Securing Refugee Identity: A Literature Review on Blockchain-based Smart Contract

Identity documentation for refugees is a complex process and crucial for host nations. A secured identity management system ensures both security and the efficient provision of services for the host nation and the donor organizations. Realizing the benefits, a handful of studies enriched the blockchain-based security identification for refugees. The research studies presented the introductory, conceptual, and practical solution related to the blockchain-based smart contract. There is a common agreement in the studies that blockchain-based smart contract not only streamlines refugee identity verification but also safeguards against unauthorized entries. Since it is a technology as well, it has been essential to know the present status of the technology in the social context. In such a situation it becomes essential to review the existing research studies to provide insight for future studies. In this study, we reviewed current studies using a thematic approach. Our findings suggest researchers are more inclined to provide conceptual models as the models are important in advancing technology; however, the models need to be implemented for practical advances. However, the main contribution of this study is that this study gathers current efforts in smart contract-based refugee identity management. This study is important for the refugee host nations as well as for stakeholders. Knowledge gained from the study is expected to provide insight into how the technology can be developed using existing theory and implementation frameworks

Blockchain-based Micro-credentials: Design, Implementation, Evaluation and Adoption

This study examines a blockchain-based micro- credential system implementation with a particular focus on understanding user perceptions. While blockchain technology has become increasingly popular, its applications extend far beyond finance and cryptocurrency. In particular, blockchain enables the generation and management of verifiable digital certificates which possess several system-level advantages when compared to current solutions. Still, does the utilisation of blockchain add value to the issuers and recipients of micro-credentials? Applying a design science approach, we design, implement and evaluate a blockchain-based micro- credential management system within a business school’s executive education unit. Qualitative evaluation reveals that such systems can decrease the overall cost and administrative workload. While issuers perceive the implementation as useful and low risk, the general knowledge regarding blockchain and its advantages, especially in the context of micro- credential management, is insufficient. We discuss this amongst other challenges that must be addressed before widespread adoption of blockchain-based micro-credentials can be achieved

A User-Centric Identity Management Framework based on the W3C Verifiable Credentials and the FIDO Universal Authentication Framework

We present a user-centric and decentralized digital identity system that allows anyone to easily benefit from an enriched digital identity made of multi-purpose and multi-origin attributes. It increases usability by the elimination of user passwords. It also makes this digital identity highly trustworthy both for the user (in terms of privacy and sovereignty) and the service provider who requires highly certified information about the user being enrolled to and/or authenticated on its services. We built our system based on the Universal Authentication Framework specified by the FIDO Alliance and the data model proposed by the W3C Verifiable Credentials WG. The whole system has been implemented in a banking scenario

Controlling Your Own Story Using a Digital Identity Solution: Creation Of Economic Identity for Financial Inclusion and Protection

An economic identity that we take for granted in many developed countries is often elusive for large segments of the population who are at risks or under political oppression. These segments are often physically located in geographical jurisdiction that are politically unstable and are not connected to conventional banking infrastructure and have little means to access or afford financial services that some of us take for granted. Therefore, in this research proposal, we posit that the starting point of activating one’s digital identity and the subsequent creation of an economy identity is the proper management of the elements of their life stories associated with their identity. We are thus interested in exploring the design principles underlying a digital identity solution (DIS) built on a decentralized blockchain that would bestow upon the individual the affordances to curate, manage, and formulate their life stories through the mechanisms of the narrative persuasion theory for an optimal economic identity

Blockchain Technology for Emergency Response

As unforeseen situations, emergencies threaten the environment, property, and people’s lives. Large emergencies are characterized by the demand for coordination of a variety of actors, such as civil defense or disaster relief. Communication and information exchange are crucial for coordination. Therefore, a solid, stable communication infrastructure is among the crucial factors for emergency response. New technologies that seem to ensure trustworthy communication must be evaluated constantly. Blockchain technology is widely applied in a broad variety of contexts and is commonly known for its decentralized and distributed governance. This is the motivation for the design and evaluation of a framework for the adoption of blockchain technology in the case of emergency response following a design science approach. Evaluation of the artifact using a specific evaluation framework clearly indicates the suitability of the case for application of blockchain technology

The Review of Non-Technical Assumptions in Digital Identity Architectures

The literature on digital identity management systems (IdM) is abundant and solutions vary by technology components and non-technical requirements. In the long run, however, there is a need for exchanging identities across domains or even borders, which requires interoperable solutions and flexible architectures. This article aims to give an overview of the current research on digital identity management. We conduct a systematic literature review of digital identity solution architectures and extract their inherent non-technical assumptions. The findings show that solution designs can be based on organizational, business and trust assumptions as well as human-user assumptions. Namely, establishing the trust relationships and collaborations among participating organizations; human-users capability for maintaining private cryptographic material or the assumptions that win-win business models could be easily identified. By reviewing the key findings of solutions proposed and looking at the differences and commonalities of their technical, organizational and social requirements, we discuss their potential real-life inhibitors and identify opportunities for future research in IdM