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
   

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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
   

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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
   

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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
   

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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.
   

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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
   

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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.
   

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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
   

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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
   

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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
    

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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).
    

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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).
    

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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.
    

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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.
    

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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.
    

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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!
    

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17. Thank you!
    In case of additional questions, please email me at klivit@iti.gr
    

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