Homework on Provenance - Questions

[freshmattybe]

Provenance:

How does blockchain enable digital provenance?

Transactions are chained together through time and can’t be modified, so there is a permanent record of something.

Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?

Structure and accessibility are probably the main issues. Reporting and auditing will always be a custom job. Standardized online tools and techniques aren’t possible. I work in a big IT shop. The idea that transaction data will be tampered with because the data is centralized doesn’t resonate with me. There are a huge number of controls in place in any medium to large business where auditing is routine. Data management in centralized databases (which is the norm) is a very evolved process, and the scale of this is off the charts. Not easy to manipulate.

Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?

It should enable small business to reduce the cost of external audits and general business reporting toolage.There are also several use cases I can think of where chain of custody (provenance?) is really important. I would think - but don’t know - that smaller businesses can build a narrative around the provenance of assets in a blockchain.

[Alec_Calzada]

Homework on Provenance - Alec’s Answers

1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
   On the blochchain every transaction is permanently recorded on a public accounting document referred to as a Ledger. Set in stone so to speak. It cannot be erased. Since it’s recorded published publicly through the internet this allows anyone with internet access to review and audit all of the transactions. This is digital provenance.

2. Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
   Normal databases are private to provide security and prevent tampering or manipulation of data. The blockchain’s data is immutable by design (encrypted using 256 bit hash function) making tampering or manipulation of the data practically impossible. Especially as the blockchain becomes more public. The more nodes the more difficult and expensive to to try and “cheat” the system.

3. Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?
   Being able to quickly access and audit the transaction on the blockchain without the need for hiring an auditing company means more accurate data, faster and cheaper. Additionally, it has major benefits for future business applications.

[FerfiC]

How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
It’s decentralization and obligation from all ledgers to verify every transaction, and therefore the validation, makes it impossible to corrupt the chain. Since we cannot remove information, just add, guarantees that all the blocks can be traced back to its origin.
Being public, everyone can check it.

Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
Just because a normal database is run by trust, and that said, it accepts “everything” a user adds of removes from it. Any item can be rewritten, copied or deleted, depending in the degree of security of the user.
In a normal database it’s up the company to define the boundaries, when the process ends and begins, limiting the traceability (or provenance) of all assets.

Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?
Digital provenance grants the possibility to see all processes as clear as water. Removing the human factor from equation (aka trust) and relying just in numbers, in every stage of the process, the block is written in real time, let us know the status of the processes on-time.
Therefore, in my humble opinion, it’s an unexplored tool that can give all businesses inputs where to optimize, search for bottlenecks, granting over time, smoother processes and a better product in the end.

[Alexcus]

1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
   All the data about one specific transaction are written on the blockchain therefore the information are pubblic and cannot be remove or changed once the transaction is completed.

2. Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
   Because the accounting and transfer data are separated and not always complete, moreover sombody is needed to check all the data.

3. Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?
   Because it is thrustless.

[magicnum3er1]

1.By providing an immutable ledger where every new data entry needs to be confirmed by the whole network.
2. Normal database can be edited by someone.
3.Business don’t need to trust third parties to verify the data. It’s been verified by the blockchain

[Angel_Magallanez]

1. Since blockchain is a line of transactions formed in blocks that can not be removed (immutable). It can also show that everything can be traced back and verified.
2. Regular databases can have information imported or exported by a centralized server which can not be completely verified our trusted.
3. It can be trusted through open/public ledger with instantaneous and automatic transactions which removes third party audits.

[Fernando_Santos]

Homework on Provenance - Questions

1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
   By putting out of the ecuation the variable TRUST, because instead, it uses a network of computers which have all the information in the Data Base in order to Verify information instead of trusting that the information is valid.

2. Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
   Because you really don’t have access to the complete information, so you have to asume the owner of the data is acting trustworthy.

3. Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?
   Because it allows the user to have full control of what he or she is consuming wether it is a service or a product.

[Ash-G]

1.Blockchain enables digital provenance via a public ledger, from which a digital trail can be verified.

2.A normal database can not provide the same provenance as a blockchain, blockchain data cannot be removed from the blockchain, whereas a digital database can have data removed, altered, therfore making it unverifiable, or unproveable, lack of provenance!

3.Digital provenance is a great benefit to buisinesses, as an item can be digitally tracked back to its oragines, enabling precise accounts.

[RockinHood]

1. Because all the miners have the ledgers with all blockchain data from the moment first block was mined.

2. Because other databases can add and remove data, can change data. In blockchain, only adding is possible.

3. Because it helps eliminate trust. Everything in the blockchain was globaly verified therefore true.

[Floren]

1. Since you cannot erase any information from the blocks and it’s completely public, that is why you can trace every single transaction in the past.
2. Because it can be altered by a centralize authority who controls it.
3. Because they will avoid in the future all the rudimental methods to verify their transactions, audits fees etc. In the other hand everything will be traceable therefore the fraudes will be reduce, and the only responsable with be the victims for trusting something that they should had verified first. With big benefits come bigger responsibility.

