Proposal for COMET K1-Center ABC (Austrian Blockchain Center)

Transcription

1 Vienna, Prpsal fr COMET K1-Center ABC (Austrian Blckchain Center) Executive Summary The K1-Center ABC Austrian Blckchain Center - missin is t be the ne-stp-shp Austrian Research Center fr Blckchain (and related) technlgies t be applied in industrial applicatins like industry 4.0 / IT as well as financial, energy, lgistics, gvernment and administrative applicatins. Thse new applicatins and business mdels resulting frm cllabratins between established players, innvative startups and tp R&D institutes will be the key fr the creatin f new jbs and establishing Austria amng the tp ten innvative cuntries in Eurpe. The R&D themes f the center have been rganized in 5 Areas targeting ecnmic, technlgical, applicatins as well as plitical and legal tpics interfacing with existing COMET centers like CDP, SBA as well as internatinal Blckchain initiatives. Area 1 addresses the technical and theretical fundatins f distributed ledger technlgy. As we have seen in the past, understanding the mathematics and cryptgraphy is imprtant as these are the fundatins fr cnsensus building, which is again the very fundatin f DLT. The area will als address technical aspects f different types f Blckchains and Nn- Blckchains, Smart Cntracts and transparency n the Blckchain. Blckchain & similar distributed ledger technlgy (DLT) has the ptential t fundamentally disrupt the current ecnmic system by enabling the replacement f intermediaries by trust less peer-t-peer systems fr value exchange. Area 2 addresses the ecnmic ptentials and prblems f this new paradigm. The area will study ecnmic questins that arise in any peer-t-peer system and investigate DLT based decentralized business mdels in specific applicatin dmains. Area 3 fcuses n the technlgical aspects f Blckchains in Industry 4.0 and the Internet f Things. The cnvergence f Blckchain with emerging technlgies in thse fields such as semantic database slutins, machine learning, clud manufacturing, 3D printing and machine-t-machine will be at the centre f the activities. Understanding sci-ecnmic and technical questins that arise in blckchain-based systems requires nvel data-driven methds, services and tls. The gal f Area 4 is t investigate, and develp scalable data science methds, tls and services that cntribute t a better understanding f the structure and dynamics f blckchain-based ecsystems and envirnments. A central utcme will be a hrizntally scalable platfrm that can be used by researchers and practitiners t answer scientific r business-related questins. This area will als have a strng interdisciplinary and cmmunity-riented and fcus and invlve data 1

2 scientists, practitiners frm the startup cmmunity, as well as scientists with varius backgrunds within and utside the ABC initiative. Frm an rganizatinal perspective, this area culd be rganized hrizntally t ther areas. As a cmpletely new technlgical cncept, DLT als raises demanding legal questins thrughut all fields n a natinal and internatinal level. Area 5 aims t address legal questins arising under current legislatin including matters f private, public and tax law, tries t address cncepts and suggestins fr future legal framewrks and starts t analyse further plitical implicatins. 2

3 Research Areas and Prjects Overall Scientific Lead: Prf. Taudes, Institut für Kryptöknmie, WU Wien Area 1: Cryptgraphy, Technlgy & Security Lead: Dr. Weippl, SBA Research Partner: Prf. Rinderle-Ma, Uni Wien Prf. Klas, Uni Wien Prf. Maffei, TU-Wien Prf. Pietrzak, IST Austria Area 2: Cryptecnmic Mdelling & Blckchain Applicatins fr Business Lead: Dr. Shermin Vshmgir, Institut für Kryptöknmie, WU Wien Partner: Prf. Dr. Jchen Michaelis, Uni Kassel Cryptgraphy, Mathematics Game thery fr Blckchains Types f DLTs Blckchains Nn-blck Blckchains Upcming/new types (e.g. IOTA) Prtcls, Algrithms (Machine Cnsensus) Efficiency, envirnmental aspects (viz. Prf f wrk ) Byzantine Fault Tlerance Tls/Framewrks fr Develpment Blckchain Cde Smart Cntracts and beynd Distributed Apps Security General aspects Security Privacy vs. Transparency Security f Smart cntracts IT-Security Quantum Cryptgraphy Risks, Chances? Ecnmic fundatins f DLT enabled business mdels Cnsensus Mechanism design Identity and Reputatin Systems Applicatin tken design Distributed applicatin tken design Gvernance and DAO Mnetary aspects f DLT Pricing thery fr digital assets Mnetary thery and cryptcurrencies DLT and sustainability in ecnmic systems Sustainability incentive design Emissins pricing and trading DLT and finance Peer-t-peer banking and insurance ICOs Trade finance DLTs in financial supply chains DLT, innvatin and business prcess design 3

