Search Results (48)

In the deep integration process between digital infrastructure and new economic forms, structural imbalance between the evolution rate of cloud storage technology and the growth rate of data-sharing demands has caused systemic security vulnerabilities such as blurred data sovereignty boundaries and nonlinear surges in privacy leakage risks. Existing academic research indicates current proxy re-encryption schemes remain insufficient for cloud access control scenarios characterized by diversified user requirements and personalized permission management, thus failing to fulfill the security needs of emerging computing paradigms. To resolve these issues, a revocable attribute-based proxy re-encryption scheme supporting policy-hiding is proposed. Data owners encrypt data and upload it to the blockchain while concealing attribute values within attribute-based encryption access policies, effectively preventing sensitive information leaks and achieving fine-grained secure data sharing. Simultaneously, proxy re-encryption technology enables verifiable outsourcing of complex computations. Furthermore, the SM3 (SM3 Cryptographic Hash Algorithm) hash function is embedded in user private key generation, and key updates are executed using fresh random factors to revoke malicious users. Ultimately, the scheme proves indistinguishability under chosen-plaintext attacks for specific access structures in the standard model. Experimental simulations confirm that compared with existing schemes, this solution delivers higher execution efficiency in both encryption/decryption and revocation phases. Full article

Achieving a climate neutral economy by 2050 in Europe in line with the European Green Deal places specific responsibility on the transportation sector, which contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. For the transportation domain to reduce its GHG emissions, there is need to advance urban mobility solutions in local communities via the use of data in all modes of transportation. Accordingly, to intelligently improve mobility solutions, huge amounts of data are needed from citizens in local communities to improve mobility services. However, the access, usage, and ownership of data in the transportation sector continue to be hindered due to issues including privacy, security, and trust concerns, among others. However, to improve smarter mobility solutions, there is a need for clarification of digital sovereignty, which today hinders data flow among different actors in the transportation sector. Therefore, research is needed to provide an approach that enables digital sovereignty while providing innovative mobility services and applications to citizens. Accordingly, this article carried out a systematic review to explore how to maintain digital sovereignty to improve urban mobility services in local communities. Based on grounded theory and a literature review, this study explores the factors that influence digital sovereignty from local communities’ point of view. More importantly, a policy framework is proposed to improve sovereign data usage control for citizens. Additionally, recommendations for achieving digital sovereignty are presented to foster data ecosystem business opportunities for mobility service providers and to increase data autonomy, trust, and transparency for citizens. Full article

In this article, we explored how open-source software serves as a strategic enabler for safety and security in the digital transformation of logistics systems. Open source is examined across multiple dimensions, including transparency, community collaboration, digital sovereignty, and long-term infrastructure resilience. The analysis focuses on the logistics domain, where interoperability, critical infrastructure protection, and supply chain continuity are essential. Key elements of open-source development—such as modular architectures, legal and licensing frameworks, and peer-reviewed codebases—support rapid vulnerability management, increased transparency, and the creation of sustainable digital ecosystems. Emphasis is placed on the role of open-source models in strengthening institutional trust, reducing dependency on proprietary vendors, and enhancing responsiveness to cyber threats. Our findings indicate that open source is not merely a technical alternative, but a strategic decision with legal, economic, and political implications, shaping secure, sovereign, and adaptive digital environments—particularly in mission-critical sectors. Full article

The increasing complexity of data management in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry, driven by the adoption of distributed digital twins (dDTws) and cloud-based solutions, presents challenges in interoperability, data sovereignty, and scalability. Existing Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Common Data Environment (CDE) frameworks often fall short in addressing these issues due to their reliance on centralized and proprietary systems. This paper introduces a novel framework that transforms the Information Container for Linked Document Delivery (ICDD) into a dynamic, graph-based architecture. Unlike conventional file-based ICDD implementations, this approach enables fine-grained, semantically rich linking and querying across distributed models while maintaining data sovereignty and version control. The framework is designed to enhance real-time collaboration, ensure secure and sovereign data management, and improve interoperability across diverse project stakeholders. The framework leverages graph databases, semantic web technologies, and ISO standards such as ISO 21597 to facilitate seamless data exchange, automated linking, and advanced version control. Key functionalities include federated data storage, compliance with local and international regulations, and support for multidisciplinary workflows in large-scale AEC projects. To demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed framework, a simplified use case scenario is implemented and analyzed. By addressing critical challenges and enabling seamless integration of emerging technologies such as digital twins, this study advances the state of the art in data management for the AEC industry, providing a robust foundation for future innovations. Full article

