GeoSatoshi: Blockchain for Geospatial Data
- The translation is not accurate. In order to ensure that the original point of view is not misunderstood, please attach the following information:
- Translation: openthings, 8 May 2018, https://my.oschina.net/u/2306127/blog/1808208 .
- Posted on: April 2, 2018 by Mark Seibel , Mark Seibel - [email protected]
- English source, https://my.oschina.net/u/2306127/blog/1794310
Abstract. A pure end-to-end open source ecosystem allows the integration, storage and distribution of geospatial data. Blockchain technology provides part of this solution, but a major part of the system is missing, namely if a trusted third party is required to manage and control the system. This proposal from the Geospatial Information Community, a digital business system built on blockchain technology, will encourage and facilitate the creation of high-quality geospatial data. To incentivize high-quality data, both authors and viewers are rewarded with the ecosystem's GeoSatoshi digital currency. Using blockchain technology solves several geospatial data problems: accessibility, centralized tenure, and global affordability. Browsing the data is free to promote open access to the data, but downloading the features requires GeoSatoshi coin to be paid as a currency. Anonymity features are proposed to reduce the impact of coercion from dire threats, facilitating non-traditional but ethical methods of data collection. With the blockchain approach, data is not sent, but accessed by key. The proposed system uses a digital currency to encourage institutions to disclose their private data to benefit the wider geospatial data community.
1 Introduction
Geospatial data contains critical keys to solving the environmental problems facing our world. It is critical for scientists and engineers around the world that data can be retrieved and accessed. An obvious problem is that geospatial data is scattered all over the Internet, including public and private storage spaces. Data is constantly being built internally at the level of large organizations, but there is no technology to integrate the data and connect users.
To solve the problem of data fragmentation, modern approaches strive to integrate it into a centralized spatial database. Organizations invest in people, hardware, and software, but the resulting systems and data are limited to access within the organization. This investment isolates valuable and in-demand data from the vast geospatial information community. This enterprise-level spatial database solves the problem of data integration within an organization, but fails to meet the larger goals of the global geospatial information community that require open data access.
We need a system for integrating and distributing high-quality geospatial data, built on a cryptographically trusted community, without centralization and data ownership for trusting parties. The project expects to grow rapidly and be able to store years of publicly available datasets on the blockchain. Superior to traditional exchange systems, this ecosystem creates a space for the geospatial information community to exchange and create high-quality data, but on top of a decentralized, scalable public storage system.
2. Ecosystem for GIS users
The proposed solution is a trustless ecosystem with decentralized authorization, which encourages community users to interact with each other through an encrypted trust mechanism. Requests to construct geospatial data are submitted through GeoSatoshi digital currency. This creates a decentralized and secure space that allows for the open exchange of geospatial data through digital currencies. Ensure the integrity of data on the blockchain through a proposed built-in two-layer quality control mechanism. The use of GeoSatoshi digital currency is also designed to encourage institutions to sell their private data to the community, through the blockchain system and data currency.
3. Geospatial Features
The main asset of the GIS blockchain is the geospatial feature. We define geospatial features as points, lines, and polygons, with attributes and values. GeoJSON is the suggested format for storage on the blockchain. Features belonging to a GIS layer will be associated with that layer using attribute values. Topological logic information is recommended to be stored in each feature, and topological relationships are enforced at the application layer. Feature-level transactions simplify data transactions and data sharing among community users. Feature objects can be sent to users via the blockchain without the need to physically transmit large amounts of data, such as traditional email methods.
4. Transactions
We define electronic money as the result of cryptographic work for cryptographic transactions (Nakamoto, 2). Transactions take place at the feature level and require the use of GeoSatoshi coin digital currency. Blockchain solves the "double spending" problem of GeoSatoshi coin digital currency and the double selling problem of geospatial features. The decentralized nature of blockchain provides feature transaction capabilities that do not require centralized authorization. Feature transactions are carried out through application software such as wallets and exchanges on the blockchain.
The data submitted to the blockchain should be of high quality, otherwise the project will fail. In pursuit of quality, the project proposes a two-tier quality control system. The system helps the community enhance the geographic information blockchain through the enhancement of quality data. The proposed system allows the community to help strengthen its own geoblockchain by participating in the enforcement of quality data. These proposed mechanisms allow community members to increase the value of their digital coins by strengthening the quality standards submitted to the blockchain.
Downloading geographic features from the blockchain is a transaction that costs GeoSatoshi coins. Uploading data to the blockchain proposal goes through a two-part verification process. First, the created data is submitted to the level 1 data pool. Then, other users of the system (who may or may not know the data creator) browse and review the data at level 1. Recommended if the data creator does not have a review of this work selection. Confirmed level 1 data is submitted to the level 2 data pool, which is randomly selected for final quality control. A random approach to anti-collusion is recommended to protect community users. A method of random user selection, designed in the network to deter colluding attackers, by creating low-quality digital currencies or destroying projects with erroneous data.
Transaction anonymity is a suggested option to protect users of the ecosystem. The final submitter of the review data cannot be anonymous, as they are responsible for initiating payment to the data creator and paired reviewer. The system can be gamed if anonymous poor-quality work is being created and submitted for other anonymous users to approve for coin payment.
