#1: TruBlo first Open Call started. Plus: News updates from Twitter, Google and a cool video about trust.
TruBlo Newsletter Nr. 1
Welcome, thanks for signing up. Step by step we aim to create a community of researchers and developers here, around the topic of distributed trust.
This newsletter will provide you with updates from the project. At the center is the status of the open calls, the ideas and the teams working on them. In addition we will provide you with short updates on what is going at the crossroads of trust and technology.
Let us know about topics you are interested in. You can reach us anytime at info@trublo.eu. Our website: Trublo.eu
TruBlo Open Call Nr. 1 started
The objective of our Open Call No. 1 is to invite academic teams, researchers, SMEs and startups to define and implement small scale research projects on two topics:
- Trust and reputation models on blockchains
- Proof-of-validity and proof-of-location of content
Topic one targets innovative applications, demonstrators and technical approaches which increase the level of trust in user-generated-content. Topic two is about new mechanisms towards transparency and trustworthiness of content.
The call is open until March 19, 2021, 17:00 CET.
After that we proceed in two phases: For phase 1, a total of ten projects will be selected to conceptualize a research project for one of the two focus topics. There are nine months time for this work.
Then, in the next phase, two projects from the original ten will be retained based on their quality. These two will get another six months (and additional funding) to elaborate their concepts.
The total funding available is 950.000 Euro.
A note on that: The maximum amount of funding each beneficiary may receive during the TruBlo open calls is subject to the legal status of the applicant. Documents describing the details can be downloaded from unter "Apply" on the TruBlo website.
If you want to participate and have questions use info@trublo.eu to get in touch. Also, if you know individuals or teams who would be interested in the participating please pass on this information.
News
EDMO: United against disinformation
TruBlo cooperates with the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO). EDMO started its activities on 1 June 2020. The organisation will serve as a hub for fact-checkers, academics and other relevant stakeholders to collaborate with each other and actively link with media organisations, media literacy experts, and provide support to policy makers. LINK
Google to open a center against harmful online content in Dublin
A new "Google Safety Engineering Center" will be located in at the site of the Google European headquarters. Notable here: It is the first in the world the search engine. Europe, according to a Reuters news report, has taken the lead in developing new rules for digital platforms. One key demand is that digital platforms take more responsibility to remove harmful content. LINK
Twitter starts Birdwatch, a community based approach to tackle misinformation
The idea is to let users flag tweets with misleading information. The new offering is currently in a pilot in the US. You can follow the project, it has its own Twitter account LINK
Twitter: Could the next Twitter be decentralised?
Twitter, again. A group of technology experts has published a review of various available technologies which could enable decentralised social networks. This a step forward for the so-called "Bluesky" project, which was iniated by Twitter last year. Bluesky is still in very early stages, currently the company searches for a team leader. The work has the support of Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey though. In tweets he stated the hope that decentralised technologies solve some of today's communication challenges.
Backstory: In late 2019 Twitter announced to fund a small group of experts to explore whether a social network could use decentralised technology. Now a report is available. The paper is an interesting read, providing an overview of what technologies could be used. The report discusses how to support key features of a social network, such as discoverability, moderation and privacy. It further coverhow such new platforms could make money. The technologies listed include ActivityPub (in use at Mastodon), Solid (initiated by Tim Berners-Lee) and other approaches. Download the report here: LINK
Video: The subtle aspects of how we form trust
What is this thing called trust? Can we define it? In order to create new technology we should go deeper here. Rachel Botsman is a leading expert on the topic. She is author of a book called "Who can you trust?". Our link leads you to public talk she gave at DLD conference: "The currency of trust". LINK
That is all for this edition. Thank You for reading. Take care in these trying times.