Graphchain 1.0
The project was focused on industrial research and development work aimed at creating an infrastructure based on Blockchain technology, used to build systems for digital identification. Thanks to this technology, it was possible to build a system that is characterized by data transparency, non-repudiation, authenticity, uniqueness, durability and decentralization. For digital identification solutions, however, was is necessary to enrich this technology. In particular, the following steps were recognized as necessary:
- Universal, basic data structure in Blockchain: The study covered the possibility of using graph structures in two modes: spreading Blockchain methods over the graph base or embedding the graph base inside the current Blockchain structures. It was assumed that the same level of security would be maintained as in the case of the current Blockchain implementations.
- Introduce a semantic layer to Blockchain. The data stored in existing Blockchain implementations lacked a layer describing its format and meaning. Various methods of introducing semantic mechanisms to the Blockchain were tested.
- Application of innovative methods of reconciling data records ("consensus mechanism") to Blockchain: Standard BlockChain authentication methods are not adequate for identification systems. In particular, Proof-of-Authority and Multi-Signatures methods are essential in this area.
- Ensuring High Performance and Web Availability: The security model of standard Web technologies is different from the Blockchain model. It was necessary to develop methods that would enable these technologies to obtain an appropriate security model. The project involved the construction of a close production version of the system for LEI identifiers, which is the most important global identifier of financial entities today (ISO 17442). The first R&D goal was to create a commercial product for existing LEI system units on a global scale.
As a result of the work, a product was created, which was characterized by the following features:
- Completely decentralized and fully secure system architecture.
- Possibility to represent any data about the entity / object that is subject to identification.
- Possibility to present data with definitions and self-describing dictionaries of the data.
- Deployment readiness for consortia with trusted data managers and fully public read access to data.
- The enormous scalability of the system, enabling the identification of many entities / objects
As a result of GraphChain a scientific paper was prepared – “A distributed database with explicit semantics and chained RDF graphs”. A paper submitted to LD-DL III, April 2018, Lyon, France © 2018 Association for Computing Machinery.
In this paper we have presented a new idea of creating a Blockchain com-pliant distributed database which exposes its data with explicit semantics present and easily accessible and which applies Blockchain securitization mechanisms to the RDF graph data model explicitly, without additional packaging or specific serialisation.
Graphchain 1.0 was sucessfully implemented in our flagship project Legal Entity Indentifier – Lei.info where LEI data stored in the semantic format can be verified in blockchain Hyperledger Indy.
Grapchchain 1.5 – Evolution towards Graphchain 2.0
In 2019 we have applied to The National Centre for Research and Development with the project: “Realization of industrial research and development activities aiming at the creation of a software framework enabling the construction and deployment of Blockchain based systems and applications for modern, high-performance graph databases.”
The goal of the project was to continue a research and development aiming at the creation of qualitatively new categories of software solutions in the DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) and Blockchain domains, which would allow the fundamental features of these solutions to coexist with modern graph databases of the LPG (Labelled Property Graph) type.
Despite the fact that our application was not approved it has become an impulse to continue research on this topic.