The paper, written by Hosea Ofe, Harm Minnema and Mark de Reuver in Safe-DEED and TRUSTS, aims to propose a framework for how privacy-preserving technologies (PETs) create business value for organizations. The framework was developed by examining the literature on privacy and information technology’s impact (symbolic and function). The authors evaluate the framework’s applicability using multiparty computation (MPC) as an instance of PETs, with expert interviews in the telecommunication industry.

The post New Research Paper: What’s the business value of privacy-preserving technologies? appeared first on TRUSTS.

Data and algorithm sharing is an imperative part of data and AI-driven economies. The efficient sharing of data and algorithms relies on the active interplay between users, data providers, and algorithm providers. Although recommender systems are known to effectively interconnect users and items in e-commerce settings, there is a lack of research on the applicability of recommender systems for data and algorithm sharing.

To fill this gap, we identify six recommendation scenarios for supporting data and algorithm sharing, where four of these scenarios substantially differ from the traditional recommendation scenarios in e-commerce applications. Specifically, we identify two traditional scenarios of recommending datasets to users (SC1) and algorithms to users (SC2), and four novel scenarios that are unique to data and algorithm sharing platforms, i.e., the recommendation of datasets to algorithms (SC3), algorithms to datasets (SC4), datasets to datasets (SC5), and algorithms to algorithms (SC6).

We evaluate these recommendation scenarios using a novel dataset based on interaction data of the OpenML data and algorithm sharing platform, which we also provide for the scientific community to foster future research on this important topic. Specifically, we investigate three types of recommendation approaches, namely popularity-, collaboration-, and content-based recommendations.

We find that collaboration-based recommendations provide the most accurate recommendations in all scenarios. Plus, the recommendation accuracy strongly depends on the specific scenario, e.g., algorithm recommendations for users are a more difficult problem than algorithm recommendations for datasets. This indicates that each recommendation scenario that can occur in a data and algorithm sharing platform, can be viewed as a separate recommendation problem. Finally, the content-based approach generates the least popularity-biased recommendations that cover the most datasets and algorithms. Overall, our work showcases how recommender systems can be helpful tools in data and algorithm sharing platforms.

Find the full paper here

About the Data Economy Workshop

The Data Economy Workshop will be co-located with the 2022 International Conference on emerging Networking EXperiments and Technologies (CoNEXT 2022). The workshop and the conference will be held in the splendid setting of Rome, at the Sapienza University of Rome. For the workshop 9 papers where accepted – find them here.

The post Towards Employing Recommender Systems for Supporting Data and Algorithm Sharing appeared first on TRUSTS.

Technical Approach

The challenges TRUSTS is trying to tackle as well as the technical approach were presented by Victor Mireles-Chavez from Semantic Web Company. He gave a quick overview of the elements that make up the TRUSTS platform from a technical standpoint. Some of the design choices behind the implemented architecture were motivated, and the concrete implementations were mentioned. In particular, the different components deployed in a corporate node were explained, as well as their interactions with the pre-existing components that a TRUSTS participant might have already deployed.

The core features of TRUSTS

The core features of TRUSTS

• (Meta-)Data Governance
• Datasets and services onboarding functionality and processes
• Intelligent data/service exploration and correlation functionality and processes
• Data protection
• Advanced data analysis based on Machine Learning
• Trusted and legitimate data flows

were explained by Ahmad Hemid (Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT) who also showed a demo on how to log in and to create a service within the TRUSTS platform.

The Legal Framework

“The TRUSTS project comes to life in a complex tapestry of existing and envisaged regulatory efforts by the EU to boost the potential of digital markets”, explained Lorenzo Gugliotta (KU Leuven). This creates compliance challenges – related to data protection, platform regulation, intermediation service obligations, ethical AI – but also opportunities to use the approach of TRUSTS to such regulation in order to enhance trust. Via state-of-the-art Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs) TRUSTS, combined with federated learning, TRUSTS can enhance trust in data subjects and data holders; via blockchain-based smart contracts TRUSTS can then enhance trust between businesses cooperating through the platform. The legal and ethical assessment of the platform and the three use cases demonstrated, on the one hand, the potential of TRUSTS in increasing compliance with the law; and on the other hand, the need for the legal framework to tackle existing challenges that can still stifle the full untapping of the value of data.

