Periodic Reporting for period 2 - NGI_TRUST (Partnership for innovative technological solutions to ensure privacy and enhance trust for the human-centric Internet)
Reporting period: 2020-06-01 to 2021-11-30
NGI Trust supported the development of a human-centric Internet by fostering a stronger European ecosystem of researchers, innovators and technology developers in the field of privacy and trust enhancing technologies. The project had four overall objectives:
1.Reinforce structure and develop the community of researchers, innovators and technology developers in the field of privacy and trust enhancing technologies
2.Build on the state of the art in privacy and trust enhancing technologies by focusing support for third-party projects in a limited number of priority topics.
3.Improve user trust and acceptance of emerging technologies by focusing on applications and solutions that develop a more open, robust and dependable Internet and strengthen Internet Governance.
4.Foster the exploitation and commercialisation of the results of selected third-party projects through a tailored process of coaching and mentoring.
1.Reinforce structure and develop the community of researchers, innovators and technology developers in the field of privacy and trust enhancing technologies
2.Build on the state of the art in privacy and trust enhancing technologies by focusing support for third-party projects in a limited number of priority topics.
3.Improve user trust and acceptance of emerging technologies by focusing on applications and solutions that develop a more open, robust and dependable Internet and strengthen Internet Governance.
4.Foster the exploitation and commercialisation of the results of selected third-party projects through a tailored process of coaching and mentoring.
NGI Trust organised three open calls to engage with different players working at various technology readiness levels (TRL) in order to explore topics that are critical to build the NGI.
1st Open Call:
•109 proposals received and 18 (16.5%) funded.
•The total funding allocated to the third-party projects by NGI Trust was €2,112,723 and own funds mobilised of €913,292.
2nd Open Call:
•79 proposals received and 19 (24.1%) funded.
•The total funding allocated to third-party projects was €1,582,093 and own funds mobilised of €394,898.
3rd Open Call:
•112 proposals received and 20 (17,8%) funded.
•The total funding allocated to the third-party projects was €2,025,336 and own funds mobilised of €1,270,608.
Key NGI Trust impacts are:
The majority of projects showed significant progress along the innovation funnel.
Projects developed important technology and frameworks to be accessible to everybody, by developing partly and fully open-source solutions.
NGI Trust mobilised third-party stakeholders in Europe and stimulated like-minded partnerships.
A key result of NGI Trust project has been its capacity to develop informal communities of practice.
1st Open Call:
•109 proposals received and 18 (16.5%) funded.
•The total funding allocated to the third-party projects by NGI Trust was €2,112,723 and own funds mobilised of €913,292.
2nd Open Call:
•79 proposals received and 19 (24.1%) funded.
•The total funding allocated to third-party projects was €1,582,093 and own funds mobilised of €394,898.
3rd Open Call:
•112 proposals received and 20 (17,8%) funded.
•The total funding allocated to the third-party projects was €2,025,336 and own funds mobilised of €1,270,608.
Key NGI Trust impacts are:
The majority of projects showed significant progress along the innovation funnel.
Projects developed important technology and frameworks to be accessible to everybody, by developing partly and fully open-source solutions.
NGI Trust mobilised third-party stakeholders in Europe and stimulated like-minded partnerships.
A key result of NGI Trust project has been its capacity to develop informal communities of practice.
The projects funded by the first call addressed the following topics:
1. That we need to move beyond passwords and find a better way for users to manage the complexity of shared secrets and technical trust. Four projects (Keyn, COP-MODE, CryRev, and TCN) worked in this area, looking at how we can use our mobile devices more effectively as tokens instead of the need for passwords, how we can better protect data on our mobile devices, and how we can improve the way that cryptography is used on hardware and in the core of our internet infrastructure.
2. That it is essential for us to provide better privacy, particularly in areas where data is more sensitive and in how we present privacy information to our users. Four projects (b-smart, Edge-TINC, CAP-A and MyPCH) looked at how we can both protect and utilise health data, how we deal with managing large amounts of data in the cloud and how we can better support users in understanding the legal issues around consenting to use services.
