Homework on Provenance - Questions

Blockchain and Bitcoin 101
#4438

Question #1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
Blockchain enables digital provenance by creating a public ledger that allows transactions to be verified instead of trusted. Many computers worldwide maintain the blockchain database to be able to verify the origin of information and data similar to a digital stone record used by past civilizations.

Question #2. Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
A normal database usually is not copied to thousands of different systems and then validated on a public ledger like blockchain. Many databases do not validate with many other copies and thus data inaccuracy or corruption can occur more easily than on a network with many nodes checking and validating for accuracy.

Question #3. Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?
Public and open ledgers allow real-time auditing and much more efficient financial transactions for businesses. Digital provenance can help with accountability for companies by providing public audits of source materials and other such information. This could help reduce costs of regulations and enforcement by agencies as companies could be audited and kept honest by the public in the future.

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#4439

1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance?

[Answer 1]: The lexical meaning of ‘Provenance’ (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) is ‘Origin’ or ‘Source’ or 'the history of ownership of a valued object or work of art or literature’.
So, digital provenance has everything to do with tracing back the origin of transactions with no ambiguity or opacity along the path traced.
Blockchain being a public ledger, removes opacity or obscurity at every instant of a deal, business or a process.
From what I have learnt from Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper (one of the reading assignments of Ivan on Tech Crypto Basics course), one of the use cases of Blockchain is a digital coin, which is nothing but a chain of digital signatures. An efficient hashing algorithm ensures that the path of a simple one-to-one transaction as well as that of the most complex many-to-one or one-to-many transaction can be traced back without any gaps.
Thus, Blockchain lends itself to many use cases that would make this world better with transparency of the path traced to the origin of a process, financial transaction, synthesis, derivation, value-addition, disassembly, knowledge (sub-use case: ‘patents’), attribution of value, singularity/exclusivity (like fair voting in elections), accountability etc.

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

[Answer 2]: A normal database does not have records etched in stone, which means that the data records are subject to manipulation. In a conventional database of a digital world, update and deletion are legitimate operations. If data can be manipulated, the entity with authority over the database (e.g., the owner of the database) can change the previously existing information in data records. These changes will be subject to audit but with following disadvantages: -

  • The audit will not be real time.
  • The audit can be done only by a certain agency and not by all.
  • Complete transparency can never be achieved.

With data manipulation, limited number of trustees and obscurity, digital provenance is hard to establish.

Blockchain is exactly the opposite of a normal database in terms of achieving flawless digital provenance with the following characteristics: -

  • Real time audit.
  • Everyone has the right to audit.
  • Complete transparency is achieved through replication of blockchain on all nodes of a network of computers.

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

[Answer 3]: The value of a business depends on the throughput of its processes. Any loss of value in any process makes a business less efficient either in terms of profitability or in terms of answerability to its customers.
Perfect digital provenance ensures that the ‘value’ neither gets dissipated nor gets removed when a process executes. This is achieved by being able to trace the process or transaction back to its origin with no obscurity along the path traced.
Thus, we can safely conclude that, digital provenance will benefit every business.

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#4440

  1. Blockchain enables digital provenance by putting both the accounting and transactional layers of a transaction together so they are both available in the same place.

  2. Normal databases do not bring the same provenance because they can not trace everything and they rely on trust.

  3. Digital provenance is a great benefit to many businesses because it verifies transactions instead of relying on trust. With Blockchain technology businesses are now capable of tracing things and are capable of removing trust. Blockchain is trustless.

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#4441

  1. The blockchain allows to track and audit everything to everybody removing trust in auditing companies or central auditing entities.

  2. A normal database can be manipulated by the owners, governments, or control entities, and data can also be erased

  3. Everybody can get advantages of digital provenance, will be possible to track every single step in the supply chain of money, energy, food, or whatever we need, assuring quality and transparency

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#4442

  1. The function of having all the data in a block that is visible to everyone and can not be deleted gives us the ability to track and verify the integrity of the thing in question.

  2. Normal databases are controlled centrally. Transactions can be manipulated. It is nearly impossible to track and verify.

  3. I think trust is something that more and more people are looking for in every field. Block-chain has the ability to provide that.

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#4443

  1. Through 100% transparency and global access.

  2. It can be tampered with or manipulated unlike blockchain’s addition only rule.

  3. Accessibility by anyone, anywhere, with an internet connection through verification only and not trust.

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#4444

  1. blockchain enable digital provenance by being an open sorce to all transaction, decentralized, impossible to remove data uncontrollable by anyone and traceable.

  2. a normal database is control by interest grups or people, data base can removed or erased and a lot less security.

  3. the benefits of such is the simplicity of tracking data, the data is very accessible.

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#4445
  1. all transactions are recorded in a decentralized/distributed ledger and can not be changed afterwards
  2. a normal database is governed by the owner - you have to trust. And it is not transparent to all
  3. all transactions are transparent and trustless so you are not dependent on third party auditors. it is also more freedom when it comes to the geography of your business
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#4446
  1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance?

Blockchain enables digital provenance by providing a data structure technology for the database or digital ‘stone’ ledger of transactions that is immutable. The public & de-centralized network of nodes each have their own copy of the blockchain. Transactions are trackable or traceable, allowing for ‘trustless’ verification of transactions, which upon confirmation by the nodes, are added into the current block on the blockchain where they cannot be altered/ erased.

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

Normal database’s are not public or de-centralized. There is no ‘trustless’ verification/ confirmation of transactions. Transactions can be added in or subtracted from the ledger they are not immutable.

