.
centralistic hyperscalers.
MBP stakeholders can be described as follows:
Joining this group is especially interesting for
1. MBP operators: Founding partners and asset-heavy service providers (e.g. fleet owners
key operators who want to increase utilization by spreading
their supply of vehicles across the platform’s
This group co-owns the platform, and participates
demand aggregators).
on the value and capital gains of the organization.
Institutions in this group own key assets and 3. End-users: MBP members who would like
services that are essential for creating utility. to increase the revenue per user by cross-
Just to mention a few: selling services from the MBP
a. Mobility service and fleet providers Companies in this group are cities,
b. Digital identity service provision telecommunication firms, banks and travel agencies,
c. Tech companies / blockchain among others. A use case would be banks offering
d. Telecommunication services vehicle leasing or renting services to their customers,
e. Digital payment providers for example, or companies in the travel or restaurant
f. Insurance providers industry, generating extra revenues by offering last
g. Nonprofit organizations and academic mile mobility to their customers.
institutions


The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 19

Incentives for the different stakeholders
In previous chapters of this whitepaper we have explained the multiple benefits that the MBP brings from
a technology side, especially in terms of automation, open access and security. Hence, this solution is
interesting in terms of long-term strategic advantage, access to new customer bases, and improvement on
customer experience. Just to name a few examples:

ROLE CATEGORY PROBLEM INCENTIVE

Corporate Owners • Grow the ecosystem • Grow the ecosystem
members • Enable strategic initiatives and businesses •E nable strategic initiatives
and businesses
• Capital gains
Mobility B2C • Needs to scale •O  ffload transactional and
service operator • Wants to provide end-to-end multi-modal services operational aspects of
provider • Prefers to be asset-light and has no appetite for service delivery
asset operations • Better financial scaling due to
asset-light operations
Fleet B2B • Low vehicle utilization •V  irtual fleet aggregation results in
operators operator • Operations and customer aggregation scalable supply
(each demand specific skillsets) • Better utilization of assets
• Inefficient remarketing = sub-optimal • Increase in residual value and
residual value decrease in TCO (Total Cost of
Ownership)
Finance and B2B • Entry into Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)- • Simple infrastructure to bundle
Insurance operator driven settlement ecosystem products with mobility service
providers • Lack of technical infrastructure to efficiently providers
operate micropayments at scale • Access to high-frequency,
• Entry barriers to cooperate with big mobility pay-per-use ecosystem
players and bundle products • Access to IoT ecosystem

Public Cooperative •E  xtremely difficult to combine existing multi-modal • Open access to cooperate and
transport member, inter-urban services into one platform innovate with high tech players
sector regulator • High limitations to growth operations in new • Opportunity to take a step forward
and policy locations into sustainable urban mobility
maker • Complex and rigid legacy systems • Increasing customer lifetime
revenue by offering service in new
areas and markets

Charging B2C and • Complex to reach critical mass out of highly • Contributing to build the largest
infrastructure B2B populated regions mobility platform in Europe and
• High financial investment needed to increase paving the way for electric and
the charging network sustainable mobility
• Reduced tools for increasing customer loyalty • Simple infrastructure to bundle
products with mobility service
providers
• Increasing customer lifetime
revenue by offering service in new
areas and markets
B2C End user • App jungle, need to download and register in • 1-click service delivery
consumer several apps with similar purpose within the same • Seamless and international
city or service offering service roaming
• Fragmented customer journey • Rich, multi-modal, multi-service
• Repeated onboarding and handing over of products (like mobility, financial
sensitive data, with a high risk of data leaks and services, insurance or charging…)
cyber attacks on personal accounts delivered over one channel of
choice

