New Vodafone deal with Heathrow and Aventus puts Polkadot at center of aviation efficiencies

Fourth edition of the flagship event concludes after two lively days in Copenhagen

A major new partnership bringing mobile phone giant Vodafone to Polkadot, the blockspace ecosystem for boundless innovation, was unveiled on the final day of Polkadot Decoded 2023, the network’s flagship annual event.

Attendees were also were among the first to hear about new partnerships and initiatives, including:

• OpenZeppelin plans enhanced support for the Polkadot builder community
• Decentralized funding protocol Polimec joins forces with KILT and Deloitte
• Mythical and Astar delivered positive updates on their future growth scope

Polkadot tech brings efficiency to aviation

Vodafone’s blockchain lead David Palmer dropped the exciting news that sim cards linked to the Aventus chain will be inserted into cargo tracking pods used by airlines. Up to 10% of these pods go missing, costing the aviation industry $400m annually. Building on Aventus’ existing relationship with Heathrow Airport, the solution will radically improve the ability to track these cargo pods, bringing massive efficiencies to the sector. Vodafone also plans to be a Polkadot validator.

Palmer said: “We’re using a live IoT network to have secure, encrypted devices at either end. I’m delighted to be able to announce that partnership and the intention to move forwards. It’s the first of many use cases we’ll provide that link real-world devices to the blockchain. I’m also excited to announce our relationship with Polkadot, and want to bring more mobile operators to Polkadot.”

OpenZeppelin plans Polkadot builder support

Meanwhile, OpenZeppelin, the leading blockchain security company, announced it would soon open discussions with the Polkadot community on ambitious proposals to facilitate blockspace access.

Galo Tocagni, VP of security services, said: “The future economy is multichain, and Polkadot is best positioned to realize this future. We’ve been engaging with Polkadot for a long time and earlier this year we carried out a security review for ink! [Polkadot’s native smart contract language].

“Now we want to build a parachain runtime library to provide faster access to Polkadot’s blockspace in a secure way. We see it as a long-term relationship between the Polkadot community and OpenZeppelin.”

He said OpenZeppelin, used in 99% of the leading 100 DeFi protocols, would leverage its expertise developed over many years building standard libraries for EVM compatible chains, and will look to build out a dedicated team providing full-time support to Polkadot ecosystem projects.

Polimec uses KILT tech in Deloitte partnership

Polkadot parachain KILT, and the world’s biggest accounting firm Deloitte, are partnering with Polimec, a new ecosystem team, to issue reusable KYC (Know Your Customer) credentials, enabling access to global fundraising of digital assets.

The credentials provide an additional level of security and data privacy. Users share their KYC documentation exclusively with Deloitte, which is trusted by the largest multinational enterprises and governments. Deloitte KYC credentials offer a more efficient and secure alternative to traditional KYC methods.

Kasper Mai Jørgensen, co-founder of Polimec, said: "The power of the Polkadot blockchain means we can make the best product possible and ensure it’s regulatory compliant and very easy for the end user. It’s Web3-native and people are still in control of their destiny.”

Mythical woos devs, Astar eyes gaming future

Mythical Games founder John Linden, whose company is moving its chain to Polkadot, gave an energetic talk, including demonstrations of metaverse-style games. He said: “We’re very excited to join the Polkadot ecosystem. We really want to have a full DAO behind us and get a lot of developers into the community. We are the third biggest chain in the world in terms of digital assets, we’re constantly growing and we’re bringing all of that over to Polkadot!”

Astar founder Sota Watanabe joined the conference virtually from Japan, where 24 hours earlier he had announced the electronics giant Sony was investing $3.5 million in Startale Labs, his network’s chief developer. He told the Decoded audience: “This investment will be a game-changer. We’ve already started conversations with them to make products together, including an acceleration program for gaming. We would like to help gaming companies grow on Astar.”`

Polkadot Decoded convened builders, developers, and Web3 enthusiasts. More than 100 speakers presented across four stages over the two days, and many people caught the updates remotely at one of 40 official viewing parties around the world, hosted by Polkadot ambassadors. The conference closed with a party hosted by Beatport, the electronic music brand, which is launching a music NFT marketplace on Polkadot.

The next major Polkadot conference will be Sub0, coming to Lisbon, September 19 to 20.

About Polkadot
Polkadot is the #1 blockspace ecosystem for boundless innovation. It enables Web3’s biggest innovators to get their ideas to market fast, with predictable costs and the industry's most flexible token options. By making blockchain technology secure, composable, flexible, efficient, and cost effective, Polkadot is powering the movement for a better web.