Homework on Provenance - Questions

[Michi_T]

How does blockchain enable digital provenance?

Blockchain is a public ledger where all sb’s moves or transactions can be traced. So we can traced for example financial transactions and it happens in real time (real-time auditing). And we can put together for example accounting with transactions (in one place). It brings also efficiency. Also, there is no authority in Blockchain. Everyone controlles everyone.

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

Becauese a normal database is centralised. In this database is involved a lot of trust. The state of the database is in the hands of the owner. He has full control over the user’s information, as well as the power over security. So data can be added and removed data. When the owner is corrupt, data can be eaisly hacked and it’s not really transparent. In Blockchain, everyone controls everyone.

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

Because is capable to remove trust. Every single stuff like ingredients in products, financial transactions or other products or are able to be traced and confirmed without intermediares and in real time. It brings so much value and efficiency for transactions or other moves. We don’t have to trust, instead of we can verify data.

[antiggo]

1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
   Blockchain is essentially a database in which data can be stored but cannot be removed or modified. Once data is written in the blockchain it also becomes visible to anyone with internet connection who wants to see it (since it is stored on the network).

2. Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
   Data in normal databases can be altered by whoever has control over it. Data in the blockchain on the other hand is not controlled by anyone, but just permanently stores records.

3. Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?
   We rely on trust as a way of making business. Blockchain however provides a level of transparency to transactions that allows “trust-less” relations, where every detailed can be verified using the blockchain.

[karips]

1. It does so by allowing everyone to audit the transactions (entries) in the public ledger, thus anyone can verify the trail of the transactions.

2. A normal database cannot provide provenance, because it is not public and it is also centrally maintained (and more easily tampered). Most probably a distributed database could work as a provenance tool, which blockchain can actually be considered to be one.

3. From a Game Theoretic perspective, an actor could be incentivized to corrupt information to his own benefit, thus trust is not an inadequate means of securing operations. Digital provenance can skip the trust factor all together, since all information is publicly validated and it retain its integrity by design.

[bbart.sin]

1. The block chain allows digital provenance because it is an open decentralized Leger that is trustless and verifiable.
   2.because it is centralized and can be edited.
   3.it allows for complete transparency into sources of products supplied by suppliers.

[Bitcoin_Bandicoot]

Blockchain enables digital provenance by utilizing math, in order to verify the historic custody of transactions.

A normal database, is located in one place. The blockchain is redundantly spread out across multiple computers and servers, each performing mathematical verification of transactions.

Digital provenance is a benefit to businesses, because the transactions are verified across the blockchain, prior to being deposited into their wallet. This eliminates fraudulent transactions.

[Claire]

1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance?

Blockchain enables digital provenance by providing a potentially transparent system with which all transactions can be traced on an accessible public ledger. It allows for greater efficiency, it is trustless, decentralised and immutable.

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

A normal database is fine for storing static information, but is susceptible to mistake or fraud. It also requires potentially massive resources to audit, depending on its size. It is also susceptible to the usual trappings of centralisation, i.e., corruption and inefficiencies.

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

It is more efficient, and has the possibility of real-time auditing. Trustlessness and immutability also contribute to business confidence.

[athena.formosa]

1. Blockchain enable digital provenance because the records can not be change once they are inputted.
2. normal database can be change and updated and can be costly and slow
3. once the record are inputted in the ledger, they can not be change so the benefit of the digital provenance is its is truthful, fast for both the private and public records

[SeanK]

1. Blockchain enables digital provenance by keeping an open and verifiable ledger of every transaction on the chain.

2. Normal databases usually don’t work in real time and don’t require consensus among all other nodes in the network to add or remove things.

3. Digital provenance provides total accountability which is great for tracking and maintaining resources. Its convenient and will save money and time that could be spent for other things like innovation and advertisement.

[cafuturist]

@ivan

• How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
• Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
• Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?

1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
   Blockchain provides an immutable database like a digital stone that provides a permanent record of a transaction that is decentralized and cannot be changed.
2. Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
   A normal database is centralized and in many cases one copy can be accessed and changed for better or worse by the many computers on the network. Many transaction details cannot be included in a normal database in terms of provenance.
3. Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?
   Businesses are able to see the continuity in a supply chain, for example, from source to destination with every step permanently recorded on the blockchain, thereby creating a trustless record or proof of each transaction and transaction step and enabling companies to be certain of the origin of a product, for example, without having to trust the party they are transacting with.

[loudogg]

1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance?

