Olsztyn, Poland, is said to be the first city in the world to leverage Ethereum’s blockchain to help deliver emergency services, offering another tangible use case for distributed ledger technology.
Olsztyn has successfully completed a trial of SmartKey, a bridging technology that connects blockchain with physical assets, to help police, fire and ambulance services.
SmartKey would enable rescue teams to perform their work more efficiently by connecting a smart contract to Teltonika smart devices that are used by local rescue teams. This connection allows emergency teams to enter any building in the city without having to locate a key holder or wait for authorization.
Gustaw Marek Brzezin, Marshal of the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship in which Olsztyn is located, made the following statement:
“The need for our rescue services to perform their duties unobstructed is delicate. Using blockchain and SmartKey technology appears to be the perfect solution, reassuring building owners and residents, but also freedom for our emergency services.
SmartKey believes that blockchain technology can lay the foundation for the development of smart cities. Although definitions vary, a smart city refers to any urban area that harnesses emerging technologies and sensors to collect data, which can then be used to more effectively manage assets, resources, and services. As a paradigm, smart cities fuel other theories about sustainability and economic development.
The Internet of Things, or IoT, could have major implications for future smart cities. Connected devices are believed to represent one of the biggest growth opportunities of the next decade. The World Economic Forum, for example, has identified IoT as an important pillar of “urban transformation”, especially after COVID-19.
Several cryptocurrency projects operate in the IoT niche, the largest being Iota (MIOTA) with a market cap of $ 825 million. At least a dozen others have a market cap of $ 1 million or more.
