A Blueprint for a Blockchain-Based Architecture to Power a Distributed Network of Tamper-Evident Learning Trace Repositories

The need to ensure privacy and data protection in educational contexts is driving a shift towards new ways of securing and managing learning records. Although there are platforms available to store educational activity traces outside of a central repository, no solution currently guarantees that these traces are authentic when they are retrieved for review. This paper presents a blueprint for an architecture that employs blockchain technology to sign and validate learning traces, allowing them to be stored in a distributed network of repositories without diminishing their authenticity. Our proposal puts participants in online learning activities at the center of the design process, granting them the option to store learning traces in a location of their choice. Using smart contracts, stakeholders can retrieve the data, securely share it with third parties and ensure it has not been tampered with, providing a more transparent and reliable source for learning analytics. Nonetheless, a preliminary evaluation found that only 56% of teachers surveyed considered tamper-evident storage a useful feature of a learning trace repository. These results motivate further examination with other end users, such as learning analytics researchers, who may have stricter expectations of authenticity for data used in their practice

ISSUES, CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN BLOCKCHAIN-BASED EDUCATIONAL PARADIGMS: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW PROTOCOL

Blockchain is a new technology that provides services of immutability, trust, disintermediation, collaboration, transparency. Nowadays, the use of this new technology is mostly used for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but apart from this, blockchain technology improved the performance level of other areas of life i.e. Higher Education Institution (HEI) and stakeholders, certificate verification, and many other domains. Students and educational institutions' important data are mostly shared via different networks. The data integrity, privacy, and security are the major issues for these in blockchain technology which cannot be avoided. This paper is a documented plan for to conduct or a protocol based on which a systematic literature review would be conducted focusing on the issues, challenges, and major strengths of blockchain and its educational paradigms. The result of this review will be highly helpful for the new researchers to overcome the proposed issues and challenges, exploring educational paradigms in Blockchain, elaborate the major strengths helping the educational institutes in adapting process and increase the level of satisfaction. This study plans to explore some educational types with some issues and challenges such as scalability, immutability, and easy adaptation

SkillCheck: An Incentive-based Certification System using Blockchains

Skill verification is a central problem in workforce hiring. Companies and academia often face the difficulty of ascertaining the skills of an applicant since the certifications of the skills claimed by a candidate are generally not immediately verifiable and costly to test. Blockchains have been proposed in the literature for skill verification and tamper-proof information storage in a decentralized manner. However, most of these approaches deal with storing the certificates issued by traditional universities on the blockchain. Among the few techniques that consider the certification procedure itself, questions like (a) scalability with limited staff, (b) uniformity of grades over multiple evaluators, or (c) honest effort extraction from the evaluators are usually not addressed. We propose a blockchain-based platform named SkillCheck, which considers the questions above, and ensure several desirable properties. The platform incentivizes effort in grading via payments with tokens which it generates from the payments of the users of the platform, e.g., the recruiters and test-takers. We provide a detailed description of the design of the platform along with the provable properties of the algorithm.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

A patient agent controlled customized blockchain based framework for internet of things

