Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) are a new and revolutionary form of organizations that manage assets and activities with smart contracts on a blockchain. In the early days of Ethereum, a DAO called “the DAO” was able to gather 14 per cent of the total supply of Ethereum tokens worth about USD 150 million at the time. The subsequent hack of “the DAO” led to a temporary halt in the development of DAOs.
Please find the registration here: DAO Symposium Members of the data innovation alliance can register for free with the code provided by the Expert Group! If you did not receive the code, please contact one of the Expert Group leads.
Blockchain Technology in Interorganisational Collaboration
Data-Driven Business Models
and exchange expertise. Get inspired by the keynote and network during the coffee break. For data innovation alliance members the event is followed by the General Assembly and an apero. Let’s foster the community for Applied Data Science in this event.
Agenda
13:15 Welcome
13:15 – 14:45 Expert Groups in 4 Breakout Rooms
14:45 – 15:30 Coffee break
15:30 – 16:00 Keynote – Erika Meins, La Mobilière «Using the Force of Analytics for Responsible Digital Interactions»
16:00 – 16:15 Break
16:15 – 17:15 General Assembly (formal part)
17:15 Apero
Detailed Program
13:15 – 14:45 Expert Groups (running in parallel):
Expert Group: Spatial Data Analytics – Geospatial insights for all – from unique applications to future trends The Power of Where – this frequently used statement underscores the importance of spatial data and spatial data analytics. All people interested in spatial data are invited to actively participate and/or get an entertaining insight into the world of geospatial data. Take the opportunity to make new contacts and exchange ideas with experts from industry and research. In this open event, we will take a tour of your favourite datasets, look at the most unusual and fun applications, and discuss together trends in geospatial data and future challenges. Of course, current infrastructure topics such as low code platforms (GEE & friends), new machine learning concepts and applications (image segmentation, tiny ML & Co) and data creation/access developments (Open Data & GDPR) will not be missed. Intellectual nourishment is guaranteed.
Expert Group: Big Data and AI Technologies De-buzz AI, Thierry Bücheler, Oracle «AI» is discussed as the solution for many problems on almost all levels – from exec boards down to the deepest and darkest hacker hide-outs. But what is it, really? This short impulse will try to de-buzz AI to a certain extent by using real-world examples across industries, supporting the following theses: – AI is not really about “intelligence” today – Only rarely it is about developing algorithms – And it is also not about bringing together data from different sources technically So what’s the focus in real-world applications right now? What are some examples where «AI» makes a difference? Talking to Data: Building Natural Language Interfaces for Databases, Kurt Stockinger, ZHAW Information systems are the core of modern enterprises and scientific exploration. They are often based on fundamental research developed in the database community. While enterprise data is typically stored in relational databases, data-intensive scientific disciplines such as bioinformatics often store their data in graph databases. To query these databases, end-users need to know the formal query languages SQL or SPARQL as well as the logical structure of the databases. However, even for technology experts it is very challenging to write the right queries to retrieve the desired data. Hence, a large part of the end-users is basically not able to effectively query their databases. In this talk we discuss how to build intelligent information systems that enable end-users to talk to their data similar to humans. The major goal is to combine artificial intelligence with human intelligence for novel ways of data exploration. In particular, we will show how we have built various natural language interfaces for databases using pattern-based and machine learning-based approaches to significantly increase the productivity of scientists and knowledge workers when interacting with data. We demonstrate that our system INODE (Intelligent Open Data Exploration), which we have been building as part of a European Union project with 9 partners across Europe, is uniquely accessible to a wide range of users from large scientific communities to the public. Finally, we elaborate on the lessons learned when developing such a system and discuss how the technology can be enhanced by researchers or knowledge workers for exploring their own databases in natural language.
Expert Group: Blockchain Technology in Interorganisational Collaboration Zurich has a new blockchain-based local currency: the “LEU”, which has already been discussed in the press. The LEU is a currency and at the same time also a basic income that one receives by actively participating in the community. Although the LEU is based on blockchain technology, it has little to do with speculative cryptocurrencies: to receive the LEU, you have to meet regularly with members of the community. You can spend the LEU in local businesses in Zurich to promote the local economy. The association Encointer will present the exciting LEU project and talk about the current developments and possibilities of such an alternative currency. After a short introduction, we will cover the following topics. – Introduction of Polkadot and Kusama Ecosystem. – Parachains and their advantages – Proof of personhood and sybill attacks – Encointer vision, protocols and global communities – Status quo and field report Leu in Zurich At the end we have some time to install the Encointer wallet and interact with it.
Expert Group: Data-Driven Business Models Data-driven business models have become relevant to companies and organizations. According to Gartner back in 2018, 85% of AI use cases were not successful or did not live up to expectations. Where do we stand today? – What is the potential in data driven business models we still haven’t addressed – and why not? In this workshop, we will discuss success factors & challenges of AI projects. Among experts and practitioners we will exchange our experiences and share insights. As a take away, we will be equipped with a set of hands-on best practices, ready to be applied in our environments.
15:30 – 16:00 – Keynote Speech Erika Meins, La Mobilière, Head of Mobiliar Lab for Analytics at ETH Zurich“Using the Force of Analytics for Responsible Digital Interactions”
Virtual Reality to reduce stress, telematics to prevent road accidents or augmented reality to improve collaboration? Erika Meins illustrates some of the opportunities of advanced analytics and new digital technologies for society – and provides a brief look at the dark side.
In the recent years, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) on the blockchain have emerged as a new form of organization. In its 15th meeting, the Expert Group had the chance to visit the ETH student project house and see a prototype of how a DAO in the physical world could look like.