Amid the dual imperatives of global trade expansion and low-carbon transition, intelligent maritime shipping has emerged as a central driver for the innovation of international logistics systems, now entering a critical window period for the deep integration of Internet technologies and automated port infrastructure. While existing research predominantly focuses on isolated applications of intelligent technologies, systematic evaluations of the synergistic effects of technological integration on maritime ecosystems, policy compatibility, and contributions to global carbon emission governance remain under-explored. Leveraging bibliometric analysis, this study systematically examines 488 publications from the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection (2000–2024), yielding three pivotal findings: firstly, China dominates the research landscape, with a 38.5% contribution share, where Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and port automation constitute the technological pillars. However, critical gaps persist in cross-system protocol standardization and climate-adaptive modeling, accounting for only 2.7% and 4.2% of the literature, respectively. Secondly, international collaboration networks exhibit pronounced “Islamization”, characterized by an inter-team collaboration rate of 17.3%, while the misalignment between rapid technological iteration and existing maritime regulations exacerbates industry risks. Thirdly, a dual-track pathway integrating Cyber–Physical System (CPS)-based digital twin ports and open-source vertical domain-specific large language models is proposed. Empirical evidence demonstrates its efficacy in reducing cargo-handling energy consumption by 15% and decision-making latency by 40%. This research proposes a novel tripartite framework, encompassing technological, institutional, and data sovereignty dimensions, to resolve critical challenges in integrating multi-source maritime data and managing cross-border governance. The model provides academically validated and industry-compatible strategies for advancing sustainable maritime intelligence. Subsequent investigations should expand data sources to include regional repositories and integrate interdisciplinary approaches, ensuring the adaptability of both technical systems and international policy coordination mechanisms across diverse maritime ecosystems. Full article

Digitalization is transforming the maritime sector, and the amount and variety of data generated is increasing rapidly. Effective data utilization is crucial for data-driven services such as for highly automated maritime systems and efficient traffic coordination. However, these applications depend on heterogeneous, distributed data sources managed by different actors, making secure and sovereign information sharing difficult. This paper investigates how maritime data can be exchanged reliably and securely without jeopardizing data sovereignty. Based on the existing literature, we identify the main challenges and current research gap in sharing maritime information, emphasizing the importance of data availability. From this, we derive requirements for a secure and sovereign infrastructure for data exchange. To address these challenges, we propose a fully decentralized architecture for the maritime sector based on the concept of a data space. Our approach integrates protocols to improve data availability while minimizing data volume, considering maritime constraints such as volatile connectivity, low bandwidth and existing standards. We evaluate our architecture through a maritime traffic management case study and demonstrate its ability to enable secure and sovereign exchange of heterogeneous data. The results confirm that our solution reliably supports distributed data collection and enables data-driven, value-added services, which in turn will improve the safety and efficiency of the maritime domain in the near future. Full article

As generative AI (GenAI) technologies proliferate, ensuring trust and transparency in digital ecosystems becomes increasingly critical, particularly within democratic frameworks. This article examines decentralized Web3 mechanisms—blockchain, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and data cooperatives—as foundational tools for enhancing trust in GenAI. These mechanisms are analyzed within the framework of the EU’s AI Act and the Draghi Report, focusing on their potential to support content authenticity, community-driven verification, and data sovereignty. Based on a systematic policy analysis, this article proposes a multi-layered framework to mitigate the risks of AI-generated misinformation. Specifically, as a result of this analysis, it identifies and evaluates seven detection techniques of trust stemming from the action research conducted in the Horizon Europe Lighthouse project called ENFIELD: (i) federated learning for decentralized AI detection, (ii) blockchain-based provenance tracking, (iii) zero-knowledge proofs for content authentication, (iv) DAOs for crowdsourced verification, (v) AI-powered digital watermarking, (vi) explainable AI (XAI) for content detection, and (vii) privacy-preserving machine learning (PPML). By leveraging these approaches, the framework strengthens AI governance through peer-to-peer (P2P) structures while addressing the socio-political challenges of AI-driven misinformation. Ultimately, this research contributes to the development of resilient democratic systems in an era of increasing technopolitical polarization. Full article

