Designing a framework for digital KYC processes built on blockchain-based self-sovereign identity

Know your customer (KYC) processes place a great burden on banks, because they are costly, inefficient, and inconvenient for customers. While blockchain technology is often mentioned as a potential solution, it is not clear how to use the technology’s advantages without violating data protection regulations and customer privacy. We demonstrate how blockchain-based self-sovereign identity (SSI) can solve the challenges of KYC. We follow a rigorous design science research approach to create a framework that utilizes SSI in the KYC process, deriving nascent design principles that theorize on blockchain’s role for SSI

Harmonizing sensitive data exchange and double-spending prevention through blockchain and digital wallets: The case of e-prescription management

The digital transformation of the medical sector requires solutions that are convenient and efficient for all stakeholders while protecting patients’ sensitive data. One example that has already attracted design-oriented research are medical prescriptions. However, current implementations of electronic prescription management systems typically create centralized data silos, leaving user data vulnerable to cybersecurity incidents and impeding interoperability. Research has also proposed decentralized solutions based on blockchain technology, but privacy-related challenges have often been ignored. We conduct design science research to develop and implement a system for the exchange of electronic prescriptions that builds on two blockchains and a digital wallet app. Our solution combines the bilateral, verifiable, and privacy-focused exchange of information between doctors, patients, and pharmacies through verifiable credentials with a token-based, anonymized double-spending check. Our qualitative and quantitative evaluations as well as a security analysis suggest that this architecture can improve existing approaches to electronic prescription management by offering patients control over their data by design, a high level of security, sufficient performance and scalability, and interoperability with emerging digital identity management solutions for users, businesses, and institutions. We also derive principles on how to design decentralized, privacy-oriented information systems that require both the exchange of sensitive information and double-usage protection

Überprüfung der Machbarkeit eines offenen und dezentralen Mobilitätssystems (OMOS)

The customer requirements for mobility systems are changing. Travelers increasingly expect a carefree travel experience with any starting or destination point ("Seamless Mobility as a Service") - and that with a single booking and billing for all means of transport used. In order to meet this need, the idea of ​​an open and decentralized mobility system is increasingly being discussed, which can integrate the offers of various mobility providers through a common, neutral system. Before such a system can take a concrete form, however, a clear understanding of the opportunities and risks as well as the specific requirements of end customers and mobility providers on such a system is required. The aim of this study is to identify and evaluate the general opportunities and risks of a corresponding system, as well as the general feasibility of the requirements placed on such a system. A multi-method approach was chosen for this purpose. This makes it possible to examine a holistic picture of the requirements of end customers as well as mobility providers and other stakeholders (e.g. technology providers). Records from a workshop with the (associated) partners in the OMOS project and the results of a literature analysis were used as the basis for data collection. To examine the end customer needs, two surveys were carried out with a total of 352 participants, whose questions were derived from practical workshops (survey I) and theoretical models (survey II). In addition, an interview study was carried out with 15 experts to discuss the requirements of various stakeholders, on the basis of which general topics in the field of seamless mobility were also asked

Chancen und Herausforderungen von DLT (Blockchain) in Mobilität und Logistik

This basic report presents the economic potential e, the legal framework and the technical fundamentals of distributed ledger or blockchain technology necessary for understanding in order to exploit the opportunities and challenges of these technologies, especially in the mobility and logistics sector. clear. The basic report was prepared on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) by the blockchain laboratory of Fraunhofer FIT

Opportunities and Challenges of DLT (Blockchain) in Mobility and Logistics

This report presents the economic potential, legal framework, and technical foundations required to understand distributed ledger (DL) / blockchain technology and llustrates the opportunities and challenges they present, especially in the mobility and logistics sectors. It was compiled by the blockchain laboratory at Fraunhofer FIT on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI). Its intended audience comprises young companies seeking, for example, a legal assessment of data protection issues related to DL and blockchain technologies, decisionmakers in the private sector wishing concrete examples to help them understand how this technology can impact existing and emerging markets and which measures might be sensible from a business perspective, public policymakers and politicians wishing to familiarize themselves with this topic in order to take a position, particularly in the mobility and logistics sectors, and members of the general public interested in the technology and its potential. The report does not specifically address those with a purely academic or scientific interest in these topics, although parts of it definitely reflect the current state of academic discussion

A Structured Overview of Attacks on Blockchain Systems

Blockchain systems become increasingly attractive targets for cybercrime due to the rising amount of value transacted in respective systems. However, researchers and practitioners alike lack a comprehensive overview of existing attacks and a directive discussion of resulting implications. Employing a structured literature review, we an-alyze academic research concerning malicious attacks on blockchain systems. We ex-tract 87 relevant attacks and structure those using the attack tree notation. Our re-sults show that the academic discourse revolves mainly around the analysis of a few individual attacks, and most publications deal with attacks on either Bitcoin or Ethereum. We further find that most attacks target the on-chain application logic component (smart contracts) of the blockchain technology stack as well as consensus mechanisms. A majority of attacks are mitigable, and socio-technical components play an important role in both attacks and applying effective countermeasures

The Blockchain Effect: From Inter-Ecosystem to Intra-Ecosystem Competition

Blockchains enable distributed operation, decentralized control, and token-based representations of tangible and intangible assets. Organizations commonly use blockchain technology to foster collaboration. In this paper, we investigate the use of blockchain to foster competition. We conduct a single-case study of Germany’s mobility-as-a-service community and its efforts to use blockchain as a technical backbone for mobility ecosystems. The community views blockchain as a technology that embodies organizing principles of empowerment and equality. These principles motivated the community to rethink ecosystem structure. In particular, the community began to question the exclusive, non-adversarial position of mobility service aggregators. We find that rethinking this position might shift their competitive focus from the inter- to the intra-ecosystem level and enables the creation of a larger ecosystem. As a second-order effect, the community began to rethink ecosystem governance. Specifically, it began to explore options for effectively distributed decision making while safeguarding efficiency

Unchaining Social Businesses – Blockchain as the Basic Technology of a Crowdlending Platform

Social businesses are increasingly gaining relevance as alternatives to traditional businesses. Nonetheless, such organizations face specific problems. The emerging blockchain technology may represent an opportunity to solve several problems of social businesses and an alternative to established technologies. However, evidence about the potential of blockchain in social businesses is missing. We bridge this gap by designing, developing, and evaluating a blockchain-based crowdlending platform of a social business, following the design science research approach. The evaluation and comparison to a non-blockchain solution allows us to generate generalizable knowledge and derive implications for both research and practice. Our research shows that blockchain enables otherwise unsustainable social business models, mainly by replacing intermediaries and requires changes in software engineering practices. Further, our findings illustrate that blockchain raises challenges and uncertainties and opens promising avenues for further research