Health Minister Jens Spahn recently awarded the contract for the development of a vaccination record.
The technology for this is a global joint effort.
Münsing
- Iota: This is the name of the letter I in the Greek alphabet.
But that is not the reason why there is so much talk about it these days.
Because Iota is also the name of the technology that should enable the new, nationwide vaccination certificate.
The large company IBM and the small start-up Ubirch from Cologne are using Iota to implement the document for millions of Germans within the next few weeks.
Part of the development: Hans-Peter Huber (31) from Holzhausen.
“It's incredibly exciting to be there,” he says.
Now, as a layperson, you might think that behind Iota there is a company that Huber is employed by.
The opposite is the case, Iota is an open source project.
That means: Anyone around the world can participate if they want and if they have the appropriate expertise.
"It works in a similar way to Wikipedia," says the Holzhauser.
He is an industrial engineer himself and has already developed various apps.
The exchange between the employees takes place via a platform called "Discord", where they can chat together or share codes.
Nobody makes money with it.
It's about idealism in the digital age.
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Hans-Peter Huber is an industrial engineer, app developer and musician.
© private
Iota actually refers to a new generation of cryptocurrency that does not incur any transaction costs.
But the results can be used universally, after all: data is data.
The founder of the Iota Foundation is the South Tyrolean Dominik Schiener, whom Huber got to know more or less personally during a few "calls".
The Iota project has a legendary reputation in the scene.
"It is considered to be one of the very big software projects of mankind in the 21st century." He himself came across Iota because he wanted to distribute his Bayernpass - a flat-rate card for Bavarian local transport and Bavarian museums.
Above all, he was interested in processing payments for tourists, abroad with crypto currencies one is already much further than in Germany.
That worked.
And by the way, Hans-Peter Huber found himself in the middle of a digital human project.
Also read: Hans-Peter Huber, inventor of the Bayernpass
The Münsinger is completely convinced of the vaccination certificate developed with Iota, especially because it meets all data protection requirements.
“The data is stored locally,” he says.
Iota could also play a major role in the future when it comes to health, for example in setting up a health app in which every citizen collects all data - from blood group to broken leg - and can share it with the treating doctor.
"We are still a long way from the end."
For Huber personally, the Iota project could be worthwhile if at the Oktoberfest - whenever the next one takes place - a tourist from distant countries pulls out the Bayern pass and of course pays for a mass or a large pretzel with it.
Distant future?
Not at all.
Iota makes it possible.
