Semantic Blockchain Software Tools and Services for Trustworthy Applications - ONTOCHAIN

In the last years, we have seen the rise of Blockchain technology as a new way that enables trust and fair exchange of digital and physical assets among different actors, however, its usability in software engineering remains unexplored. In this context, various stakeholders have expressed interest in combining Blockchain technology with other well-known technologies such as the Semantic Web. Blockchain and Semantic Web technologies are both about building trust, and both represent some shared conceptualization. Hence, we explore new approaches to achieving trust in highly decentralized, semantically complex, and dynamic environments. In this paper, we propose a new software framework called ONTOCHAIN, a set of ontologies, blockchains, tools, and services that combine semantic web and blockchain technologies and may be used to build trustworthy decentralized applications (dApps). It addresses challenges faced by citizens in online services, such as unknown provenance of information, service provider quality, fake news, fraud, and privacy violations. ONTOCHAIN offers high-level application protocols for data provenance, reputation models, decentralized oracles, and more. It also includes core protocols for authorization, certification, privacy-aware data processing, and identity management. We demonstrate the feasibility of implementing Next Generation Internet dApps using these protocols, enhancing trust and security in online services.