Blockchain enables digital provenance with a network of computers, called nodes, that all keep local copies of all the transactions that they all verify. Any transaction that any node does not verify does not end up on the blockchain. There are many different use cases for digital provenance on the blockchain.

The examples given by Ivan were the exchange of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, food ingredient content and the clothing industry, whereby, in the latter examples, the blockchain technology would track and verify raw materials in each step of the supply chain to prove that the food contained the ingredients on the list and, with the clothing example, that any factory or establishment manufacturing the clothing wasn’t using child labor, etc.

The use cases for blockchain reach far and wide for the future of humanity.

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

I believe a normal database doesn’t bring the same provenance due to it’s lack of it’s reliance on other machines (nodes) for redundancy and verification. A standalone database is still a central store of data, instead of a decentralized network. Blockchain data is immutable, a normal database is not. The level of trust needed is higher in a normal database as well.

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

I believe there are many reasons why digital provenance is such a great benefit to many businesses. For auditing transactions and accounting seamlessly as well as ensuring total transparency, which ought to lead to better quality products and services.

I think this is a big win for the consumer too, as they will buy with confidence and rest at ease, knowing they’re getting exactly what is promised.

There’s also the security component. Businesses will surely love the added levels of protection offered by digital provenance. I think that digital provenance will also give businesses more confidence to expand globally, without all the red tape imposed by current financial system regulations.

I’m sure there’s so much more, just touching the surface here, based on my limited understanding.

[Orlan1]

1. Tracing/tracking/efficiency orders and products, could void auditing in the future.
2. Transparency. Blockchains provides transparency.
   3.Keep tracking ,tracing and auditing efficient. Saving a lot of money.

[pod]

1. The blockchain ledger enables digital provenance.
2. Because data can be removed from a normal database.
3. Digital provenance eliminates the need for trust and allows information to be verified/audited.

[LARISA]

1.provenance enables businesses to easily collect their data and also verify key information on an immutable data ledger.
2.a normal database entries are not immutable and could be changed by the owner of database, also may be interrupted if it is a centralized or distributed database.
3.provenance data is always available and secured.

[LioC]

1/ once registred in blockchain, data can’t be removed, updated, scrapped: then, any transaction, coming from a sender, is immutable and secured.
2/ in a normal database, you can update or scratch any data at anytime, as soon as you are accredited to.
3/ no need to process external and costly auditing in accountability, supplies can be tracked easily in food, pharma, auto industries…

[jayharden1]

1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
   It allows the tracking and tracing of the origins of materials and goods by way of the accessibility of transaction history. Given that items in a blockchain can only be added, never changed or removed, provides transparency in regards to the item’s history. Additionally and perhaps foremost is that all transactions must be verified by the network, not just one individual, which disallows a single person or entity to control the information added to a blockchain (ledger)
   2. Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
      The inability of true transparency. Lack of a verification network.
   3. Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?
      Real time auditing capabilities, more efficient financial process. The accounting and transaction layers can be combined in one place.

[Marcus_Hopkins]

1. How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
   By enabling real-time Audits verified from beginning to end in seconds instead of days/weeks

2. Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
   Due to the fact they are centralized and require a central authority. Data is not available for easy beginning to end reconcilement… not fully transparent or immutable

3. Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?
   This allows for beginning to end transparency from food ingredients to time from born on life to consumption… makes products transparent to the world.

[tropicalcontact]

1. Blockchain enable digital provenance by keeping transactions transparent, therefore making the transactions easy to track. The proof is in the pudding.

2. A normal database can not bring the same provenance because it is not decentralized. Making the transaction opaque and not transparent, nobody can trust what they can not see.

3. Digital Provenance is a great benefit to many if not all businesses because it creates trust, and transparency, creates a binding receipt for the world to see.

[tenbad]

• How does blockchain enable digital provenance?
  The information enters the ledger in real time, and cannot be altered afterwards.

• Why doesn’t a normal database bring the same provenance?
  In a normal database, the information is usually added afterwards, errors can easily occur, and information can be changed afterwards.

• Why is digital provenance such a great benefit to many businesses?
  It brings efficiency and reliability to financial (or other) record keeping and eliminates the need for most auditing.

[adolfogonzalezt]

1. because of the interaction of ledgers
2. because of the public nature of the technology
3. anything can be trace, verify in real time

[MatWu]

1. • data entered into a blockchain cannot be removed or edited in hindsight, which creates the possiblitly to track every transaction or other data entry back to its origin
2. • the owner of the normal database is able to change or remove data from past transactions
3. • data cannot be manipulated and can therewith be interpreted any time and in real time

• the need for trust for the correctness of external data is removed