IEEE Blockchain- Future Directions InitiativeAngelos Stavrou, Initiative ChairIn collaboration with Jason Ruppe, Chunming Rong, Ramesh Ramadoss

Tim Kostyk, Program Director, Future Directions

IEEE Blockchain Initiative- Status-Short History

2015-Present: Blockchain technical interest groups form within numerous societies; spawning workshops, special edition publications (Spectrum and Computer Magazine) and numerous journal articles

2016-2017: IEEE Standards Association forms Blockchain Industry Engagement activities including: Workshops, Research Reports, Special Interest Group, and Virtual Communities

2017 April: Angelos Stavrou, Jeff Voas (Reliability Society) propose Future Directions Committee (FDC) Incubator project to gauge viability of full FDC initiative, proposal accepted and workshop planned. Blockchain IEEE Wide technical Community formed

2017 October: Successful Incubator Workshop held at George Mason University, Arlington, VA. 50+ attendees representing 12 IEEE OUs, Industry, and Government

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Blockchain Initiative- Status-Short History Continued

2017-November-December: Initiative Proposal Submitted (November 2017) and approved (Mid December 2017)

2018 January: Initiative officially forms, Managed by IEEE Technical Activities (Future Directions), but as a collaborative effort of both Future Directions and IEEE Standards Association. Leadership and Steering Committee forming

We are actively looking for partners in industry and academia!

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Society/Council/Other OU EngagementWhat Societies, Councils, and other OUs (EA, MGA, SA, etc.) are currently involved in this space?

TechnicalActivities

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Existing IEEE Core IP▸Spectrum Special Issue on Blockchain- https://spectrum.ieee.org/static/special-report-

blockchain-world▸Computer Magazine Special Edition on Blockchain-

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bHDnqarz3OOogKDaApbIwOBlRMHk9aPS/view▸Blockchain Incubator Portal- https://blockchainincubator.ieee.org/. Will merge with

https://blockchain.ieee.org/ in February 2018▸Blockchain Workshop Report, Whitepaper and Presentations-

https://blockchainincubator.ieee.org/conferences/incubator-workshop▸Blockhain Technical Community- (Just Formed) https://www.ieee.org/membership-

catalog/productdetail/showProductDetailPage.html?product=CMYBLK776&N=4294925450+4294925459&tcType=

▸Ethics of Technology Blockchain e-learning modules- 5 modules currently in development and will be completed by Q1 2018

https://blockchainincubator.ieee.org/conferences/incubator-workshop

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Existing IEEE Core IP▸172 Conference Publications, 6 eBook /Books,6 Early Access Articles

▸Blockchain Special Interest Group (SIG)- https://blockchain.ieee.org/

▸Blockchain Related Standards Work- IEEE P2418™ Standard for the Framework of Blockchain Use in Internet of Things (IoT), IEEE P825™ Guide for Interoperability of Transactive Energy Systems with Electric Power Infrastructure-https://standards.ieee.org/develop/project/2418.html and https://standards.ieee.org/develop/project/825.html

▸Blockchain Collaboratec Community - https://ieee-collabratec.ieee.org/app/community/102/activities

▸Computer Society STC on Blockchain - http://blockchain.cloudcom.org

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Why Do We Care About Blockchain Technologies?Hype Cycle of Blockchain Business (Gartner, August 2017)

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Why Do We Care About Blockchain Technologies?The Disruptive Potential of Blockchain

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Blockchain Industries – Proof-of-Concepts Underway

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Blockchain Activities

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Blockchain Potential

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Blockchain Strengths & Opportunities

• Trust among untrusted Parties• Distributed resilience and control• Fully Decentralized network• Primarily Open source• Security and modern cryptography• Controlled & Open Participation• Smart Contracts• Dynamic and Fluid Operation

Source: Gartner (March 2017)

• Reduced transaction costs • Process acceleration & efficiency• Reduced systemic risk• Scalability & Timed Transactions• Smart Contracts• Bi-directional communication fabric• New business-model enablement

Strengths Potentials

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Blockchain Challenges

Desirable Properties- Distributed protocol with verifiable transaction history- Dynamic membership multi-party signatures