5. Timestamp Server, Proof-of-Work and Network
“The timestamp proves that the data must have existed at that [published broadcast] time, obviously, in order to get the hash. Each timestamp includes the previous timestamp in its hash, forming a chain, with each additional timestamp reinforcing the ones before it .” (Nakamoto, 2). This process builds the blockchain by locking blocks with encrypted hash values.
A distributed timestamp server can be defeated if the attacker pools enough computing power to make the network follow the attacker's link and deviate from the normal link. “To implement a distributed timestamp server on a peer-to-peer basis, we will need to use a proof-of-work system” (Nakamoto, 3).
A proof-of-work system keeps healthy nodes linked and is smart against attacks. “If a majority of CPU power is controlled by honest nodes, the honest chain will grow the fastest and outpace any competing chains. To modify a past block, an attacker would have to redo the proof-of-work of the block and all blocks after it and then catch up with and surpass the work of the honest nodes." As Nakamoto's calculations show (Nakamoto, 6-7), the difficulty of an attacker creating an attack chain to replace the normal chain will increase exponentially.
6. Incentives
An incentive system is proposed to reward the user community for working on high-quality data, and to incentivize institutions to submit private data to the blockchain for the community to access and use. Within the community, the system submits high-quality geospatial data to the blockchain using a digital currency-based reward system. The reward structure is weighted, and the creator, level 1 reviewer, and final reviewer get 60%, 15%, and 25%, respectively. The incentive mechanism proposes to encourage the private sector to contribute private data to the blockchain, transacted through digital currency, so that the geospatial community can have more private data available.
Proof-of-work is a method to realize secure transaction transactions and build blockchain, and create community digital currency through GPU mining. GPU mining is the recommended proof-of-work method that requires users of geospatial software to use high-end graphics cards and workstations. In this case, it is a good match for users who are known for using GPUs for their blockchain workloads. GPU mining is advocated through ASIC mining, which allows more community members to participate and minimizes the capital investment of users.
These two proposed incentives provide a way for users to earn digital currency without making a large investment. This incentive system is fair to all community members, regardless of their socioeconomic status. The proposed system will not solve the problem of data inaccessibility where users cannot afford the financial investment to access the data. At any time the project is found to be limited by data from the community, the project will be redesigned or abandoned if the goal of bringing geospatial data into the hands of users to improve our lives and the planet is not achieved. (If at any point the project is found to be restricting data from the community, the project should be redesigned or abandoned as the main purpose of the project is to put geospatial data in the hands of those who can improve lives or our planet.)
7. Organizational Node Hosting
Institutions often have clusters of GIS expertise, as well as GIS users distributed globally. The centralized spatial database is used as an enterprise-level configuration for client software access. Historically, institutions have invested significant capital in capturing and structuring geospatial data. Institutions, whether public or private, play an important role in developers of geospatial data, and institutions will be considered as allies in this project.
When an institution hosts a node, it becomes a peer node in the network. Institutions do not have the power to control this node, such as enabling or closing this node. If they do not follow the agreed behavior, the community ecosystem will exclude the node. Institutions benefit from providing resources to the community through this node to enhance the entire network.
The benefit for institutions will be faster access to high-quality data without having to spend expensive maintaining their data servers. This may take longer to download the geospatial data due to its potentially large volume. Local node hosting can greatly benefit as slower internet access is reduced.
8. Simplified Payment Verification, Combining and Splitting Value, Privacy & Hostile Takeovers
This proposed ecosystem adopts the same characteristics of Nakamoto's success: simplified payment verification, merging and splitting value, privacy. Simplified payment verification requires checking if an omnipotent node is running on-chain (Nakamoto, 5), which is done by using header information. Rather than transferring processing through the system, value can be split and merged (Nakamoto, 5). The privacy mechanism allows everyone to see every transaction, but has no way of knowing who the transaction address is (Nakamoto, 6) . This ecosystem tends to build a community, so privacy mechanisms are only used where users need to protect themselves. Nakamoto's white paper calculates the probability of winning a network attacker under the proposed infrastructure (Nakamoto, 5-8). The best way for an attacker is through the network, which would require the attacker to be able to create a normal chain that is much stronger Hashpower Chain (Nakamoto, 6).
9. Conclusion
To advance the future development of geospatial data, this paper proposes a decentralized, secure, community-driven global geospatial data storage system. Centralized spatial databases have served the community well and will continue to play an important role in the future. Blockchain technology securely scales geospatial data storage to a global scale without requiring centralized authorization. Blockchain technology solves many geospatial data storage problems: data integration, public storage and access, private/public access conversion, version tracking of features, data submission to users, storage of special data, backup transparency and capital investment etc.
The proposition of geospatial data exchange runs through the entire ecosystem, bringing the most important value to community users. The system proposes to construct the required data by using GeoSatoshi coin digital currency among members. GeoSatoshi coin is also used to incentivize institutions to contribute their own private data to the geodata blockchain for community use. A two-tier quality control system is proposed to facilitate high-quality data generation on the geographic data blockchain.
The GIS community already has a lot of active open source communities, and there is a large amount of high-quality open source software that uses geospatial data. GIS software is available globally, but geospatial data is difficult to obtain or even missing. Blockchain technology is a new technology that can push the GIS community forward.
Reference :
Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System; Satoshi Nakamoto