The contemporary restructuring of religion and secularism demands a departure from conventional post-secular analyses that remain confined within the epistemic and institutional frameworks of the nation-state. This paper develops the concept of post-secular cosmopolitanization to theorize the dissolution of the secular–religious binary as a regulatory mechanism of power, revealing how religion and secularism are co-constituted through global entanglements that transcend national boundaries. Unlike dominant conceptions of post-secularism, which assumes the continued dominance of secular and national institutions despite religious resurgence, post-secular cosmopolitanization captures the ways in which transnational religious movements, digital religious networks, and global governance structures are reshaping religious authority, secular regulation, and political sovereignty. It is shown that this transformation leads to three major consequences: (1) the erosion of the nation-state’s regulatory monopoly over religious life as alternative religious and transnational actors emerge as influential governance entities; (2) the deterritorialization and fragmentation of religious authority, undermining traditional clerical and institutional hierarchies; and (3) the blurring of religious and secular domains, where global economic, legal, and political structures increasingly integrate religious actors, norms, and ethical frameworks. These developments signal a paradigmatic shift beyond the secularization thesis and dominant conceptions of post-secularism, necessitating a reconsideration of how power, governance, and religious authority function in a world no longer structured by the nation-state’s exclusive claim to sovereignty. By analyzing these entanglements, this paper provides a theoretical framework to understand the reconfiguration of global secular and religious orders, challenging entrenched assumptions about the trajectory of modernity. Full article

In the digital era, the demand for real-time streaming services highlights the scalability, data sovereignty, and privacy limitations of traditional centralized systems. VidBlock introduces a novel decentralized blockchain architecture that leverages the blockchain’s immutable and transparent characteristics along with direct communication capabilities. This ecosystem revolutionizes content delivery and storage, ensuring high data integrity and user trust. VidBlock’s architecture emphasizes serverless operation, aligning with the principles of decentralization to enhance efficiency and reduce costs. Our contributions include decentralized data management, user-controlled privacy, cost reduction through a serverless architecture, and improved global accessibility. Experiments show that VidBlock is superior in reducing latency and utilizing bandwidth, demonstrating its potential to redefine live video streaming in the Web3.0 era. Full article

With the increasing emphasis on safeguarding maritime sovereignty and developing marine resources, the security of underwater acoustic communication has risen to a new level of importance. Given the complex environmental challenges faced by underwater acoustic channels, this paper proposes an NTRU-based key encapsulation scheme designed to ensure secure and reliable underwater data transmission, while maintaining privacy and integrity. In the public–private key pair generation phase, a ring sampling technique is employed to generate a compact NTRU trapdoor, which not only guarantees security but also effectively reduces the communication overhead. During the encapsulation phase, underwater acoustic channel characteristics during communication are introduced as temporary identity information to ensure the confidentiality and reliability of the key encapsulation mechanism. Furthermore, the traditional key encapsulation mechanism is extended by integrating a digital signature process, where the encapsulated ciphertext is signed. The use of digital signature technology verifies the authenticity and integrity of the transmitted data, ensuring that communication data remain secure and unaltered in complex underwater acoustic environments. Finally, we conduct a rigorous correctness analysis and security proofs, demonstrating that the proposed scheme achieves chosen ciphertext security, while meeting the demands of low bandwidth and limited computational capacity in underwater acoustic communication. Full article

Gaia-X, a European initiative, aims to create a digital sovereignty framework for service ecosystems in the future Internet. Its applicability to the health domain was explored in the Gaia-X-Med project, which aimed to establish a common dataspace for various medical use cases based on Gaia-X principles. This paper presents a trust- and consent-based approach to the secure authentication and digital contract negotiation central to this endeavor and discusses the challenges that arose during the adoption of the Gaia-X framework, particularly relating to the strict requirements of the European healthcare domain with regards to privacy and consent regulations. By exploring the practical implications of Gaia-X in the healthcare context, this paper aims to contribute to the ongoing discussions surrounding the digital sovereignty of both citizens and corporations, as well as its realization via future Internet technologies. Full article