Undesirable Properties- Requires proof of “work”- Requires PKI- Size of the Ledger an issue for “small” devices- Anonymous (unverifiable) Join/Leave operations- Transactions too slow and computationally expensive- Not a traditional bi-directional communication channel

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IEEE Opportunities- Possible Special Projects▸Sustainable IP & Ideas:

- New Blockchain Designs, Component, Performance Repository- Transactive Energy POC Humanitarian Effort Puerto Rico- Blockchain Standards Classification Scheme- Certificate of Authenticity and Compliance

▸Novel Designs and Modules: Blockchain Taxonomy Guide & Targeted Solutions

▸Reliability and Security: - Safe Coding for Smart Contracts Guidelines- Best Practices, and Validation/Verification mechanisms- Safe Logic Guidelines for Smart Contract Business logic- Testing & Certifying Assurance in Blockchain Applications

▸Community Building & Industry Outreach: Blockchain Industry Partnership Alliance

▸Inspire Young Engineers: Blockchain Webinars, Coding Camps, Competitions14

Call for Initiative Participation: Please Contact Tim Kostyk @ t.kostyk@ieee.org with area of interest (See below)▸Needs- Standing Committee(s) Participation (Ongoing- 2-6 hrs Weekly)

- Seasoned Professionals or young engineers to Lead or Participate in the ongoing efforts of the following Subcommittees:• Outreach and Community development (IEEE internal and to the Public)• Education• Publications• Standards and Pre-Standards• Roadmap to the Future• Conferences & Events

▸Needs- Special Projects Participation (Limited Duration- 4-8 hrs Weekly)- Seasoned Professionals young engineers and students to Lead or Participate in the limited

duration projects under consideration, such as:• Sustainable IP & Ideas• Novel Designs and Modules• Reliability and Security• Community Building & Industry Outreach• Inspire Young Engineers

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Extra SlidesUse Cases

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Supply Chain Management ▸CE Industry projected to grow at CAGR of

5% to $1.8 trillion by 2023, with smartphones leading the way

▸The industry relies on complex supply chain management to support manufacturing of todays CE devices

▸Increasing emphasis on - ethical sourcing for manufacturing; - management of product lifecycle for

environmental - legal & taxation issues that span jurisdictions;

e.g. 13 billion in taxes owed by Apple to Irish government, but enforced by EU

▸Blockchain provides much needed traceability and transparency

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Counterfeit Components ▸Costs the semiconductor industry 75B USD

per annum; 3B for automotive industry but increasing;

▸Counterfeit components & subsystems don’t have safety & compliance certification so represent a high risk to manufacturers

▸Difficult to detect where and how they enter the supply chain

- generally cannot be distinguished from original components; often originate from the same factory but from a batch that failed safety or compliance tests;

- many competitive pressures within the supply chain; counterfeit components allow cost savings; often mixed with genuine components

- human element is difficult to control;

▸Blockchain provides much needed traceability and transparency for the semiconductor & CE industry sectors

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Fake Consumer Products ▸Globalization has led to an even bigger

problem – completely fake products that are almost identical to the original!

▸AliBaba handles around 1.7B in fake products (2017 figure); a huge problem for its credibility as a global online retailer

▸Globally the market for fake electronic products is estimated at 30-50B; (500B for all categories of product!)

▸Solution: a public blockchain for product registration and tracking –from manufacturer to consumer and beyond (e.g. verification of device repair & refurbishment).

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The System-on-Chip is the Device ▸Modern SoC combines multiple hardware

engines & processing units from multiple vendors

▸SoC Intellectual Property is highly valuable, requiring many man-years of engineering effort; many new companies are ‘fabless’, relying on their IP-Core designs for commercial success

▸Increasing challenges for the industry wrt - Protecting IP-Core designs from theft & piracy;

can occur at various stages in the design & manufacturing pipeline;

- Verifying the inclusion of IP in production systems; how many units shipped, etc …

- Protecting IP from reverse engineering without compromising performance and silicon area

▸Blockchain can provide solutions20