Hongyang Wang presented no1s1, a house that owns itself. Since no1s1 belongs to no one but itself, no single entity can decide the fate of it. However, no1s1 interacts with its users. While the primary purpose of no1s1 is clearly to sustain its existence, its usage might vary over time. To cope with changing needs of its users and its environment, no1s1 needs to adapt over time. This needs proper governance mechanisms to define the community’s and individual’s rights, obligations, and responsibilities as well as the related processes.
Next, Anto Maric presented his concept for handling maintenance of no1s1 and the group had an open discussion about the possibilities and hurdles of maintaining a physical DAO.
After the insightful look into DAOs with a physical presence, the group moved on to an apero.
Dear Expert Group members We invite you to the 15th meeting of our Expert Group at the ETH Student Project House, Clausiusstrasse 16, 8006 Zürich
Agenda / Topics:
16:00
No1s1 – A house that owns itself This on-going DAO research project between the ETH, UZH and ZHAW explores new possibilities to create self-owning things with blockchain and the internet of things applied to physical spaces. ETH PhD student Hongyang Wang will present the first prototype and demonstrate its functionality – be ready to interact as well with the house (https://no1s1.space/index)!
17:00
Workshop: Maintenance of No1s1 How can No1s1 take care for itself in case it needs cleaning or is broken. What other maintenance work is important? How can this be done in a decentralized way? Anto Maric is looking at these questions in his bachelor thesis and will present his ideas. Your expertise will be needed to challenge, discuss and evaluate his concepts.
Afterwards
Drinks in The Alehouse Universitätstrasse 23, 8006 Zürich (in case you would like to check already now the tap list with 20 beers: https://www.alehouse.ch/#taplist)
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact any of the Expert Group leaders.
The 14th meeting of the expert group “Blockchain Technology in Interorganisational Collaboration” was a special event. The expert group hosted the NFT Symposium in Winterthur on the 2nd December with more than 100 participants.
NFTs – non-fungible tokens – have become a major topic not only in the art space, but also beyond. This technological development based on blockchain technology allows to create ownership of digital assets. The most famous NFT art piece (Everydays from Beeple) has been sold for 69 million USD. Also, the Swiss post has issued so-called crypto-stamps. NFTs has even been given the top spot on ArtReview‘s annual Art Power 100 list. Enough reasons to take a closer look at this novel phenomenon.
The event started with a speech from an art historian, Dr. Yvonne Schweizer from the University of Berne. She showed that it is always worthwhile to look back to see what has happened in the past: The idea of digital scarcity is by no means new. Previous artists have already found ways to create digital ownerships, e.g., with contracts. Interestingly, Yvonne also showed that currently there is a split between the traditional art market (mainly frequented by the “boomer” generation) and the crypto market (Generation Z).
After this enlightening talk, Dr. Daniel Diemers allowed us to take a glance into the future. NFTs are not merely important in the art market, they are the building blocks for the metaverse (as for example envisioned by the company Meta, previously Facebook). They allow for the creation of new digital worlds in which users trade and interacts with each other. Already today, such digital worlds (Decentraland, Sandbox) are worth billions. In the metaverse, we will see the convergence of several different technologies (AI, VR, AR, Blockchain) and all of this is guided by NFTs.
After the symposium, the participants exchanged ideas and their astonishment on this new technology during an apéro.
Was steckt hinter dem Phänomen NFT? Dieser Frage wollen wir am 02. Dezember in der Aula in Winterthur im Rahmen unserer Expertengruppe Blockchain Technology in Interorganisational Collaboration der Data Innovation Alliance nachgehen. In Zusammenarbeit mit dem Institute for Organizational Viability und dem UZH Blockchain Center veranstalten wir ein öffentliches Symposium.
The 13th meeting of the expert group “Blockchain Technology in Interorganisational Collaboration” took place on the evening of the 30th of September.
At the beginning of the meeting, the group discussed the topic of a Swiss e-ID. The members were able to exchange valuable insights regarding self-sovereign identity. Self-sovereign identity enables individuals to have control over their digital identity. Due to its immutability, blockchain technology can enable self-sovereign identity. Wallet recovery, scalability and API availability are the main issues being worked on in this field right now. The group decided to send a joint statement with implementation recommendations to the federal office of justice.
Because it has been a long time since the last in-person meeting, the remainder of the time was used by the members to share ongoing blockchain projects and their status, recent blockchain-related news and lessons learned. Talking points included the issue of scaling and potential solutions to it and decentralized autonomous organizations.
After the meeting, the informal part of the meeting continued with a beer at the local pub.
The Blockchain Expert Group will finally meet in person again! Look forward to seeing each other to discuss interesting topics over a beverage together.
Please note that the standard safety guide lines still apply. For questions and further information please don’t hesitate to contact any of the Group leaders.
16:00: Exchange of experiences with Blockchain in the last year Afterwards: Social exchange in the nearby garden
On the 29th of April the Expert Group Blockchain will have their next meeting. You can find the program in the invitation. To participate please use the link sent to you or register with the form below. We are looking forward to meeting you there!
We want to discuss within the group possible ideas to jointly generate concrete outcomes.
We would like to ask you to send us inputs prior to the meeting. What are some hot topics we should work on? Where is cooperation of the industry and academia desired?
16:00-17:30: Workshop with Vitus Ammann, SBB (Open for Guests)
Inspired by the Blockchain: Digital certificates at SBB and how the benefits can be maximized.
Based on the principles of decentralized data management and a common truth that cannot be falsified, SBB has developed a pilot for access control and its auditable proof for the Gotthard Base Tunnel that promises massive process improvements across companies.
The expert group is invited both to challenge the approach and to discuss ways of making it usable for as many companies as possible.