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 20

Principles of the decentralized
platform economy
Problem statement consensus by which commerce and value transfer
Decentralized platforms – powered by technologies becomes part of the network layer. The underlying
such as blockchain, Distributed Ledger Technologies peer-to-peer (P2P) principles, in which all participants
(DLT) and Decentralized Identifier (DID) – offer a are equal peers and operate identical nodes provide
promising alternative to centralized platforms, which a technical analogue to cooperatives in the social and
have come to dominate whole industries and have economic sense of the word.
concentrated power in the hands of their owners.
The last twenty years have shown us how software is,
In this chapter we will try to describe the underlying indeed, eating the world and have brought powerful
principles of “cooperative platforms” and how they new actors to the world of international commerce.
can be built and operated beautifully as software Centralized platforms – the proverbial GAFA6 –
using decentralized technologies. Such cooperative have now entered a phase where they constitute a
platforms present a much more balanced and similar danger to competition and market balance as
sustainable approach to digital marketplaces and Standard Oil did in the early 1900s. Politicians and
avoid dominance by single companies who hold regulators are recognizing this and are addressing it
sway over ever-growing parts of the digital economy. with the means at their disposal.

Platform economics is at the core of the most In the meantime, blockchain and other decentralized
successful Internet enterprises, have unleashed technologies have emerged over the last ten years
creative energies and revolutionized the way services and provide a paradigm by which new cooperative
are delivered, consumed and settled. They have truly platforms can be built, combining the advantages
empowered end users and brought huge benefits, in GAFA platforms offer end users with a more sustainable
terms of choice, ease-of-use and cost-effectiveness. balance of power among market participants.

Last but not least, they created incredible wealth for Tokens provide a mechanism to program the flow
their owners. On the other hand, they leave a trail of value into community-operated, highly secure
of creative destruction behind them as incumbent commercial platforms. Combining the technical
operators lose control over their customers and advantages of decentralization with the purpose and
markets. Due to the relentless pressure of venture- incentives of cooperatives can create a powerful
funded, freely spending hyperscalers, margins tend counterbalance to centralized platforms. They can
to drop dramatically. This is, after all, what the end also unleash new business models in which power
customer realizes as cost-effectiveness. Market does not necessarily accrue to centralized market
players only have a chance to compete if they can makers, but is jointly held by a community of equal
offset these low margins with very deep pockets and cooperative members.
the operating scale to achieve profitability by growing Summary
the number of transactions. The advent of blockchain Blockchain networks form a counter-model to
and other decentralized technologies has added an established platforms and allow independent parties
important element to this. to take part in “community-owned and -operated
Cooperative platforms combine many networks”7. This allows businesses to integrate their
digital benefits services within a trusted service network and avoids
Blockchain, Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) single-player platform dominance. Blockchains
and other decentralized technologies (such as and Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) share a
Decentralized Identifiers (DID)) provide technical unique set of features to provide trust and consensus
mechanisms that lend themselves very well to within highly fragmented and decentralized
building fully automated platforms that can manage environments. These features include but are not
financial transactions from contract signing all the way limited to distributed governance, open access and
to financial settlement, without the need cryptographically secure transactions.
for intermediaries.
6 GAFA: Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon
These are completely autonomous software 7 “Past, Present, Future: From Co-ops to Cryptonetworks”,
networks and provide the critical element of trust and March 2019, Jesse Waden, Andreesen Horowitz.

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 21

 Existing mobility services providers will become profitable
Decentralized, integrated and connected network of mobility providers will allow scaling, bundling,
code sharing and resource sharing – leading to higher direct revenues.

Service Low cost of full Full demand

integration utilized assets response

MOBILITY
BLOCKCHAIN
PLATFORM
ACCESS VERIFICATION

SERVICE SMART
ROAMING CONTRACTING

SETTLEMENT

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 22

Ecosystem development and growth
strategy: the decentralized way
In the world of mobility, most of the platform Besides, thinking pragmatically, corporates should
players are working in a centralized be planning to take action and cooperate, before a
environment, having full control and central centralized platform takes over the market, controlling
market demand, influencing supply prices and taking
authority, and eventually, if competition has
a high fee from every transaction because there are
been wiped out, no limitations on price setting. no alternatives to their sales channel.
For the ecosystem to thrive, the MBP needs a We expect the growth of the MBP to follow the
variety of members from different industries and pattern of the “S-curve of technological adoption”
backgrounds to cooperate in creating, delivering and the “network effect”, where at the tipping point,
and capturing value. Decentralized platforms the highest utility and economies of scale will be
bring several benefits, eliminating trade barriers, achieved after the early majority joins the platform.
achieving economies of scale and automating back
As a metaphor, we can imagine how the
office processes while avoiding monopolies.
introduction of the telephone was. If there was only
The main challenge comes from the vast amount of one telephone in the world, the utility would be zero
people, processes and systems that will be affected as it cannot be used to communicate. But the more
by the blockchain solution, and the mentality telephones are distributed around the network, the
shift necessary for understanding the long-term higher utility the user will gain from it by being able
benefit of moving from traditional silos model to to communicate with more people, and therefore,
decentralized co-innovation environments. generating interest from more individuals to join
the network.
Therefore, the main goal that we should keep in
mind when developing a blockchain environment
is motivating and incentivizing the network,
creating synergies and reaching critical mass
with a simple and seamless application.