Although Blockchain implementations have emerged as revolutionary technologies for various industrial applications including cryptocurrencies, they have not been widely deployed to store data streaming from sensors to remote servers in architectures known as Internet of Things. New Blockchain for the Internet of Things models promise secure solutions for eHealth, smart cities, and other applications. These models pave the way for continuous monitoring of patient’s physiological signs with wearable sensors to augment traditional medical practice without recourse to storing data with a trusted authority. However, existing Blockchain algorithms cannot accommodate the huge volumes, security, and privacy requirements of health data. In this thesis, our first contribution is an End-to-End secure eHealth architecture that introduces an intelligent Patient Centric Agent. The Patient Centric Agent executing on dedicated hardware manages the storage and access of streams of sensors generated health data, into a customized Blockchain and other less secure repositories. As IoT devices cannot host Blockchain technology due to their limited memory, power, and computational resources, the Patient Centric Agent coordinates and communicates with a private customized Blockchain on behalf of the wearable devices. While the adoption of a Patient Centric Agent offers solutions for addressing continuous monitoring of patients’ health, dealing with storage, data privacy and network security issues, the architecture is vulnerable to Denial of Services(DoS) and single point of failure attacks. To address this issue, we advance a second contribution; a decentralised eHealth system in which the Patient Centric Agent is replicated at three levels: Sensing Layer, NEAR Processing Layer and FAR Processing Layer. The functionalities of the Patient Centric Agent are customized to manage the tasks of the three levels. Simulations confirm protection of the architecture against DoS attacks. Few patients require all their health data to be stored in Blockchain repositories but instead need to select an appropriate storage medium for each chunk of data by matching their personal needs and preferences with features of candidate storage mediums. Motivated by this context, we advance third contribution; a recommendation model for health data storage that can accommodate patient preferences and make storage decisions rapidly, in real-time, even with streamed data. The mapping between health data features and characteristics of each repository is learned using machine learning. The Blockchain’s capacity to make transactions and store records without central oversight enables its application for IoT networks outside health such as underwater IoT networks where the unattended nature of the nodes threatens their security and privacy. However, underwater IoT differs from ground IoT as acoustics signals are the communication media leading to high propagation delays, high error rates exacerbated by turbulent water currents. Our fourth contribution is a customized Blockchain leveraged framework with the model of Patient-Centric Agent renamed as Smart Agent for securely monitoring underwater IoT. Finally, the smart Agent has been investigated in developing an IoT smart home or cities monitoring framework. The key algorithms underpinning to each contribution have been implemented and analysed using simulators.Doctor of Philosoph

Privacidad, seguridad y legalidad en soluciones educativas basadas en Blockchain: Una Revisión Sistemática de la Literatura

Learning Analytics processes student data, even for students under 18. The analytical cycle consists of collecting data, storing it for long periods and using it for analysis and visualization. The more data, the better the analysis. This analysis can be descriptive, predictive and, even, prescriptive, which involves the management, processing and use of personal data. The educational context is, thus, very sensitive, unlike individual contexts where analysis is used at will. It is not clear how student data are being used by technology companies serving education and who is actually benefiting, how this will affect students in the short and long-term future, or what level of privacy or security is applied to protect student data. Therefore, and in relation to the above, analyzing educational data implies a sensitive and fragile context in the management and analysis of personal data of students, including minors, in which precautions must be maximized. This systematic review of the literature explores the importance of personal data protection and security in the field of education through the emerging promises of those interested in using blockchain technology. The results show that it is important to understand the implications and risks derived from the use of emerging technologies in education, their relationship with society and the current legislation.La Analítica del Aprendizaje (proveniente del término en inglés Learning Analytics) procesa los datos de los estudiantes, incluso los estudiantes menores de edad. El ciclo analítico consiste en recoger datos, almacenarlos durante largos períodos y utilizarlos para realizar análisis y visualizaciones. A mayor cantidad de datos, mejores resultados en el análisis. Este análisis puede ser descriptivo, predictivo e, incluso, prescriptivo, lo que implica la gestión, el tratamiento y la utilización de datos personales. El contexto educativo es, por lo tanto, muy sensible, a diferencia de los contextos individuales en los que el análisis se utiliza a voluntad. No está claro cómo están utilizando los datos de los estudiantes las empresas de tecnología que dan servicio en educación y a quiénes realmente se les beneficia, cómo esto afectará a los estudiantes en un futuro a corto y largo plazo, o qué nivel de privacidad o seguridad se aplica para proteger los datos de los estudiantes. Por consiguiente, y en relación con lo expuesto, el análisis de datos educativos implica un contexto sensible y de fragilidad en la gestión y análisis de datos personales de los estudiantes, incluidos menores, en el que hay que maximizar las precauciones. En esta revisión sistemática de la literatura se explora la importancia de la protección y seguridad de los datos personales en el campo de la educación mediante las promesas emergentes de los interesados en usar la tecnología blockchain. Los resultados denotan que es importante entender las implicaciones y riesgos derivados de usar tecnologías emergentes en educación, su relación con la sociedad y la legalidad vigente

Knowledge-mapping of blockchain technology applications for a banking institution

