Helium, a decentralized blockchain-powered network for connecting IoT devices and providing them with a more efficient way to communicate, recently announced a new integration. The project integrated with Streamr, noting that the move will help solve the difficulties regarding monetization and sharing of the extremely valuable IoT (Internet of Things) data.
According to the project’s announcement, the integration will allow sensor owners to control the way data flows, and also let them earn from providing it to those who require it.
Why Helium and Streamr make a perfect match
Helium is a project that uses its mainnet to allow low-powered wireless devices to communicate with one another and send data using its network of nodes. This primarily includes IoT devices, and is meant to connect them into a network that would allow a reliable and fast way to communicate, send data and power complex systems such as entire smart cities.
The project uses nodes, known as Hotspots, which are provided by its own users. These nodes work as a combination of a wireless gateway and blockchain mining devices. Those who operate the nodes boost their internet signal, allowing IoT devices to reach the web, and in extension, the blockchain. In exchange, users receive rewards in the project’s native token, HNT.
Every day, hundreds of millions of data packets flow through this network, with each of them carrying invaluable insight, such as the asset location. Not only that, but the network also carries something even more important — “an indisputable momentum towards an open and connected world,” as the project itself said it.
However, while Helium managed to enable a cost-effective, far-reaching connectivity, it has an even greater hidden potential that can be unlocked via collaborative analysis of IoT data, which is where Streamr comes in.
This is another decentralized platform, only this one deals in publishing, consuming, and monetizing real-time data. Both networks belong to the community, and so does the data that flows through them and allows users to earn by providing invaluable insight into the conditions of specific areas where IoT sensors are picking it up, and sending it directly to the services that can benefit from that knowledge.
What does this mean for the future?
With the integration, both projects can now provide their users with a fully decentralized, trustless global data infrastructure. Users can gain benefits directly from the network effects of composable ecosystems. Not only that, but they also no longer have to accept vendor lock-in and privacy issues that are bound to centralized services such as clouds, in order to connect their data to apps and data consumers.
Integrations and partnerships between compatible projects such as these will be crucial for the technological infrastructure of Web3 and the real world of the future. This very partnership could represent a huge step in achieving a stable and reliable system for transferring and monetizing IoT data, which is why it comes at no surprise that both projects have seen a considerable price increase after the announcement was made.
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Click here to find the original article written by Ali Raza on Securities.io