Highest utility and economies of scale will be achieved after

the majority joins the network

Network effect

Two Increasing amount Huge network of users

telephones of telephones with telephones

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 23

Awareness and community building
Businesses (especially big corporates) typically Just to mention an initiative, we founded in 2018
operate in isolation due to the complexity and the Blockchain Academy, an organization focusing
financial cost of the human capital, processes on onboarding professionals interested in DLT
(Distributed Ledger Technology) in the mobility topic.
and systems required to achieve joint goals.
In the training sessions, we present the benefits of the
Thanks to the Mobility Blockchain Platform, it is MBP and why they should join the network, how their
possible to create a community of companies to business can take advantage of the platform, and as
cooperate towards a shared goal in an effective well the latest developments of the platform and teach
and automated fashion. participants how to identify blockchain use cases.
The main idea behind the MBP is the term
In the previous years, millions of professionals
decentralization. The goal behind it is to create a
worldwide have shown interest in learning what
cooperative environment, scalable and enabler of
blockchain is, and trying to understand its business
co-innovation, while avoiding lock-in risks and being
benefits. The MBP acknowledges this mission
absorb by monopolistic players. Thanks to the MBP,
and is contributing by participating in blockchain
different parties are working towards a sustainable
consortiums, international conferences, expert panels
and balanced economy, where none of the players will
and podcasts.
have a disproportionally share of the added value.

Creating a positive feedback loop

The primary goal of this pillar is to achieve platform This bundle of services is a crucial element, which
scalability by being able to create reproducible creates the right synergies for creating a consistent
steps, onboard new members efficiently and and scalable offer. In addition, it is critical to involve
a larger number of platform participants, leveraging
create new synergies. That is crucial to generate
their existing customer bases to detect new use
new customer value. Having a great platform is cases, shape new service offering paradigms and
important, but developing use cases with high design better customer journeys. The goal of this
utility is critical. phase is to develop a strong foundation – or MVE
(Minimum Viable Ecosystem) – to be able to start
We are involved in consortiums and blockchain- focusing on growth thanks to the experiences
related organizations for connecting with companies collected in onboarding new companies in less than
from different business areas (finance, mobility, one day.
insurance) that want to benefit from the MBP to
provide their services and are eager to co-develop
new offerings. This way we ensure that the services
implemented in the MBP will evolve to cover the
exact needs of the market and the investments into
new features will be efficient.

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 24

The members of the MBP benefit from cross-transversal
offerings and bundles, increasing the value, increasing the
value provided to the customer

Mobility service providers

MOBILITY BLOCKCHAIN
PLATFORM

Insurance company Payment services

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 25

Achieving critical mass

As mentioned earlier, the telephone is a good the MVE creation, which will allow new platform
metaphor to explain how the utility of the MBP operators and participants to start benefiting from
increases with increasing levels of consumer the Mobility Blockchain Platform SaaS in record
times, in less than one day; allowing the business to
participation. Having only one telephone in the
be scaled at a fast pace.
market makes no sense.
There will be focus sales teams with the goal
The real utiliy is generated when you achieve a to accelerate platform growth, ensuring the
critical mass and you can have phone calls with initial momentum is kept, and quickly achieve
other users. That happens when you bring into the high platform utility. Our sales teams will target
network “the first 100 telephones”, or the first 100 corporations, trade unions, industry associations
companies, and you can start generating synergies and key decision makers showing them the benefits
with your services offer and demand with other of joining the network.
companies in the network.
Cooperation with third parties and the franchising
Achieving critical mass is a key milestone for a of the platform model will be considered in parallel
platform business where the long-term sustainability in specific markets and regions to achieve market
of the business will be mercilessly tested. Our tools penetration to ensure we can offer a global service
for achieving the required initial critical mass will be to the end-customer and have more effective
through generating business incentives. business development and marketing campaigns.
As a recap, let’s name a few:
It is important to highlight that each platform
Access to additional sales channels;
 operator will determine what service prices are
desirable for them. There will not be one single
Revenue generation without new customer

