Workpackages and reports
In UaESMC we plan to select several computational problems whose privacy-preserving solutions
would be beneficial to certain social communities. We plan to use several discipline-based focus groups to select problems common to several groups. A particular topic that we plan to devote attention to is wide-area network management, particularly the collaborative security monitoring of networks. We see it as a good representative area, dealing with large amounts of data, inputs of mixed types, optimization according to various goals, many data- providing parties of different backgrounds. In this topic, there also seem to be many gains from the collaboration.
We will attempt to propose privacy-preserving protocols solving these computational problems. We consider different SMC techniques proposed so far and their combinations. We will then consider the assumptions we made when trying to propose solutions to selected SMC problems, and see whether we can introduce some more assumptions from the practical set-up of problems. In the design process we have to consider several different aspects of the problems; these aspects will form the main workpackages of UaESMC. Progress made in one aspect may enable progress according to a different aspect. Eventually, some problems will have satisfactory privacy-preserving solutions. We will return to the experts for a second round of interviews, demonstrating them a working implementation of a solution to one of the selected problems. Based on the insights we gathered during the project, we will propose a comprehensive framework of SMC.
Towards the end of the project, we devote significant attention to dissemination activities in order
to spur further projects and take-up actions in ICT and other fields, particularly the fields from which the interviewed experts and focus groups stemmed. A major goal of UaESMC is to spur the birth and growth of a market for SMC services. To make that happen, sufficient interest must be generated in several socio-economic sectors for such services. This interest will serve as the foundation for further projects where precise techniques and business models for various sectors will be worked out.