Challenge Overview 

1.Overview
 
In this challenge, we are looking for a new Use Case Ideas using Fujitsu Laboratory’s new technology “VPX (Virtual Private digital eXchange)”.
VPX is a network technology platform that uses Blockchain, to provide businesses with fair and secure sharing of Digital Resources (Data or Micro Service for example. Please refer to Chapter 1.2.1 for the details) between multiple companies, organizations, or users.
 
The client is looking for great new ideas that expands the current business of Digital Resource sharing!  Good Luck!

PLEASE NOTE: There will be a checkpoint you can submit for in order to receive feedback and potentially one of five $100 prizes - In order to be eligible for a checkpoint prize you must submit to this challenge by  8/28(Wed) - 18:00 EST. - We've detailed exactly what we're expecting as outputs below. Please refer “Checkpoint” section below.

1.1.Background

 
The client aims to develop a platform that can effectivity use various digital resources produced in the world between mutual users.
 
With the rise of technology such as AI and IoT, digital resources have dramatically increased in recent years, and this increasing tendency is expected to continue. We think that the world becomes more convenient if these resources can be shared and used by multiple companies or individuals. However, in the reality of many cases, digital resources are only used by digital resource owner (initial creator) and not been exchanged with others.
 
Tools and platforms that can exchange digital resource already exists today.
These tools and platforms have digital resource owner upload digital resources to servers in the cloud, then have the user of the digital resources (who is different from the owner) search in the cloud and download them.
 
However, this process won’t help digital resources owners to actively share digital resources with others. The reason is that although the digital resources owner hesitates to make the digital resources public, they will need to provide their digital resources to a 3rd party vendor operating the servers in order to exchange data with others.
 
Moreover, these digital resources owners who seek strongly for secure protection for their digital resources, would need to rely on 3rd party cloud vendor for security and privacy issues.
 
For above situations and reasonings, Fujitsu Laboratories has developed "VPX" - a network platform technology that provides fair and secure exchanges of digital resources between multiple companies, organizations, and users, based on P2P technology and open source Blockchain.
 
By using this VPX, digital resources owners will be able to participate in a distribution group of digital resources while keeping their digital resources on his own site or servers.  Also, exchange of these digital resources can be done within a distributed system that connects between the participants by network makes it possible not to rely on a 3rd party site or servers.
 

 
 
Following is the actual flow of how digital resources are exchanged using VPX.

• Participating members set up the VPX Gateway on their own site to participate in P2P network.
• Members participating in the network register summary and address of their digital resource as metadata in the VPX. The metadata is written and shared by distributed ledger of Blockchain, where all the members can refer to. 
• Participating members can discover digital resources by seeking through these metadata, and able to access them by following the address written.
• Importantly, the providers of digital resource can define granular access policy of who can discover and access these digital resources.
• VPX uses Blockchain smart contract functions to specify and enforce the specified access policy.  This smart contract has the capability to check whether the access request from a single VPX gateway is legit (if it’s following the access policy accurately as defined) using the consensus recognition between other VPX gateways joining this network.

 
 
 
The client seeks a world where digital resource are disclosed aggressively and the use of digital resources is accelerated positively, eliminating digital resource owner’s security concerns by utilizing this VPX technology.
 
There are already use cases (as explained in Chapter 1.3 [1]) which uses VPX for data exchange between companies and organizations.
 
For this challenge, the client is looking for a unique and new service, or a new way of providing existing service that can leverage this technology for future developments of VPX outside the use cases already made.
Your idea can either be a new and concrete service proposals for data exchange or can be completely new service that do not involve data exchange but leveraging the VPX.
 
Can you come up with unique ideas and use cases that can leverage VPX?
 

1.2.Task Detail

 
For this challenge, we are expecting unique idea and use cases using the VPX technology as explained above.
The client is looking for unique and detailed idea that is beneficial, clear, and easily understandable to the users following below points.
 
1. Present unique ideas of a new service or a new way of implementing existing services utilizing the feature of VPX. You must specify clearly what are the unique and new points of your ideas. Idea can be a new service for data exchange as given in existing use cases in the Chapter 1.3 [1], or a completely new service idea not dependent to data exchange.
 