4 BPM and DLT Nvel BPM and gvernance structures in egvernment, Knwledge Management and Supply Chain Management Area 3: Emerging Industries & Blckchains in Manufacturing Lead: FH-Prf. DI Dr. techn. Fidler, Dr. Mser / FH St. Pölten Partner: Univ. Prf. Dr. Bleicher, Dipl.-Ing. Mörzinger, Dipl.-Ing. Raschendrfer / TU Wien DI(FH) Helmut Libl / FOTEC Univ. Prf. Sulla Luca, BA, MSc, PhD / University f Nicsia Prf. Dr. Hrst Treiblmaier / MODUL University Vienna Area 4: Data Science Methds fr Blckchain Analytics & Predictins Lead: Dr. Haslhfer, AIT M. Tarasiewicz, RIAT Partner: Prf. Böhme, Uni Innsbruck Database Aspects/Single surce f truth: Integratin f different Blckchain-based database slutins Quality dcumentatin Asset sharing Digital Prduct Memry / Verificatin f spare parts Distributed manufacturing Supply chain tracking Semantic Analytics in Blckchain-based database slutins and their implicatins in relatinal database systems & ntlgy-based data access applicatins. Technlgical Aspects in Industry 4.0 & IT: 3D Printing & Smart Cntracts M2M Business Scenaris & Machine Learning Blckchain/DAG-based Internet f Things Blckchain-based traceability Blckchain-based cntent distributin Data sharing/ Decentralized Data market Clud Manufacturing (Data Based) Decisin Supprt Visualizatin f large Blckchain data & relatinships Applicability f BC/DLT/DAG in emerging industrial applicatins Prcess ptimizatin using Blckchain-based technlgy Blckchain Analytics Platfrm Smart Cntract Analytics and ICO Tracking Market Understanding & Predictins Empirical Analysis f Off-Chain Transactin Technlgies Centralizatin tendencies in distributed ledgers Blckchain Mnitring fr Gvernance and Sustainable Chain Quality Area 5: Legal and Plitical Implicatins Lead: Prf. Kalss, WU-Wien Legal aspects f the use f DLT Private, public and tax law Internatinal and natinal legislatin Gvernance and Smart Cntracts Changes t the current cntract paradigm as a 4

5 Partner: Prf. Winner, WU Wien Prf. Eberhard, WU Wien Prf. Owens, WU Wien Prf. Frgó, Uni Wien Prf. Wendehrst, Uni Wien Prf. Blcher, Uni Kassel result f DLT cntracts Executin f cntracts, incmplete cntracts and judicial awards Self-regulatry cdes f cnduct Legal aspects f DAOs DLT and investment ICO/ITO and capital markets Regulatry law Cmpany law Cdes f cnduct and enfrcement Infrmatin Privacy and Infrmatin Security Right f data prtectin, prtectin f privacy and the Blckchain GDPR General Data Prtectin Regulatin Enfrceability f data prtectin rights (e.g. the Right t be frgtten ) within Blckchain systems Cmprmised Blckchains Smart regulatin Tax law Plitics Digital tax transfrmatin Incme tax, crprate tax and VAT implicatins Plitical implicatins f future legal framewrks Cryptsystems fr plitical and gvernmental prcesses 5

6 Area and Prject Descriptin Overall Scientific Lead: Prf. Taudes, WU Wien Area 1: Cryptgraphy, Technlgy & Security Lead: Dr. Weippl, SBA Research Area 1 addresses the technical and theretical fundatins f distributed ledger technlgy. As we have seen in the past, understanding the mathematics and cryptgraphy is imprtant as these are the fundatins fr cnsensus building, which is again the very fundatin f distributed ledger technlgy. Game thery can explain the prbabilistic guarantees f the Nakmt cnsensus that slves (a specific case f) a previusly unslvable prblem f Byzantine Fault Tlerance. Research in the last years, hwever, has revealed new pwerful attacks n this cnsensus mdel such as Selfish Mining and Stubbrn Mining. This fundatins area is imprtant t really understand the intricacies f this technlgy. While cmpanies and many crypt-market experts see the dawn f a new sciety, glbalscale attacks can bring dwn such as a system within minutes and we have seen spectacular hacks in the past that were technically nt sphisticated at all. Tpics that we plan t address are cmparing different types f Blckchains and nn- Blckchains including upcming cncepts such as IOTA. In additin, efficiency, scalability and envirnmental aspects (i.e. pwer and resurce requirements) f prtcls is anther imprtant tpic. In the cntext f Smart Cntracts we will als explre distributed apps including API ptins, call t external systems, and pssible malicius behaviur f bth apps and VMs. One aspect that is nt widely discussed in the public is the transparency that public Blckchains ffer. Partial transparency and selective pre-emptive disclsure f certain attributes is a challenging and imprtant tpic that we plan t address. Fr instance, a cmpany might want t prve t its custmers that it prvably paid its value added tax f all its previus transactin but nt reveal its ttal turnver r the amunt f taxes paid. 6