[Tomche]

1 Blockhain enables provenance by having all the history of any transaction that it is impossible to delete, change or manipulate by any means, it removes any illegal opportunity. That means that the history of ownership where it is cryptocurrency or purchase of a product is always there, so if you wanna do any auditing such information is always there and it is open for everyone and you can do it in real-time.

2 Because normal database will require a lot of data to be kept safe and accurate in order to do auditing or any other check. Where provenance use is much easier and more efficient, time-wise and labour wise and it is because blockchain put combines accounting and transaction into one package. So you don’t need an auditor to come at your company, all that person need is to access the blockchain where all the data is correct and open.

3. By removing the trust between buyer and supplier, because any transaction or operations are embedded into the blockchains database, so we can check all that happens when we do transactions in order to get/buy something. Because provenance gives the opportunity of accurate traceability of goods or ingredients or whatever you are trying to own - its a new era accounting.

[tnlamont92]

Homework on Provenance

1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
   Blockchain provides a transparent and an immutable ledger, which cannot be removed or changed once every transaction is complete and where every new data entry needs to be verified by the entire network. Analogous to being set in stone.

2. Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
   Normal databases are normally private to provide security and prevent tampering or manipulation of data. The blockchain’s data is immutable by design (encrypted using 256 bit hash function which is one way and irreversible) making tampering or manipulation of the data impossible as the blockchain becomes more public. The more nodes in the database the more difficult and expensive it is to try and “cheat” the system.

3. Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?
   A digital provenance is highly beneficial as businesses can quickly access and audit transactions on the blockchain without the need for hiring an auditing company means more accurate data, faster and cheaper. It is also highly applicable for many businesses such as those the food or design/manufacturing industry.

[vegas316]

Blockchain serves as an immutable system of record. This differs from the normal databases used commonly in business which support CRUD operations. So far as the transactions (or ingredients/components) can be verified, and hashed, and implemented all the way up and down the supply chain, it would allow an unprecedented ability to accurately verify all the components of a final product, or in the case of finance, an unprecedented ability to accurately audit transactions.

[RBanks]

1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
   By being decentralized & immutable, no central authority controls it or can change it making it trustless.

2. Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
   It is controlled by a central authority that can change it so trust is needed in that authority.

3. Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?
   It provides real-time auditing, traceability & elimination of intermediaries.

[itworksonmymachine]

1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
   Blockchain technology enables digital provenance by design. Blockchain is a ledger that allows everyone to track and trace transactions made on a given blockchain.

2. Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
   A “normal” database allows for CRUD (create/read/update/delete) operations to perform on the data stored in a given “normal” database. Anyone with access to a database can change the data.

3. Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?
   It makes operations/transactions on a given blockchain trustless. Digital provenance eliminates the need for third-party companies to audit or validate transactions between businesses.

[tapptress]

How does blockchain enable digital provenance?

the blockchain provided provenance as it is add only transactions. Modification and deletions are not possible on the blockchain. The blockchain being “public” and decentralized also facilitates this as it can be audited anytime by anyone.

Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?

Databases are generally privately operated, allow updates to already stored transactions, aren’t duplicated in most situations outside high-availability.

Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?

Business benefit from provenance in the form of auditing capabilities and quality of product/services, whether that be financial/accounts, supply chain, logistics, etc.

[William_M]

1. Blockchain enables digital provence by creating a public ledger that can be added to but not taken away from and is verified by multiple nodes on a network.
2. A normal database does not bring the same provenance as a blockchain because a normal database can be changed whereas the blockchain database cannot be changed, only added to.
3. Digital provenance is a great benefit to many businesses because it can remove the bottleneck that occurs by the need for human verification by speeding up the verification process to almost instant verification. It also reduces the chances of human error and greatly reduces the cost of manpower.

[TracyR]

1. Blockchain is Public, so anyone can use it to verify transactions.
   It is redundant - each transaction is recorded in every copy of the ledger so verification and live auditing are assured
   No information on the ledger can be removed so there is no hiding a transaction once made.
2. Normal databases have none of the above. They are based solely on trust.
3. Many disreputable businesses have 2 sets of books - one for the public that might as well be a fairy tale, and one private that hides all of the dirty business actually happening. This cannot happen using blockchain technology for business transactions.

[Furnt]

1. Blockchain enables digital provenance by being a public decentralized distributed immutable ledger and by removing trust between two entities.

2. Normal database can not bring same provenance because it is centralized and data can be removed.

3. Digital provenance is a great benefit to a business as users can have confidence a suppliers information is correct as a ledger can be created from the seed of the supply chain to end user with the ability to provide data in granular detail.

[Flippy]

1. Blockchain for me is like and engrave data that is written on stone and it could never be erased from the records, this removes trust on the public ledger because it is immutable where if you put an information it will be added in the supply chain.

2. Because the normal databases is centralized and it can be manipulated by the organization and it could be hacked by attacking its central point where in blockchain you can only add but cannot remove records that means hackers can’t remove the information that is on the database.

3. It is useful in financial transaction and real time auditing you won’t need to put trust on company to make sure if the product is really a high quality you just need to verify it from the main supplier and it is now much transparent.