Use Cases & Leassons Learnt

Last but not least, Gianna Avgousti (eBos Technologies), Manos Paschalakis (Relational Technology) and Emmanouil Adamakis (Foundation for Research and Technology) gave insights into the three TRUSTS use cases and the – so far (the trials will end at the end of November) – lessons learnt:

• The TRUSTS Platform is an opportunity to securely share and trade data for Anti-Money-Laundering purposes, to maximize operational effectiveness whilst maintaining or reducing costs.
• Sharing anonymized up-to-date data in target marketing actions to specific local areas or individuals in a sustainable and GDPR compliant manner was possible with the TRUSTS Platform. 
• Big data analytics techniques applied on data shared in a secure, sustainable and effective manner can provide timely and meaningful information towards targeting profitable customers
• Innovations like smart contracts and recommendation mechanism are important for data exchange and therefore were integrated into TRUSTS platform
• TRUSTS platform’s interoperability with open-data libraries and external federated marketplaces were tested with success
• New services, like recommender and admin view services give additional value to the platform, facilitating both the platform user and the platform administrator

• Identification of a lack of a consolidated, widely viable, secure and GDPR compliant data marketplaces, adequate to benefit various business collaborations
• Platform’s security and GDPR compliance needs further assessment
• simple-user-friendlieness needs improvement

Thank you to all speakers of the session, to all of the visitors of EBDVF and to the organizers – it was a great pleasure to join the European Big Data Value Forum 2022! 

Impressions from EBDVF 2022

Watch the Session on YouTube:

The post Technical Approach, Core Features and Use Cases – a brief look into TRUSTS at EBDVF22 appeared first on TRUSTS.

This year, the event took place in Prague, Czech Republic on November 21-23, with a central theme of “At the Heart of the Ecosystem for Data and AI”.

TRUSTS held its final session on 23 November and gave insights into the project development and showcased the TRUSTS Platform. It was also project sponsor and had a booth in the EBDVF exhibition hall.

Besides, TRUSTS co-organised the workshop “Towards Data Spaces Interoperability Workshop on standardization” together with BD4NRG and IDSA. In this workshop, several initiatives and projects, which are working to address the challenges of interoperability, helping to standardize data spaces and make them interoperable, were presented by Achille Zappa (i3-Market), Juanjo Hierro (FIWARE Foundation), Robert David (Semantic Web Company, TRUSTS), Matthijs Punter (TNO) and Antonio Kung (TRIALOG).

Robert David presented the results of the TRUSTS workshop on data spaces and semantic interoperability, held in June in Vienna. The identified gaps were:

• Interoperability is seen often on metadata level ONLY (what about the data?)
• No industry specific controlled vocabularies & Knowledge Graphs are in place
• If such resources are available these resources not available in other languages than English
• Insufficient data usage control mechanisms (right-, value-, purpose modeling)
• Connection of the physical and digital world still missing

Read more about the workshop on data spaces and semantic interoperability here.

The post TRUSTS at EBDVF 2022 appeared first on TRUSTS.

The post TRUSTS Whitepaper on Data Governance in Collaborative Data Environments appeared first on TRUSTS.

High-level stakeholders from the energy sector and beyond such as Roberta Metsola, Vasco Alves Cordeiro, Mariya Gabriel, Eva Kaili, Maria Leptin, Pascal Lamy and many more will be speakers during this year’s European Research & Innovation Days.

This year’s event gives all participants the opportunity to discuss how EU research and innovation will help build the world we want to live in. Join us to define and shape new solutions here.

Make sure to discover the programme as well as the speakers in order to not miss out any info!

The post TRUSTS at the European Research & Innovation Days 2022 appeared first on TRUSTS.

The TRUSTS Use Cases were defined to ensure the technology innovations developed and thoroughly test the TRUSTS solutions and business aspects, involving actors that represent all targeted sectors. Subsequently conducting advanced field trials within the sectors of Financial Institutions, Telecom Operators, Corporate data providers, etc., while demonstrating and validating the TRUSTS Platform.

The three TRUSTS Use cases executed more than 80 trial sessions throughout the duration of the TRUSTS trials performed under the two defined demonstration cycles. Trials Cycle 1 was executed between May – November 2021 with a total of 22 trial sessions collectively by all three Use Cases while, Cycle 2 trials was executed between February – August 2022 with a total of 62 trial sessions.