7 Area 2: Cryptecnmic Mdelling & Blckchain Applicatins fr Business Lead: Dr. Shermin Vshmgir, WU Wien Distributed ledger technlgy (DLT) has the ptential t fundamentally disrupt the current ecnmic system by enabling the replacement f intermediaries by trust less peer-t-peer systems fr value exchange. Area 2 addresses the ecnmic ptentials and prblems f this new paradigm. On the ne hand we will study ecnmic questins that arise in any peer-tpeer system, n the ther hand we will investigate DLT based decentralized business mdels in a number f applicatin dmains. Cnsensus mechanism, identity, applicatin tken, distributed reputatin management and gvernance / distributed autnmus rganizatins design have t be dealt with in any DLTbased rganizatin. Using game theretical methds we will study mre sustainable and egalitarian alternatives t PW and PS like Prf f Identity f Prf f Time and investigate gvernance structures fr peer-t-peer systems. We will lk int mechanism design methds fr designing sustainable applicatin tkens and research methds t make distributed reputatin mechanisms interperable and resistant t manipulatin. Given the breadth f expertise present at RIAT and WU s research institute f cryptecnmics we are able t apply these general findings in a number f imprtant areas f applicatin: In the prject mnetary aspects f DLT we will develp a pricing thery fr digital assets and study the linkage between classical mnetary thery and cryptcurrencies. We will study peer-t-peer banking and insurance business mdels and the impact f DLT n financial supply chains. We will lk at ICOs as nvel financing instruments and regulatry design in this area. Nvel ways f trade finance will be studied, t. Prject DLT and sustainability in ecnmic systems will study the ptential f DLT and cryptcurrencies fr new ways f incentivising fr sustainable behaviur f cnsumers and industry. We will als explre the ptential fr emissins pricing and trading. Prject DLT, innvatin and business prcess design will explre the implicatins f DLT n the design f business prcesses and innvatin prcesses utilizing applicatin scenaris in egvernment, Knwledge Management, Energy Markets and Supply Chain Management. 7

8 Area 3: Emerging Industries & Blckchains in Manufacturing Lead: FH-Prf DI Dr. techn. Fidler / Dr. Mser, FH St. Pölten Area 3 fcuses n the technlgical aspects f Blckchain in Industry 4.0 and the Internet f Things. The cnvergence f Blckchain with emerging technlgies in thse fields such as semantic database slutins (relatinal database systems and ntlgy-based data access), machine learning, clud manufacturing, 3D printing and machine-t-machine will be at the centre f the activities. On the ne hand, Blckchain will be used t imprve the named technlgies in the industrial cntext by, fr example, researching distributed netwrk cnsensus as additinal trust layer in data sharing scenaris and therefre enabling M2M business scenaris and clud manufacturing. On the ther hand, technlgies such as machine learning and data visualizatin can be applied t imprve Blckchain-based prcesses in emerging industries. The three main tpics that will be addressed are Database Aspects and Single surce f truth characteristics: Systematic studies are dne n the integratin f different Blckchain-based database slutins in scenaris such as quality dcumentatin, asset sharing and tracking, digital prduct memry r the verificatin f spare parts, distributed manufacturing r supply chain tracking. Semantic technlgies such as ntlgy-based data access will be used t imprve such Blckchain-based database slutins and their implicatins in relatinal database systems further. Trust Layer: The additinal trust layer functinality tgether with the pssibility t transfer values next t pure infrmatin leads t imprtant research tpics which are centered arund traditinal machine-t-machine cmmunicatins r the (real-time) industrial Internet f Things. (Data Analytics Based) Decisin Supprt: Based n the results f the afrementined tpics decisin supprt wrkflws utilizing the visualizatin f large Blckchain data and relatinships will lead t pssible prcess ptimizatins in emerging industries using Blckchain-based technlgy Our research will uncver the relevant questins n ptimal appraches f (autnmus) Blckchain based functinalities within Emerging Industries fcusing n Industry 4.0 and the Internet f Things. Pssible real-wrld scenaris fr prttypical evaluatin within the research cntext f the Piltfabrik 4.0 will fr example be: 3D Printing & Smart Cntracts M2M Business Scenaris & Machine Learning Blckchain/DAG-based Internet f Things Blckchain-based traceability Blckchain-based cntent distributin Data sharing/ Decentralized Data markets Clud Manufacturing 8