Abstract : Blockchain technology is a relatively new technology which provides many opportunities for knowledge-mapping. Blockchain technology is best described as a decentralised ledger system that stores information about transactions and uses digital currencies such as Bitcoin. The best possible utilisation of a new technology usually depends on how quickly people can develop and apply new knowledge of the technology. Knowledge is a key component to leverage the most useful features of any new technology. Moreover, it is crucial to know how to avoid the pitfalls of a new technology in order to develop solutions. This study’s unit of analysis is knowledge of blockchain technology, that is, the knowledge possessed by people operating in the banking industry. The banking industry is sternly regulated in all jurisdictions and employee know-how is a valuable resource. The recent wide dissemination of blockchain technology, the popularity of cryptocurrencies, and the Initial Coin Offering have contributed to the fact that financial institutions’ management underline the vast potential of blockchain technology in the financial industry. For example, large banks are conducting tests of decentralised asset technology and implementing decentralised ledger systems in business processes. Banks are investing in projects and start-ups that are developing blockchain-based solutions. Therefore, bank employees with know-how and prior experience with blockchain are essential to create blockchain solutions. The objective of this study is to map the existing know-how and identify knowledge gaps of blockchain technology know-how and its possible application in a South African Banking Institution (SABI). This is done through an analysis of knowledge of how the utilisation of blockchain technology changes the existing operations models of financial institutions. The research methodology consists of an inductive knowledge-mapping strategy and mixed-method approach. The quantitative data collection method involved gathering data via an online questionnaire sent to a purposive sample, namely, SABI’s clients, investors, experts, and individuals with the common denominator: Blockchain technology knowledge interest who had attended the Blockchain Africa Conference. The qualitative data collection method was an interview with individuals who had a specific technical knowledge of blockchain technology, with the common denominator: SABI blockchain knowledge group. iv The data analysis was sequential; the quantitative data analysis was followed by qualitative data analysis. The findings identify categories of knowledge that are needed to inform and build new blockchain technology-based operations models. Knowledge gaps were identified in the SABI. Based on the findings, the study conceptualises a knowledge map and develops a theory, namely: If the blockchain knowledge maps of financial institutions integrate knowledge across their Core Banking Application pillars, then the financial services industry will create an Internet of Value-Exchange advantage for everyone on the network. Further study is required in order to test this theory. A key recommendation is to perform knowledge-mapping of the Core Banking Application pillars as the next step of SABI’s knowledge maturity of blockchain technology. In conclusion, knowledge maturity of blockchain technology is essential to create an Internet of Value-Exchange advantage for everyone within the network. The mapping of knowledge provides a measurement of knowledge maturity. Blockchain technology provides many opportunities for knowledge-mapping.M.Phil. (Information Management

Analysing the Design and Qualities of Blockchain-based Systems

Blockchain-based systems must be reliable and have high integrity because they are used for recording economically-critical and safety-critical data. Incorrect data recorded on a blockchain, from either faulty external components or inaccurate input data, can undermine the integrity or reliability of the systems. The importance of reliability and integrity for blockchains is known, but approaches to assessing them in blockchain-based systems have not been previously investigated. In a blockchain-based system, the data recorded in the system must be accurate because it will be used to verify the correctness of external states. So, systems that rely on data are also impacted by its data quality. Nonetheless, the general relationship between system quality and data quality has not previously been conceptualised systematically in the software architecture literature. This thesis aims to improve our understanding of the design of blockchain-based systems, considering both system quality and data quality. We first report studies we have conducted on using architecture-level modelling based approaches to analyse the reliability of blockchain oracles. Our analysis shows that decentralised oracles have higher reliability than centralised oracles, and that data sources can affect system reliability. Our study demonstrates the feasibility of using architecture modelling and established techniques to model and analyse the reliability of off-chain components. We have also proposed and evaluated a series of schemes to model and analyse data integrity in blockchain-based systems. Blockchains using Nakamoto Consensus cause transactions to have a probability of being reversed or reordered. This leads to difficulties in modelling and analysing how blockchains affect the integrity of data in blockchain-based systems. We report on a study conducted using the design of a real-world system, and evaluate our proposed approach. The findings show how different types of integrity threats and their designed mitigations can be identified and analysed. Finally, motivated by the work on reliability and integrity, we propose a theoretical model of the general relationship between system quality and data quality in software systems. We link this to established views about the relationship between software architecture and system quality. The general nature of the relationship between system quality and data quality has not previously been examined. We use examples from the literature to establish the face validity of our model, and discuss its possible implications for research and practice