3. That safer browsing is essential to an ecosystem of privacy and trust. Three projects (CASPER, D4S, and ISIBUD) looked at providing better informed safety for children online that doesn’t block access unnecessarily to useful information, how we can improve VPN technology to provide a better user experience and how we can support the users needs more effectively in internet search rather than being driven by the wants of advertisers.
4. To achieve a truly human-centric Internet, we need to have user control. The complexity and options when navigating a globally connected internet can be a daunting task. Six projects (Cozy Cloud, EUACTIVE, DECIDE, Protect Yourself, INSTANT, and Decentralised Messaging) focused on user control to ease the decision making and customisation of settings to give the user a role in their internet.
The projects funded by the second call addressed the following topics:
1. The Impact of AI is being seen in the daily lives of all of us, with growing concerns about the security and privacy of the Internet of Things. Six projects were funded under this theme (Amnesia, COSCA, FAIR-AI, IZI, SePrice and TRUSTRULES) looking at issues such as bias and fairness in AI, data stored by and used by cars, IOT sensors, machine learning, IOT certification and more.
2. Putting humans back at the centre of our technology is a core goal for NGI Trust. Five funded projects (BitofTrust, DECTS, LegiCrowd, PRIMAL and TrustedUX) focused on the Human-Centric Internet. These projects worked on mapping human-trust to technical solutions, support for marginalised and disabled users, designing privacy in UX design and security of sensitive data.
3. Many of the tools we use in our daily lives are now critical to how we live and work, but often have security and design flaws that are overlooked for usability reasons. Three projects (Cryptpad, MQ2M, and SID:SO&C) focused on building Stronger Tools, including use of cryptography in modern collaboration tools, the use of quantum-cryptography, and improved tooling for supporting digital rights.
4. Our interactions online often require us to make use of digital identity solutions and it is challenging for users to understand the best way to share, and not share, personally identifiable information. Four projects (DISSENS, MW4ALL, MidPrivacy and PURPETS) focused on providing Effective Identity solutions to users. These projects looked at a wide range of identity problems such as payment solutions and file transfer solutions without identity management, provenance of identity information and issues with the “privacy paradox” of when to share information.
The projects funded by the third call addressed the following topics:
1. There is a strong interest in personal data management with the desire to both give users more control of their own data and to reduce the amount of data in the hands of commercial companies. Six projects (DappNode, Cassiopeia, PaE Consent Gateway, Solid4DS, APPSE and GeoWallet) looked at these issues from a variety of different angles including data sovereignty, control of mobility data and policy requirements.
2. Alongside security and privacy, we need to think about data ethics and fundamental principles about data usage and the safety of users based on this data. This category included five projects (IRIS, DeepFake, Casper 2.0 FAIR-AI 2.0 and TruVeLedger) looking at ethical issues with licensing, fake news, safety issues with vehicle data and access to the internet for children.
3. The growing use of smart devices at home, in offices and on the move creates significant issues with securing the Internet of Things. Five projects (MedIAM, TOTEM, PRIMA, IoTrust, and PY-2.0) explored the many use cases in which we rely on IoT approaches, including smart medical devices, the connected home and remote working, privacy concerns in data collection and security of devices.
4. We have the opportunity of advancing identity approaches as we learn more about how our identities are used online. Four projects (AnonymAI, MW4ALL 2.0 Keyn 2.0 and MidScale) looked at issues including identity free approaches to every-day tasks, automatic anonymisation of data and strengthening identity management systems. Several of these projects were advancing ideas already explored in previous NGI Trust funding rounds.
1. That we need to move beyond passwords and find a better way for users to manage the complexity of shared secrets and technical trust. Four projects (Keyn, COP-MODE, CryRev, and TCN) worked in this area, looking at how we can use our mobile devices more effectively as tokens instead of the need for passwords, how we can better protect data on our mobile devices, and how we can improve the way that cryptography is used on hardware and in the core of our internet infrastructure.
