The group, which also includes Bank of New York Mellon Corp, Foxconn Technology Group, security company Gemalto and blockchain startups Consensus Systems (ConsenSys), BitSE and Chronicled Inc said that they will collaborate to develop a shared blockchain protocol for the internet of things — the concept that everyday objects, from washing machines to shipping containers, will be connected to the internet and will be able to send and receive data.

While having more devices connected to the internet presents some advantages for consumers and businesses, it also increases the scope of devices which could be hacked.

Blockchain is a tamper-proof distributed record of transactions that is maintained by a network of computers on the internet and secured through advanced cryptography. Proponents of the nascent technology believe it could be used to provide additional security and better identity management features to internet of things applications.

"We are seeing tremendous potential for the application of blockchain in industrial use cases," said Dirk Slama, chief alliance officer at Bosch Software Innovations. "Being able to create a tamperproof history of how products are manufactured, moved and maintained in complex value networks with many stakeholders is a critical capability ..."

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