Development of a reference architecture for the design of tracking and tracing solutions in the supply chain using blockchain technology

Thesis (MEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2020.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This masters thesis involves the development of a design reference architecture for the use of blockchain technology in the supply chain. It aims to further the research on blockchains’ use and development, specifically with regards to tracking and tracing. Blockchain is a revolutionary new technology, capable of disrupting today’s supply chains. Originally envisioned for finance, the technology behind the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, blockchain can maintain an immutable, secure and trusted record of transactions between a network of individuals, who do not necessarily trust one other. This makes it highly applicable to supply chains as it can enable the secure sharing of information between different parties. Supply chains are facing problems due to a lack of information transparency and trust. Traditional supply chains contain a combination of paper-based processes and digital systems, where information is held up in ‘silos’. Lack of end-to-end process integration and information sharing, results in problems regarding tracking and tracing of products. Tracking and tracing is key to digital supply chains as changing consumer behaviour and market conditions demand higher supply chain visibility. Traditional methods are, however, slow, fragmented and ineffective. This makes it problematic to validate a products origin, location or specific characteristics. Blockchain has the potential to facilitate trust and enable end-to-end supply chain visibility. A lack of academic research has caused a paucity of knowledge on the use and implementation of blockchain in the supply chain. Supply chain companies do not understand blockchain, including the various aspects involved in its design. There are currently no identified frameworks, models or architectures that aid in supporting its use in supply chain applications. The main aim of this project is to construct a reference architecture that can support the design of blockchain in the supply chain. Reference architectures define recommended practices and guidelines, that are used as a frame of reference to improve the quality, speed and cost of the information modelling process. Blockchain technology was investigated, its latest technological architectures were identified and its role in supply chain digitalization was defined. Aided by existing reference architectures, a methodology was formed for designing a blockchain reference architecture. The important blockchain design requirements were identified and extracted from blockchain frameworks, case studies and technical architectures. The design reference architecture, for the use of blockchain technology in the supply chain, was constructed. It contains the relevant design guidelines relating to strategy, feasibility, technology, supply chain and product sub-components. It serves as a guide that can be consulted by companies in order to aid decision making. A practical case study application in the FMCG foods supply chain, along with semi structured interviews with industry experts, tested the validity and practicality of the reference architecture. The results motivated that the architecture formalized a collection of knowledge, aiding in the understanding and effective decision making, of blockchain in the supply chain. The design reference architecture furthers knowledge on the application of blockchain technology in the supply chain, and provides a basis for future research and development.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie meesterstesis behels die ontwikkeling van ’n ontwerp-verwysingsargitektuur vir die gebruik van blokketting-tegnologie in die voorsieningsketting. Die projek se doelwit is om die navorsing en gebruik van blokketting-tegnologie in die voorsieningsketting te bevorder, met spesifieke klem op die naspeurbaarheid van produkte. Blokketting, ’n rewolusionêre nuwe tegnologie met die potentisiaal om die huidige voorsieningskettings te ontwrig, is oorspronklik ontwikkel vir finansiele toepassings, as die tegnologie waarop die Bitcoin kriptogeldeenheid gebaseer is. Blokketting het die vermoë om ’n onveranderlike, veilige en betroubare rekord van transaskies te behou, tussen ’n network van individue wat mekaar nie noodwendig hoef te vertrou nie. Dit beteken dat hierdie tegnologie die geleenthied skep vir volle naspeurbaarheid binne enige voorsieningsketting. Huidige voorsieningskettings ervaar probleme as gevolg van ’n gebrek aan inligtingsdeursigtigheid en vertroue. Tradisionele voorsieningskettings gebruik ’n kombinasie van papier-gebaseerde prosesse en digitale stelsels, wat veroorsaak dat inligting in ‘silos’ vasgehou word. Die gebrek aan gedeelde inligting, veroorsaak probleme met die naspeurbaarheid van produkte. Naspeurbaarheid is ’n belangrike komponent van digitale voorsieningskettings, aangesien dit die deursigtigheid van informasie kan verseker. Huidige naspeur metodes is stadig en ondoeltreffend. Dit bemoeilik dus die bevestiging van die oorsprong en kwalitiet van produkte. Blokketting het die vermoë om vertroue in sovel as deursigtighied van die voorsieningsketting te bewerkstellig. Daar is tans ’n gebrek aan akademiese navorsing rondom blokketting-tegnologie wat lei tot ’n gebrek aan kennis oor die gebruik en implementering daarvan in die voorsieningsketting. Daar is tans geen geïdentifiseerde raamwerke, modelle of argitekture, wat die gebruik daarvan in die voorsieningsketting ondersteun nie. Die hoofdoel van die projek is om ’n verwysingsargitektuur te bou wat die ontwerpproses van blokkettingstelsels kan ondersteun. Verwysingsargitekture bevat aanbevole praktyke en riglyne wat gebruik kan word as ’n verwysing om die gehalte, spoed en koste van ’n inligtingstesel ontwerp te verbeter. Die blokketting-tegnologie is nagevors, die nuutste tegnologiese argitekture is geïdentifiseer en die rol daarvan in voorsieningsketting-digitalisering is omskryf. Met behulp van bestaande verwysingsargitekture, is ’n metodologie ontwikkel om ’n blokketting verwysingsargitektuur te ontwerp. Die belangrike vereistes vir die ontwerp van ’n blokketting stelsel geïdentifiseer is vanuit navorsing oor huidige blokketting raamwerke, gevallestudies en tegniese argitekture. Die ontwerpversysingsargitektuur vir die gebruik van blokketting-tegnologie in die voorsieningsketting is gebou. Dit bevat relevante ontwerp riglyne met betrekking tot strategie, tegnologie, uitvoerbaarheid, voorsieningsketting en produk komponente. Dit dien as ’n gids wat deur ondernemings geraadpleeg kan word om besluitneming te ondersteun. ’n Praktiese gevallestudietoepassing in die voedselvoorsieningsketting, tesame met semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude met kundiges in die bedryf, het die geldigheid en praktiese toepassing van die verwysingsargitektuur getoets. Die resultate motiveer dat die argitektuur die nodige inligting bevat wat bydrae kan lewer tot beter begrip en doeltreffende besluitneming van blokketting-tegnologie in die voorsieningsketting. Hierdie ontwerpverwysingsargitektuur bevorder kennis oor die toepassing van blokketting-tegnologie in die voorsieningsketting, en bied ’n basis vir toekomstige navorsing en ontwikkeling.Master