2. That it is essential for us to provide better privacy, particularly in areas where data is more sensitive and in how we present privacy information to our users. Four projects (b-smart, Edge-TINC, CAP-A and MyPCH) looked at how we can both protect and utilise health data, how we deal with managing large amounts of data in the cloud and how we can better support users in understanding the legal issues around consenting to use services.
3. That safer browsing is essential to an ecosystem of privacy and trust. Three projects (CASPER, D4S, and ISIBUD) looked at providing better informed safety for children online that doesn’t block access unnecessarily to useful information, how we can improve VPN technology to provide a better user experience and how we can support the users needs more effectively in internet search rather than being driven by the wants of advertisers.
4. To achieve a truly human-centric Internet, we need to have user control. The complexity and options when navigating a globally connected internet can be a daunting task. Six projects (Cozy Cloud, EUACTIVE, DECIDE, Protect Yourself, INSTANT, and Decentralised Messaging) focused on user control to ease the decision making and customisation of settings to give the user a role in their internet.
The projects funded by the second call addressed the following topics:
1. The Impact of AI is being seen in the daily lives of all of us, with growing concerns about the security and privacy of the Internet of Things. Six projects were funded under this theme (Amnesia, COSCA, FAIR-AI, IZI, SePrice and TRUSTRULES) looking at issues such as bias and fairness in AI, data stored by and used by cars, IOT sensors, machine learning, IOT certification and more.
2. Putting humans back at the centre of our technology is a core goal for NGI Trust. Five funded projects (BitofTrust, DECTS, LegiCrowd, PRIMAL and TrustedUX) focused on the Human-Centric Internet. These projects worked on mapping human-trust to technical solutions, support for marginalised and disabled users, designing privacy in UX design and security of sensitive data.
3. Many of the tools we use in our daily lives are now critical to how we live and work, but often have security and design flaws that are overlooked for usability reasons. Three projects (Cryptpad, MQ2M, and SID:SO&C) focused on building Stronger Tools, including use of cryptography in modern collaboration tools, the use of quantum-cryptography, and improved tooling for supporting digital rights.
4. Our interactions online often require us to make use of digital identity solutions and it is challenging for users to understand the best way to share, and not share, personally identifiable information. Four projects (DISSENS, MW4ALL, MidPrivacy and PURPETS) focused on providing Effective Identity solutions to users. These projects looked at a wide range of identity problems such as payment solutions and file transfer solutions without identity management, provenance of identity information and issues with the “privacy paradox” of when to share information.
The projects funded by the third call addressed the following topics:
1. There is a strong interest in personal data management with the desire to both give users more control of their own data and to reduce the amount of data in the hands of commercial companies. Six projects (DappNode, Cassiopeia, PaE Consent Gateway, Solid4DS, APPSE and GeoWallet) looked at these issues from a variety of different angles including data sovereignty, control of mobility data and policy requirements.
2. Alongside security and privacy, we need to think about data ethics and fundamental principles about data usage and the safety of users based on this data. This category included five projects (IRIS, DeepFake, Casper 2.0 FAIR-AI 2.0 and TruVeLedger) looking at ethical issues with licensing, fake news, safety issues with vehicle data and access to the internet for children.
3. The growing use of smart devices at home, in offices and on the move creates significant issues with securing the Internet of Things. Five projects (MedIAM, TOTEM, PRIMA, IoTrust, and PY-2.0) explored the many use cases in which we rely on IoT approaches, including smart medical devices, the connected home and remote working, privacy concerns in data collection and security of devices.
4. We have the opportunity of advancing identity approaches as we learn more about how our identities are used online. Four projects (AnonymAI, MW4ALL 2.0 Keyn 2.0 and MidScale) looked at issues including identity free approaches to every-day tasks, automatic anonymisation of data and strengthening identity management systems. Several of these projects were advancing ideas already explored in previous NGI Trust funding rounds.