The concept of self-validating data to sustain trustworthy internet and key emerging requirements

Slides presented at the second ONTOCHAIN Summit for Trustworthy Internet by Kristina Livitckaia, R&D Project Manager, Postdoc Research Associate - Information Technologies Institute (ITI) at the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH) - EU Blockchain Observatory & Forum

Transcript

1. The concept of self-validating data to sustain trustworthy internet and key emerging requirements Kristina Livitckaia R&D Project Manager, Postdoc Research Associate - Information Technologies Institute (ITI) at the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH) - EU Blockchain Observatory & Forum June 22th, 2023
2. Agenda • Trustworthy internet in a nutshell • Implementations: differences & similarities • What we are missing • Key aspects of the future trustworthy internet • The concept of the self-validating data • Emerging requirements: scalability, replicability, exploitability
3. Trustworthy internet in a nutshell • The concept of a trustworthy internet (TI) revolves around ensuring the reliability, security, and integrity of online/digital activities, data, and interactions. • Trustworthy internet encompasses various aspects that are crucial for building trust among users, organisations, and other stakeholders in the digital realm. Trustworthy Internet Data security Privacy protection Trust and reliability Data Integrity and Authenticity Ethical and Responsible Use of Technology Collaboration and Multi- Stakeholder Engagement
4. Trustworthy internet: data security & privacy Privacy Protection Maintaining privacy is essential in a trustworthy internet. • Involves respecting rights to control individuals' data, ensuring transparency about data collection and usage, and implementing privacy-preserving and -enhancing technologies and practices Data Security A trustworthy internet is safeguarding data from unauthorised access, breaches, and manipulation. • Involves implementing robust security measures such as encryption, access controls, and authentication mechanisms to protect sensitive information
5. Trustworthy internet: trust, reliability, and data integrity Data Integrity and Authenticity Ensuring data integrity and authenticity is crucial for a trustworthy internet. • Involves verifying the accuracy, reliability, and origin of data, preventing tampering, and providing mechanisms for data validation and verification Trust and Reliability Building trust is a fundamental aspect of a trustworthy internet. • Involves establishing credibility, accountability, and transparency in online transactions, services, and interactions.
6. Trustworthy internet: ethics & collaboration Collaboration and Multi-Stakeholder Engagement Building a trustworthy internet requires collaboration among numerous stakeholders, including governments, companies, technology providers, and regular users. • Involves in-depth understanding of the business aspects and added value of each use case/domain application Ethical and Responsible Use of Technology A trustworthy internet shall promote ethical and responsible use of technology. • Involves adhering to principles such as fairness, non-discrimination, accountability, and respecting legal and ethical frameworks while developing and deploying digital services and technologies
7. Implementations: differences • Implementation Approach While all projects utilise distributed ledger technology (DLT) or blockchain to some extent, they often have different architectural designs, consensus mechanisms, and implementation approaches. Yet, the approaches are often following the trends (e.g., smart contracts, etc). • Business Use Case Each project addresses different domains and use cases (diversity aspect). For example, TrussiHealth focuses on decentralised health information exchange, ReCheck – on digital building logbooks, ECOS – on energy community operating systems, and DEFEV – on distributed ledger technology for electric vehicle charging.
8. Implementations: similarities • User Control and Self-Sovereignty The projects recognise the importance of entities ownership and user control and self-sovereignty over data, empowering users to manage, share, and control their own information, ensuring privacy and giving individuals ownership of their data. • Data Integrity and Provenance All projects emphasise the importance of data integrity and provenance and aim to utilise blockchain or DLT to ensure the immutability and traceability of data, preventing unauthorised modifications and providing verifiable records. • Trustworthy Internet Most of the projects share a common goal of contributing to a trustworthy internet, aiming to address concerns related to data integrity, authenticity, privacy, security, and trust within their respective domains. • Decentralisation and Transparency The projects embrace the principles of decentralisation and transparency. By leveraging blockchain or DLT, they enable peer-to-peer interactions, eliminate the need for intermediaries, and provide transparent access to data. Trustworthy Internet Decentralisation and Transparency Data Integrity and Provenance User Control and Self-Sovereignty
9. Trustworthy internet: what we are missing • … a broader concept that can be applied to various domains and use cases based on a set of core requirements (e.g., privacy, stakeholders, etc.) • … operational protocols that enhance transparency, fairness, and trust in data exchange across various domains and industries. • … self-validation and integrity verification of data, regardless of the specific implementation details • ... off-chain data storage to increase data ownership and management
10. Key aspects of the future trustworthy internet • PharmaLedger (IMI) project experience: five major aspects affecting blockchain platforms in a pyramid structure. The slide is prepared with Sinica Alboaie, Axiologic Research, under collaboration with PharmaLedger Association (successor of PharmaLedger project). Self-validating data concept originates here
11. The concept of self-validating data • SVD introduces operational protocols in decentralised communication, adding a layer of transparency and fairness to collaboration and data exchange. • SVD is a concept that integrates cutting-edge DLT technologies and cryptographic algorithms, to establish trust and transparency in data exchange. • SVD acts as an optional layer augmenting the fundamental Data Sharing Unit (DSU) concept (off- chain). The slide is prepared with Sinica Alboaie, Axiologic Research, under collaboration with PharmaLedger Association (successor of PharmaLedger project).
12. Key aspects of the future trustworthy internet: PharmaLedger experience summary The slide is prepared with Sinica Alboaie, Axiologic Research, under collaboration with PharmaLedger Association (successor of PharmaLedger project).
13. Emerging requirements: scalability • ... the ability of internet systems, platforms, and services to handle increased demands and growing user bases without compromising performance or functionality. • Scalability is essential to accommodate the expanding volume of data and users while maintaining the required levels of security, reliability, and responsiveness. • Essential to consider: design of robust architectures, infrastructure, and protocols that can efficiently handle increasing workloads and traffic without compromising the overall integrity and trustworthiness of the system.
14. Emerging requirements: replicability • … ability to reproduce and replicate internet systems, services, and processes across different environments or instances while maintaining consistency and trustworthiness. • Replicability plays a crucial role in ensuring that security measures, privacy protections, and trust mechanisms are effectively implemented and maintained across multiple instances or deployments. • Essential to consider: defining and enforcing standardised practices, protocols, and configurations to replicate the desired levels of security, privacy, and trust in different contexts or settings.
15. Emerging requirements: exploitability • … refers to the potential vulnerabilities or weaknesses that can be targeted by malicious actors (cybersecurity). • Minimizing exploitability is essential to protect against security breaches, data breaches, and other forms of cyber threats. • Essential to consider: implementation of robust security measures, staying updated with the latest security practices and patches, conducting regular vulnerability assessments, and adhering to best practices for secure coding, network security, and access controls.
16. Announcement EUBOF Decentralised social media report • We aim to assess public awareness, familiarity, experience and potential use regarding federated (or fediverse) social networks. The results of the survey will be analysed and disseminated via a thematic report. • Regardless if you have heard of it or have any experience, we ask you to support our study and participate (it takes a few minutes - super fast). Fully anonymous. • EUSurvey link: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/7979110b-0a7d- 75a3-b12c-2272148e0453 THANK YOU!
17. Thank you! In case of additional questions, please email me at klivit@iti.gr