IOTA used as secure, scalable sensor network data transfer and processing provider for innovative smart energy project

SUSEE (Secure Sensor Platforms for Smart Energy Networks) is a joint project of research institutes Fraunhofer FIT/IPT, the energy distribution network operator SWO Netz, Chemnitz University, and three SMEs (peerOS, mCloud Systems, and TIP) to develop a scalable, secure, and reliable data sensor network transfer and processing solution, which the IOTA Foundation will be the core technology provider for, Invezz learned from IOTA’s blog.

Overcoming energy scale and security issues

Even the smallest energy suppliers in Germany have thousands of end users, which comes with certain security issues. Scaling is of great importance for both national and international energy suppliers as the number of end customers continues to increase. The best solution must be affordable, scalable, and must support a large number of sensors and devices. Moreover, the mechanism of transfer must be tamper-proof and ensure the integrity of the data being transferred.

Potentially massive funding from German federal government  

The project was selected for non-nuclear research funding in the 7th Energy Research Program of Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economy and Energy (BMWI) with a total volume of EUR 2.6 million. The goal of the project is to design a scalable solution for safe and reliable data transfer, in particular for smart metering applications, and will be realized on the basis of the IOTA distributed ledger protocol and the self-configuring WiBACK backhaul network as well as the wireless network protocol LoRaWAN. It will comply with all government information standards.

Holger Koether, Director of Partnerships at the IOTA Foundation, said:

“Ensuring data integrity and data management encrypted and securely directly from the edge is the core DNA of IOTA. I am looking forward to working as part of a team of so many forward-thinking organizations, to demonstrate how IOTA is being used as a security and integrity layer for upcoming applications, where a distributed resilient IT infrastructure against attacks is key.”

Daniel Demmer, CoFounder at PeerOS, commented:

“We want to build an ECOsystem that is open to everyone, transparent and secure – data belongs to whoever creates it and not whoever offers the service. With this project, the real world is linked with the digital for the first time.”

Andreas Baumgartner, CEO at mCloud Systems:

“Together with the IOTA Foundation and our collaborative partners, we are working on a technical solution that provides a secure and scalable foundation for infrastructure applications through state-of-the-art communications technology.”