operator deciding what the prices are. Instead,
acquisition;
cooperation is required across the network to
Special conditions for early members of
 increase the overall demand and lower admin and
the network. settlement costs. This would create the risk of the
Onboarding will be simple and agile. “Onboarding platform being absorbed by a monopoly that would
packages” will be created out of the learnings from strangulate margins and control market prices.

Critical mass achievement – Maximum utility which

the MBP can offer
moving into the early adopters 100
phase – will bring a high network
utility level
CRITICAL 75
MASS
% Platform utility
Number of users and 50
services
Distribution of users
according to their
willingness to engage with 25
a new service or platform

Amount of users and 0

services offered on MBP Innovators Early Early Late Laggards
2.5% adopters majority majority 16%
13.5% 34% 34%

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 26

Governance
With an emphasis on openness and collaboration, the Mobility Blockchain Platform utilizes
blockchain and distributed ledger technology to provide trust and consensus for all business
actors within the mobility ecosystem.

The operational model of the MBP will be split into two layers:
1. An independent foundation, whose purpose is 2. An operations unit, a corporation 100% owned
to define and develop the necessary protocols by the foundation, registered in a defined
and standards, as well as safeguard the created location and led by a distinctly visible external
IP for an open mobility ecosystem including CEO. The purpose of the operations unit is to
network verification, service discovery and ensure the technical implementation of rules and
allocation, contracting and settlement. The decisions made by the foundation. Additionally,
members of the organization operate the MBP it enables at least two functioning nodes for
as a network of validator nodes and thus provide minimal network capability.
the organization’s governance framework.

Systematic benefits

OPEN AND MORE FLEXIBLE NO VENDOR LEAD JOINT

STANDARD TRANSACTIONS LOCK-INS DEVELOPMENT
PROTOCOLS FEES in scalability,
allows for flexibility and with start-ups
for ease of due to pay-per-use greater flexibility security and individual
integration & subscription partners

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 27

About the authors
We will be happy to answer any further questions you may have:

DR HARRY BEHRENS MARIYA DAVYDENKO MIGUEL MUÑOZ

DE MORALES
Founder and CTO of bloXmove Business Development
– the shared B2B Mobility Director at Ciklum – global Head of Consulting for
Blockchain Platform. digital solutions company Germany and Austria, Orange
for Fortune 500 and Business Services (OBS) –
Software, blockchain and
fast-growing organizations. the business services arm of
networks expert. Founded
Orange S.A.
and led the Daimler Mobility Experienced in transformation
Blockchain Factory and of marketing and sales We are supporting companies
designed the Mobility activities, advising C-level to progress in their digital
Blockchain Platform. executives in fields of transformation journey,
Has been involved digitalization, mobility and realizing the benefits of
with blockchain since 2012. sales strategy. applying cutting-edge
technologies.
.

www.linkedin.com/in/ www.linkedin.com/in/ www.linkedin.com/in/

TheBehrens mariyadavydenko munozdemorales

Published by: Orange Business Services

Disclaimer: This publication represents general non-binding information. The contents reflect the opinion
of the authors at the time of publication. Although the information has been prepared with the greatest
possible care, there is no claim to factual accuracy, completeness and/or topicality. In particular, this
publication cannot take into account the special circumstances of individual cases. Any use is therefore the
sole responsibility of the reader. Any liability is excluded. All rights, including the reproduction of extracts,
are reserved by bloXmove, Orange Business Services and Ciklum.

The Mobility Blockchain Platform - A Blueprint for the Future of Mobility 28