The two cycles of the TRUSTS trials intended to evaluate the TRUSTS marketplace in the various versions developed throughout the project and provide feedback and lessons learned to support the accomplishment of the final version. The outcome of the second demonstration cycle will give feedback mainly back to work package 3 focusing on the developments, for further and final iterations.

Evaluation and Lessons Learnt

The final 360^o TRUSTS evaluation and lessons learnt will be documented in the public deliverable D5.11 entitled “Performance evaluation and lessons learnt report II” which will be submitted by November 2022.

The operational plan followed is documented in the public deliverable D5.2 where the methodology used is laid out, although a final updated version will be submitted by November 2022.

The post Second Cycle of TRUSTS Trials finished – 360° evaluation in preparation appeared first on TRUSTS.

The Extended Programme of the EUSEW2022 takes place from 19^th to 23^rd of September 2022 and the core Policy Conference is from 26^th to 29^th of September 2022.

This year’s theme of the energy week is ‘Going green and digital for Europe’s energy transition’, which is highly relevant for the H2020 TRUSTS project from the standpoint of energy data markets and digitalization.

The Policy Conference offers keynote speeches and dedicated sessions for topics such as the REPowerEU Plan, digitalization, energy efficiency, renewable energy, decarbonisation, consumers and a fair energy transition.

Discover the agendas of the Extended Programme as well as the Policy Conference of the European Sustainable Energy Week 2022.

Also make sure to register to the event on the website of the EUSEW2022.

The post TRUSTS at the European Sustainable Energy Week 2022 appeared first on TRUSTS.

Press Release

September 1, 2022 – Vienna/Barcelona. The EU innovation action TRUSTS – Trusted Secure Data Sharing Space was working on current challenges of data market technologies throughout the last three years. The project activities supported the advancement of innovations in the field of data-driven innovations, “What TRUSTS has fostered is an understanding of interoperability for individual companies, but especially collaborative data spaces. We did a great job here in advancing that necessity for functional data ecosystems”, states Silva Castellvi, Senior Consultant for Stakeholder Engagement at the International Data Spaces Association (IDSA).

Trust and Security by Design for trustworthy collaboration

Trust is one of the most important factors for the data community to work on innovations in a collaborative way, IDSA is one of the forerunners in securing such aspects via identity management and similar necessities. Trust and Security by design were elaborated by IDSA in their IDS Connector, on which TRUSTS has built from the onset, and other secure software components, brought into the TRUSTS project.

Castellvi emphasizes, “The exchange and collaboration of research institutions like Fraunhofer ISST and FIT, economic actors  testing the solutions and community platforms working on feasibility evaluation created a strong drive towards innovations within the project”.

Cooperation is key – together we achieve more

A strong community is a necessity for impact of such research and innovation actions like TRUSTS, in order to receive the project outcomes exchange with the whole ecosystem is a must. Therefore TRUSTS has had various formats (workshops, webinars, events, etc.): the most one on Data Spaces & Semantic Interoperability (W3C, SWC, ERCIM, IDSA, Fraunhofer FIT, DIO) . provided important feedback to the TRUSTS consortium, concerning gaps that are still needed to be overcome, but also provided important impact for stakeholders outside of the project. The workshop was very synergetic between the 15 Speakers and 50 participants. Functioning interoperability of data marketplaces, which is not yet fully solved within TRUSTS, was seen as biggest potential for technological impact.

In the last project year, the TRUSTS team will focus on standardization activities, which is a challenging activity in projects and companies. “We will continue with this activity in order to provide reference implementation. For this we will further identify requirement gaps and new aspects provided to standardization bodies”, says Castellvi.  She closes, “Important steps have been taken in the project, but we need to work further on that.”

About the project

TRUSTS Trusted Secure Data Sharing Space is an innovation action funded from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871481. Our goal: creating a secure and trustworthy European Data market for personal and industrial use by interconnecting different user groups and providing generic functionalities for innovative applications and services. Our consortium consists of seventeen partners based in nine countries across Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Israel, the Netherlands, Romania, and Spain. TRUSTS brings together technology providers, data providers, research institutions, and multipliers. The project runs from January 2020 to December 2022.

Download Press Release as PDF

Read the german version here: Austria Press Agency

Are you interested in exchange with our experts? Please contact us:

The post Press Release I TRUSTS in the Community: Standardization, Engagement, and Impact appeared first on TRUSTS.

The post New Episode: TRUSTS in the Community appeared first on TRUSTS.