2. Give high level architecture, function details, and overview of the process of your unique idea. The process should clearly specify (1) who creates, (2) what kind of digital resources, (3) who consumes those resources, (4) for what reason, (5) how (or what kind of rules should apply), and more if necessary. You should also clearly state the benefit of VPX technology for your idea. If necessary, you can add enhancements to current features of VPX; for example, you can add new process into the smart contract of Blockchain. For existing features of VPX, please refer to Chapter 1.2.2
   
3. If you are presenting completely new service idea, you must clearly mention the benefit of the End User. Otherwise, if you are going to present idea based on existing service, you must clearly mention what the benefit will be comparing with the conventional way of providing the service.
From these benefits, logically explain how many users of what kind of users / attributes are expected to participate using VPX. An idea that can logically explain VPX to be used by more people is considered better.
 
Also, when writing your idea, you should consider and mention about following 4 points;
 
1.2.1.  Digital Resources: What kind of digital resources is your idea going to exchange within VPX?
 
“Digital resource(s)” mentioned in this spec is about the actual items distributed within the VPX network.
Inside VPX network, the platform exposes an API endpoint with granular access policies that let’s owners to distribute digital resources to target users.
As the technology uses API to exchange digital resources, example resources can be anything like following but not limited to;

• Data
  • Users can download data directly from the owner’s site through API
• Microservice (Process, Device Actuation, etc)
  • Owner (or a provider) can develop their own microservice and expose it’s service API within VPX. Metadata can hold information about this API, where authorized users will be able to use the service. For example, one can think of some service to count a people in a video, where the user submits video.  Another example would be an API that can run some devices where metadata holds information about the commands that can be sent.

 
1.2.2. Target Users and Services: What kind of user is going to use your unique service?

• You are free to define target industries or target end users (such as the owner of digital resources and it’s consumers). You can also define an intermediate agent if necessary.
• If you are giving idea of new service, you must clearly state the feasibility and the benefit to end users. Because the service won’t spread without any benefits.
• if you are going to present idea based on existing service, you must clearly mention what the benefit will be comparing with the conventional way of providing the service.  The benefit does not necessarily have to be for end users, for example: lowering the cost of service agents etc. is fine. 

 
1.2.3.  Features specific to VPX: How is your service using features of VPX?
 
Main features of VPX are the 4 functions listed as following. Please also see the document* explaining a VPX in little more depth( *need to be registered ):

• Share metadata that includes brief description and address of digital resources using distributed ledger of Blockchain
• Flexible setup of access policies which can be defined by the owner of digital resources
• Access control of those access policies enforced by smart contract.
• Stores trace logs of entire process - from registration of metadata to the access of each digital resources.

 
You should explain your idea based on the features above. Below is a detailed description of some of these features.
 
1.2.3.1. Access policy management of digital resources by its owners
 
Owner of digital resources can setup access policies to individual users freely within VPX.
Access policy can be set statically, but also programmatically or automatically as well. For example, we could think about setting access policies based on time, where user can download files from owner’s site during business hours only.
 
Furthermore, current function of VPX only allows to attach access policies based on end users and the digital resource. But you are welcome to expand the idea to set access policies to digital resources other than each user.
 
1.2.3.2.  Management of access logs and trails
 
With the Blockchain device, it is possible to manage and save the logs and trails of businesses who accessed Digital Resources when processing registration, searching, and retrieval.  
As a feature of Blockchain, all process during registration of digital resources, searching of those digital resources, and retrieving those digital resources are tracked and stored within the platform.

Following features could be thought to utilize this feature:
 

• Confirm status transitions of digital resources
• Transability of the exchanges made
• Track access of digital resources to calculate popularities that can be used for recommendations
• etc.

 

1.2.4. Features utilizing Blockchain : Can you come up with the reason using Blockchain technology in your idea?

 
VPX is a system based on Blockchain. If your idea can be seen beneficial because it’s using Blockchain and you can logically mention the reason behind it than using traditional technology, that is considered as plus. Following are some use case depending on Blockchain that might be useful to base your idea on;
 

• Where user sees benefit from ledgers that is extremely difficult to tamper within the secure digital resource distribution mechanism that VPX provides.
• Where number of members involved in a VPX network can be increased because digital resource exchanges can be done only between the members without any administrators getting involved.

