Zero-Chain: A Blockchain-Based Identity for Digital City Operating System

The challenges of population management as urban density increase globally have compelled researchers and developers to consider more efficient means of managing resources in cities. Consequently, the smart city concept has emerged as a response to addressing the challenge of optimal resource utilization in urban centers. However, with digital technologies proliferating as key components of the solution, it is necessary to develop a digital identity solution for all components of the smart city environment. For completeness, the solution must encompass all entities, including physical and intangible assets, processes, and most importantly, its residents. Consequently, a unified, distributed data integration and efficient analysis platform is required: the digital city operating system. In this article, we focus on a key component of digital city management in the form of secure identification of individual residents. We collect user attributes and securely transmit them to other system components for verification. Upon successful completion of the verification process, a digital identity is created for the applying resident and the set of transactions leading to the ID creation are stored in the blockchain. Our system is secure and can serve as the basis for the development of a digital infrastructure for smart city management.