The Authority of Distributed Consensus Systems Trust, Governance, and Normative Perspectives on Blockchains and Distributed Ledgers

The subjects of this dissertation are distributed consensus systems (DCS). These systems gained prominence with the implementation of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin. This work aims at understanding the drivers and motives behind the adoption of this class of technologies, and to – consequently – evaluate the social and normative implications of blockchains and distributed ledgers. To do so, a phenomenological account of the field of distributed consensus systems is offered, then the core claims for the adoption of systems are taken into consideration. Accordingly, the relevance of these technologies on trust and governance is examined. It will be argued that the effects on these two elements do not justify the adoption of distributed consensus systems satisfactorily. Against this backdrop, it will be held that blockchains and similar technologies are being adopted because they are regarded as having a valid claim to authority as specified by Max Weber, i.e., herrschaft. Consequently, it will be discussed whether current implementations fall – and to what extent – within the legitimate types of traditional, charismatic, and rational-legal authority. The conclusion is that the conceptualization developed by Weber does not capture the core ideas that appear to establish the belief in the legitimacy of distributed consensus systems. Therefore, this dissertation describes the herrschaft of systems such as blockchains by conceptualizing a computational extension of the pure type of rational-legal authority, qualified as algorithmic authority. The foundational elements of algorithmic authority are then discussed. Particular attention is focused on the idea of normativity cultivated in systems of algorithmic rules as well as the concept of decentralization. Practical suggestions conclude the following dissertation