Big data is everywhere these days. Vast amounts of information are being generated by all of our modern devices and find a seemingly infinite number of applications in every industry and every field of activity, from marketing to research and development. Cars are no exception. Vehicles are increasingly connected to the Internet and produce a variety of information streams that, if utilised correctly, could help everyone from their manufacturers to city planners. A race to monetise car data is likely to begin.
Moveco wants to take part in this race. It recognises that in order to win, it will need the cooperation of ordinary people whose devices generate the data. By using Moveco's and its partners' proprietary software and hardware, they will transmit big data to be processed, repackaged and sold to all those who would want to use it. In exchange, they will be rewarded with tokens that could be redeemed at a number of partner businesses, offsetting the various expenses of car ownership. Blockchain technology will be the key element that will tie the whole ecosystem together.
How will Moveco's system work?
Users will be able to decide their own level of participation in this project. Though the main focus is on car data, general mobility data transmitted through Moveco's mobile app will count as well for the most basic level of involvement. The proprietary plug-and-play Drivebox Lite or analogous telematics devices from Moveco or other participating companies could be used to gather driving behaviour data in addition to car location and status information. Autonomous driving data could be collected with more advanced devices, including those based on Lidar technology. All of this data shall be encrypted with Moveco's public key, validated using the company's machine learning-enhanced MovNet engine, uploaded to IPFS and then returned with the file hash. This process will have two goals in mind: separating the wheat (i.e., the relevant data) from the chaff and ensuring that all sensitive personal or car identity information is thoroughly protected, with no risk of it being attached to the data that will be sold.
Moveco will use a special Data Contribution Protocol to give out regular MOV token rewards to its users, based on the quantity and level of the data they provide, in a process that is intended to resemble mining. Those tokens could then be used as a means of payment with some partner businesses or as a way of unlocking discounts with those that are not prepared to accept tokens as payment directly. Moveco is also in negotiations to allow MOV to be traded directly for points in certain loyalty programs. Meanwhile, corporate clients will be able to purchase data packages (grouped by various criteria) and insights (such as reports or analytics tailored to their specific requirements) on a separate Moveco data portal.
Why connect to Moveco?
It is expected that general mobility and car big data will find many eager purchasers, including car manufacturers, insurance companies, city planners, retailers, telephone companies (with their special interest in connected cars) and gas and oil companies. Information on car performance and driver behaviour patterns has many obvious uses for those whose business is more or less directly connected with either. Traffic data has even broader applications for practically any brick and mortar business that wants to know its potential customers. Further technological developments, from self-driving cars to smart cities, and their implementation will also depend on the availability of many different sorts of mobility data.
Meanwhile, ordinary users will get the chance to earn something for very little. Some amount of tokens could be gained just by walking while running the Moveco App. A larger amount can be earned by connecting some fairly unobtrusive devices to a car – and redeemed at carefully picked businesses that are likely to be of interest to car owners. Moveco was founded by the same experienced IoT team as Cove – a successful Asian car-sharing service, which will be one of those partner businesses. Other starting partners will include Starbucks, Royal Dutch Shell, Esso (also known as ExxonMobil) and Grab (a Singapore tech firm). All of those businesses will have something to offer to self-driving car owners. Another possibility considered by Moveco includes using the diagnostic code generated by its devices to lower insurance premiums with partner car insurers.
Token sale details
Creating a viable new car ecosystem
At this stage in the development of the digital economy, data has acquired a particular value. Companies try to get it by hook and by crook, and given its sheer importance to both business and technological development, it may be taken for granted that they will largely succeed. This is part of the core appeal of Moveco's proposal: Why not sell some of your most valuable and most easily gathered data on your own terms, with maximum transparency and privacy? The offer for car owners is sweetened by the clever design of an ecosystem in which their token rewards will go towards things they will want anyway, potentially saving them a lot of money. And in the long run, this big data will also benefit them, and the car industry, by helping design better city layouts and better vehicles. On paper, everyone wins.
Much about this offer will depend on the details, of course. For instance, while Moveco has so far seen good results in recruiting partners, it will need more for its ecosystem to be truly viable. Not everyone will want to eat at Starbucks, and the frequently predicted shift towards electric vehicles may reduce the value of its arrangements with filling station owners. Also, it is reliant on the correct performance of a large amount of complicated technology, from its telematics devices to its big data analytics. In the long run, all of those can improved, especially with the help of machine learning techniques. But in the short run those may be subject to very damaging technical failures. Still, on the whole, this is a very promising project and one that would integrate well with today's data market. In the future, it stands to expand it further while delivering benefits to all stakeholders.
Links:
Website: https://moveco.io/
WhitePaper: https://bit.ly/2usCmSI
Telegram: https://t.me/moveco
Facebook: https://ru-ru.facebook.com/MOVECOMOBILITY/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/moveco_io
Medium: https://medium.com/@moveco.io
ANN: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3257541.0
Author: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=980049
Disclaimer
This review by Bonanza Kreep is all opinion and analysis, not investment advice.