In this paper, we examine the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in sovereignty and carbon neutrality, emphasizing digital inclusion and climate-resilient AI strategies for emerging markets. Considering the previous studies on AI for carbon neutrality and digital inclusion for climate research along with technology policy frameworks as a guide, this paper undertakes Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) with AI strategies and carbon neutrality outcomes. At the same time, fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) is used to reveal different configurations leading to achieving climate resilience. The model covers various aspects of AI-enabled policy, including technology adoption, policy frameworks, digital literacy, and public engagement. Survey data were collected from key stakeholders in climate policy, technology sectors, and local communities using a structured survey to understand their attitudes towards negative emissions technologies from prominent experts in emerging countries like Vietnam, Italy, Malaysia, and Greece. PLS-SEM results reveal the importance of AI in developing carbon neutrality, a critical AI strategic dimension (Data analytics capability and policy support). Some aspects of the fsQCA findings present heterogeneous outcomes, highlighting complex combinations of digital inclusion, AI adoption, and climate resilience which are industry-specific. This study would further enrich the literature concerning climate strategies by exploring AI, digital inclusion, and carbon neutrality interactions. Theoretically, practical and enriching suggestions for future research are derived to help AI intelligence infuse sustainable climate actions. Full article

In an era of rapid technological advancement, decisions about the ownership and governance of emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence will shape the future of both urban and rural environments in the Global North and South. This article explores how AI can move beyond the noise of algorithms by adopting a technological humanistic approach to enable Social Innovation, focusing on global inequalities and digital justice. Using a fieldwork Action Research methodology, based on the Smart Rural Communities project in Colombia and Mozambique, the study develops a framework for integrating AI with SI. Drawing on insights from the AI4SI International Summer School held in Donostia-San Sebastián in 2024, the article examines the role of decentralized Web3 technologies—such as Blockchain, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations, and Data Cooperatives—in enhancing data sovereignty and fostering inclusive and participatory governance. The results demonstrate how decentralization can empower marginalized communities in the Global South by promoting digital justice and addressing the imbalance of power in digital ecosystems. The conclusion emphasizes the potential for AI and decentralized technologies to bridge the digital divide, offering practical recommendations for scaling these innovations to support equitable, community-driven governance and address systemic inequalities across the Global North and South. Full article

This article explores how decentralized Web3 is reshaping Internet governance by enabling the emergence of new forms of nation-statehood and redefining traditional concepts of state sovereignty. Based on fieldwork conducted in Silicon Valley since August 2022, this article systematically addresses the following research question: How is decentralized Web3 reshaping Internet governance and influencing the rise in new nation-statehood paradigms? It compares three emerging paradigms around Web3: (i) Network States (Srinivasan), envisioning digital entities rooted in crypto-libertarian principles; (ii) Network Sovereignties (De Filippi), emphasizing communal governance aligned with digital commons; and (iii) Algorithmic Nations (Calzada), drawing on Arendtian thought and demonstrating how communities—such as indigenous and stateless groups, as well as e-diasporas—can attain self-determination through data sovereignty. This article contributes a unique conceptual analysis of these paradigms based on fieldwork action research in Silicon Valley, responding to evolving technologies and their potential to reshape Internet governance. This article argues that decentralized Web3 provides a transformative vision for Internet governance but requires careful evaluation to ensure that it promotes inclusivity and equity. It advocates for a hybrid approach that balances global and local dynamics, emphasizing the need for solidarity, digital justice, and an internationalist perspective in shaping future Internet governance protocols. Full article

In the digital age, data sovereignty has emerged as a critical concern due to the increasing demand for privacy, security, and user control. In this context, decentralized storage infrastructure is reshaping how data are stored and managed, leading the transition from traditional centralized models to a more decentralized and user-driven approach to data sovereignty, known as data self-sovereignty (DSS). This paper presents a systematic comparative analysis of decentralized storage systems, emphasizing their potential to enhance sustainable DSS. By highlighting the integral role of blockchain technology, this study critically examines various decentralized storage platforms, including Arweave, BitTorrent, Dat Protocol, Filecoin, Hypercore Protocol, IPFS, MaidSafe, Sia, Storj, and Swarm. The analysis covers the key architectural features of these systems, their performance metrics, and their contribution to user data sovereignty. This study aims to comprehensively explain how these decentralized storage solutions allow users to maintain complete control over their data, thus offering a viable alternative to traditional centralized storage methods. Therefore, This paper contributes to ongoing data sovereignty research and guides future developments in decentralized storage technologies. Full article