 

2. Materials

 
2.1. Examples Use Cases
 
2.1.1. Sharing data between tenants inside a commercial building
 
As one can imagine, sharing customer data, amounts sold in each store, and other store data in a building is highly useful for other stores in the same building or nearby building stores.
In many cases, these data are highly confidential that although each store knows the value of its data, they will only want to exchange within known parties.
 
VPX was introduced by a building owner to the consortium made up by its tenants, where tenants can use other tenant’s data to expand their own business, with granular access policy who can see which data.
 
VPX was able to expand the exchange and usage of data by reassuring tenants with granular access policies and ease to become a member and join this VPX network.
 
Please refer here.
 
 
2.1.2. Sharing medical information between hospitals and clinics
 
If multiple hospitals and medical clinics can share their incident or accident information, that could hugely increase the quality of healthcare services that they provide.
This information is highly confidential and could not be uploaded to 3rd party file sharing service to share.
 
With VPX, medical institution can now share sensitive data with others. Also, with its granular access policies, an institution can only share within some group of institutions, such as only to surgical departments in the network.
 
 
 
2.1.3. Drone-led Evacuation from Tsunami and Grasping disaster situation in real-time
 
Several organization including Fujitsu conducted an experiment to obtain damage situation caused by natural disasters in real time from images taken from a drone.

These damage situation and images are shared inside VPX, where for example, a resident alerting service provider could become a member of this VPX network.
The service provider consumes the data and send out evacuation alert emails to home residents within the region.
 
Please refer here.
 

 

2.2. Other source of references to VPX

[1] Fujitsu Puts Blockchain to Use for “Virtuora DX” Data Distribution and Utilization Service
http://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/resources/news/press-releases/2018/0514-02.html
 
[2] Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Blockchain Could Make Games a Tourist’s Dream
https://www.newsweek.com/tokyo-2020-olympics-blockchain-could-make-games-tourists-dream-928721
 
[3] Applying Blockchain Technology to Utilize Secure Data across Multiple Industries
http://journal.jp.fujitsu.com/en/2017/08/22/01/
 
[4] Fujitsu Develops Blockchain-based Software for a Secure Data Exchange Network
http://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/resources/news/press-releases/2017/0605-01.html

 

3.Submission

Contents

1. Title:  Title of your idea
2. Explanation:  Overview and detailed description of idea. You should follow the items explained in Task Details section, but in brief, following points must be clearly written: 
   1. Detail description of your idea which should be new service utilizing features of VPX, or an existing service that can benefit when using VPX.
   2. Describe your idea with high level architecture, function details, and overview of the process of your unique idea. Using diagrams is highly recommended. In case your idea needs to expand some features of VPX, provide details of that feature.
   3. Explain clearly the end user benefits if your idea is about a new service. If your idea is based on existing service, explain clearly how VPX is beneficial than the existing process.
3. Additional materials (as necessary)

Format

• Ideas must be submitted in MS Word or PDF file format, max 5 pages (2-3 pages are recommended)
• It should be written in English.

• Using charts, diagrams and tables to explain your ideas is highly encouraged.

 

4. Judging Criteria 

Premise:
Descriptions of your ideas must be written clearly and logically.

High Level architecture, detailed description of the functions, and description of business flow (process) is necessary for that purpose.

1. Novelty (30%) : Idea should be explained as a new service or new way of realizing existing service. You should present the benefit by mentioning the existing process then clearly showing the comparison of your idea’s benefit if possible.
2. Feasibility (35%): Presented idea should be feasible to implement. You should clearly describe with high level system structure, architecture overview, feature list and details, and the process/flow. 
3. Beneficial (35%): Please describe benefits and effectiveness of your idea. Explain logically the expectation of the type of users and assumed number of users who will access VPX. Idea with larger number of users is considered as plus. 

Checkpoint

We are awarding 5 checkpoint prizes at $100 for each chosen winner. You do not have to submit for checkpoint to earn final prizes. But in order to qualify for the checkpoint prizes you must submit to the final round. The timeline for checkpoint is as follows:

• Checkpoint Due: 8/28(Wed) - 18:00 EST
• Checkpoint Feedback: 8/31(Fri) - 8:00 EST

Checkpoint output
 
1. Title: Title of your idea
2. Description: High level overview / statement of your idea
 

 

Final Submission Guidelines

Submission Guideline

You can submit multiple solutions in the same zip file. But note that the same member can’t win two prizes at the same time.