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

Digital provenance benefits many businesses through the ability for real-time settlement, accounting &/ or auditing of valid transactions. Logistically this provides ability to track/ trace raw materials in the supply chain as to the source/ quality of inputs & the conditions of how they were shipped.

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#4447
  1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance?

Blockchain enables digital provenance by having all transactions recorded immutable. The data cannot be changed or deleted. It is a Decentralised Public Ledger meaning everyone can view it and know body holds sovereignty over the Ledger.

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

Normal databases are centralised and can be manipulated by the governors. They have the ability to change or remove data or even withhold data, normal databases require you to have a lot of trust in the ownership.

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

Digital provenance is a benefit to businesses in a couple of ways. you get real time auditing. Being able to chase down supply chains where you can verify origins of ingredients to shipping routes and packaging conditions. It also offers trustlessness in the data.

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#4448

  1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
    By providing a reliable (decentralized, trustless), immutable, and publicly accessible record of transactions.

  2. Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
    Normal databases are typically centralized (requiring outsiders to trust the database’s controlling entity), revisable, and are often private.

  3. Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?
    DP promises the ability to track data in real time and without having to trust any central authorities.

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#4449

  1. Blockchain enables digital provenance by allowing all transactions to be traced and tracked, which then brings in the ability for Real time auditing. Not only will blockchain technology bring a new layer of efficiency but will insure trustlessness.

  2. Normal databases can not provide the same level of provenance is because most do not provide the same level of speed and trustlessness.

  3. Digital provenance is so important because its going to make the entire financial process more efficient .

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#4450
  1. Blockchain enables digital provenance by facilitating trustless transactions via the public ledger.
  2. Provenance allows for the data to be stored along with the transaction, whereas in traditional systems the data is stored separate from the transaction. This eliminates the need of auditors because audits can be performed automatically at any given time.
  3. Aside from saving money on accounting, providence is beneficial to many businesses because it allows the business to check and verify the quality of products within their supply chain.
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#4451

  1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
    By creating a digital ledger from which information cannot be removed, anyone can at any time see an unedited history of transactions from genesis of the asset.

  2. Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
    Because a normal database would be centralised or owned within a particular entity and thus the information can be altered and/or edited without the knowledge of anyone who then views the data afterwards.

  3. Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?
    It allows for the removal of trust from supply chains, ie every step of the process can be independently verified on the blockchain.

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#4452
  1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance? Traceable public (immutable) ledger
  2. Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance? Decentralised nodes that work on a trustless network
  3. Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses? traceability and transparency
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#4453

Question 1.

Blockchain technology, also know as distributed ledger technology, can be used to record the origin and history of any digital asset. Blockchain achieves this through utilizing its decentralized network of cryptographically signed ledger entries, where digital assets are distributed to every node on the network rather than copied or transferred. This decentralized distribution chain gives everyone access to the digital asset at the same time, and all modifications to the asset are recorded in real-time on the network nodes and validated by miners, making fraudulent changes to the asset impossible.

#4454

Question 2.

If a traditional centralized database server fails, or an actual centralized physical database is damaged or destroyed, unless proper backup measures, including off-site hard copy of the database are in place, the entire system is affected. This can also be the case if fraudulent entries are made, or entries removed for fraudulent purposes. There will likely be no record of these changes to the ledger, and as such, leave it open to attack from bad actors.The blockchain does not, in this regard, exhibit these failures, as, Being decentralised, there is no one single point of failure, with all records being broadcast to every node on the network. It is this permanent storage of transactions and assets, stored on multiple nodes, and validated by miners, that cannot be deleted, changed or modified, that makes the data immutable, and resistant to tampering. This makes blockchain technology far superior to traditional data storage, with full public data transparency , and Protection against fraudulent data entries or removal.

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#4455
  1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance?

Blockchain enables digital provenance through the public ledger network. F. e. a transaction can only happen if it is verified by the blockchain. If f. e. someone wants to transfer a higher amount of BTC than this person ever received according to the blockchain, the transaction will not be verified.

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

A normal, centralized, database can be manipulated when having access to the server. The blockchain database cannot easily be changed and with today’s computer technologies is even impossible to achieve.

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

Digital provenance will effectively bring transparency to the whole business and can therefore validate the companies “image”. Just think of all the food manufacturers today that label their foods “organic” or clothes manufacturers that claim to be “fair trade”. With digital provenance, this will finally be true and most importantly documented for everyone to see.

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#4456

1.) Blockchain enables auditing in real time. All transactions are recorded and public.

2.) A normal database has a transactional layer and accounting layer. You have to trust a central authority that inputs these.

3.) Digital provenance is such a benefit because it creates a trust-less system. All transactions are verified on the blockchain, so there is no need to count on a centralized authority.

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#4457

  1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
    Provenance is the chronological order of ownership, custody or location of a historical object. Blockchain provides this is that we can check movement of assets in real time and this information is stored on multiple nodes and not easily modified.

  2. Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
    A normal database does not bring the same provenance than that of a blockchain because entries are mutable and can be altered by the owner of the database. This comes a lot of trust to the entity that is storing the information. A normal database typically does not give us the real time audit tracking.

  3. Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?
    Many businesses benefit in that we don’t have to rely on third parties to audit, access information or transactions with all the data being available on the blockchain. Digital provenance allows us to have transparency on the origins of goods and services and removes trust from the equation.
    Instead of trusting the information given to us we can verify.

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