9 Area 4: Data Science Methds fr Blckchain Analytics & Predictins Lead: Dr. Haslhfer, AIT; M. Tarasiewic, RIAT Understanding sci-ecnmic and technical questins that arise in blckchain-based systems requires nvel data-driven methds, services, and tls. The gal f this area is t investigate, and develp scalable data science methds, tls and services that cntribute t a better understanding f the structure and dynamics f blckchain-based ecsystems and envirnments. A central utcme will be a hrizntally scalable platfrm that can be used by researchers and practitiners t answer scientific r business-related questins. This area will als have a strng interdisciplinary and cmmunity-riented and fcus and invlve data scientists, practitiners frm the startup cmmunity, as well as scientists with varius backgrunds within and utside the ABC initiative. The Area will address the fllwing tpics in detail: Blckchain Analytics Platfrm Smart Cntract Analytics and ICO Tracking Market Understanding & Predictins Empirical Analysis f Off-Chain Transactin Technlgies Centralizatin tendencies in distributed ledgers Blckchain Mnitring fr Gvernance and Sustainable Chain Quality 9

10 Area 5: Legal and Plitical Implicatins Lead: Prf. Kalss, WU-Wien New technlgical develpments prvide great challenges fr every legal system. The distributed ledger technlgy (DLT) is a cmpletely new cncept and ptentially revlutinary technlgy. Therefre it raises demanding questins thrughut all legal fields at bth a natinal and an internatinal level. Area 4 aims t address legal questins arising under current legislatin, tries t address cncepts and suggestins fr future legal framewrks and starts t analyse further plitical implicatins. A starting pint f the area is t discuss legal questins the use f DLT raises under current legislatin, including aspects f private, public and tax law. Matters f interest may cmprise disclsure requirements, preventin f mney laundering and internatinal aspects. With cins and tkens attracting mre and mre attentin, anther area f interest is DLT and investment. Facing the tremendus develpments in the field f financial regulatins during the last decade, sme questins immediately ccur: Are there any legal restrictins? Is there a need fr regulatin and authrisatin, cdes f cnduct r similar enabling legal framewrks? Research will address regulatry aspects as well as selected questins f cmpany law. Blckchains and self-executing Smart Cntracts als raise fundamental questins related t gvernance. These cncern the gvernance amng the participants f DLT-netwrks and the ecnmic and legal relatins amng them, the enfrcement f cntracts, incmplete cntracts, and alteratin thrugh judicial awards. D, fr example, the current cncepts f cntracts suffice t gvern the relatins f the participants and twards market partners? D self-executing Smart Cntracts prevent the enfrcement f curt rulings? Frm a public law perspective, the area will fcus n data prtectin law n natinal and Eurpean level (GDPR). Nt nly the applicability f rules is f relevance, but als hw certain data prtectin rights such as the Right t be frgtten can be enfrced within the Blckchain. The internet has shwn that disruptive new technlgies ften frce lawmakers t implement new legislatin. Althugh huge steps have been made in the past, the develpment f legal systems is still behind the technical develpment in the IT sectr. ABC ffers the pprtunity t identify the legal areas where additinal legislatin is needed t ensure that ur legal system is pised t deal with new develpments and t maintain the rule f law. Mentining the digital revlutin, a main tpic n the agenda fr tax-related matters apart frm incme tax, crprate tax and VAT issues is digital tax transfrmatin, fcusing n taxes and technlgy. Technical develpments may nt nly bring challenges, but als numerus pprtunities. Therefre the agenda includes, fr instance, hw t use technlgy t imprve tax cmpliance and hw t supprt value added prcesses with new technlgy. 10