Abstracts in English, Zulu and Xhosa / The central research issue in this study is the third morphing of economies due to the externally available intelligent building blocks of technology. More specifically, it is anticipated that the widespread use of distributed ledger technology will transform the workings of organisations to such a degree that they will cease to exist in their current form. Hence, the use of distributed ledger technology is not merely a tame management problem; it poses a wicked strategic problem. Furthermore, natural explanations add to the confusion in relation to what managers should do with distributed ledger technology. A transcendental phenomenological attitude is required to transcend the multitude of natural explanations. Phenomenology is both the philosophy and method employed in this study, which questions what human engagement in the world is about. More specifically in this study engagement with distributed ledger technology. This study closes this gap in knowledge by giving an accurate description of the essence of the distributed value ecosystem phenomenon. The study makes a contribution to more coherent and fundamental understanding the essences of the distributed value ecosystem phenomenon is the nature of the relationship patterns that participants hold to distributed ledger technology. The central factual finding is the nature and pattern of these relationships is transactional and circular. The pattern preferred by most organisations is the bounded binary transactional pattern. Organisations seek primarily to have power over the socially complex aspects in transacting. However, the bounded binary transactional pattern may become an unbalanced and unfair value-subtract relationship over time. The response to unbalanced binary bounded value relationships is the unbounded transactional pattern, which gives participants greater autonomy and privacy pseudonymity, but not the transparency that is essential to transact seamlessly. The third value relationship pattern and novel idea presented is the folded value relationship pattern in which participants balance conflicts over socially complex aspects in relation to self and others by meeting narrow micro-level near interaction conditions. This is a more folded, novel strategic game that participants can pick. The key implication for society and organisations is that it presents an alternative approach to dealing with conflict in socially complex value relationships. In essence, with the folded transactional pattern, participants seek to trade up value relationships in relation to self and with others, as opposed to making value relationship trade-offs or sacrifices that lead to either compromises in relation to self or dominance over others. However, the practical managerial implication is truly folded value relationship pattern is not easy to create and is rare. / Umbandela ophambili wophando kwesi sifundo kukuzotywa ngokutsha kwesithathu kwezoqoqosho ngenxa yobukho bezakhi zobuchwepheshe ezinobukrelekrele. Eyona nto ingundoqo yeyokuba kucingelwa ukuba ukusetyenziswa kakhulu kobuchwepheshe bokubhala iingxelo mali buya kuyiguqula indlela asebenza ngayo amaqumrhu, ade ayeke ukusebenza ngale ndlela enza ngayo ngoku. Ukusetyenziswa kobuchwepheshe bokusasaza iingxelo zogcino mali (ngesiNgesi kusetyenziswa isishunqulelo esithi DLT) akuyongxakana nje yolawulo; kuyingxaki enkulu nekhohlakeleyo. Ngaphaya koko, iinkcazelo ezikhoyo zongeza ukubhideka malunga neyona nto emele ukwenziwa ngabaphathi ngobu buchwepheshe bokusasaza iingxelo zogcino mali. Into efunekayo kukusebenzisa indlela yophando ngokuphicotha amava nokufuna ukuqonda indlela acinga ngayo umntu, ngakumbi kumba omalunga nobuchwepheshe bokusasaza iingxelo zogcino mali. Esi sifundo sivala isikhewu solwazi esikhoyo ngokunika inkcazelo echanekileyo ngalo mbandela wokusasazwa kokuxabiseka kwentsebenziswano yendalo nomntu. Esi sifundo sinceda ekuqondeni iziseko zombandela wokusasazwa kokuxabiseka kwentsebenziswano yendalo nomntu neepatheni zolwalamano lwabathathi nxaxheba kwicandelo lobuchwepheshe bokusasaza iingxelo zogcino mali. Eyona nto ingundoqo efumanisekayo kukuba ubume nepatheni yolu lwalamano iquka intsebenziswano yorhwebo kwaye ifana nomjikelo. Ipatheni ekhethwa ngamaqumrhu amaninzi yileyo yentsebenziswano ephakathi kwesibini. Amaqumrhu afuna tanci ukuba nolawulo kwimiba enzima yezentlalo xa erhwebelana. Noxa kunjalo, ipatheni yokurhwebelana ngezibini isenokudala ukungalingani nokuqhathana ngokuhamba kwexesha. Usabelo kulwalamano lwezibini olungenalingano yiphatheni yorhwebelwano olungabekelwanga mida, apho abathathi nxaxheba bekwazi ukuzithathela izigqibo ekhusini bengazichazi ukuba bangoobani, nto leyo inqanda ukusebenza ekuhleni nokufunekayo ekusebenzisaneni ngaphandle kwamagingxigingxi. Ipatheni yesithathu kwixabiso lolwalamano kulapho ulwalamano lusongiwe, apho abathathi nxaxheba belungelelanisa iingxabano ezingemiba yezentlalo enzima ngokufezekisa iimeko ezilula nezincinane. Oku kufana nomdlalo osongeneyo nolicebo lobulumko onokukhethwa ngabathathi nxaxheba. Okubalulekileyo kukuba le yindlela eyenye enokukhawulelana neengxwabangxwaba eluntwini nakumaqumrhu. Eneneni, kwipatheni yentsebenziswano esongeneyo, abathathi nxaxheba bazama ukutshintsha ulwalamano oluphakathi komntu nabanye, endaweni yokuncama izinto ezithile ezinokukhokelela kwilahleko okanye ekonganyelweni ngabanye. Noxa kunjalo, ipatheni yolwalamano olusongeneyo kulwalamano lwabalawuli ayinto ilula kwaye inqabile. / Udaba olungumgogodla walolu cwaningo wukuguquka kwesithathu kweminotho ngenxa yamandla namakhono obuchwepheshe besimanjemane atholakala ngaphandle kwenhlangano. Ngokuqondileyo, kubhekeke ukuthi ukusetshenziswa kakhulu kwe-distributed ledger technology kusiguqule kakhulu isimo-sakhiwo sezinhlangano kanye nendlela ezisebenza ngayo, kangangukuthi zigcine sezingabonakali neze ukuthi zike zaba kulesi simo-sakhiwo ezikusona njengamanje. Ngakhoke ukusetshenziswa kwe-distributed ledger technology akuyona neze inkinga elula futhi abangayixazulula kalula abaphathi; kepha kuyinkinga eyinkimbinkimbi futhi eyimpicabadala okungelula nakancane ukuyixazulula. Ngaphezu kwalokho, izincazelo zemvelo ziyengeza phezu kokudideka okuphathelene nalokho okumele kwenziwe ngabaphathi maqondana ne-distributed ledger technology. Ukuze kudlulelwe ngale kwenqwabanqwaba yezincazelo zemvelo ezikhona kudingeka indlela-kucabanga nendlelakubuka evulekile yokuqonda ulwazi oluphathelene nezimo kanye nezigameko okuhlangatshezwane nazo noma okudlulwe kuzona. Ifenomeloji iyikho kokubili ifilosofi kanye nendlela-kusebenza esetshenzisiwe kulolu cwaningo, okuphonsa umbuzo mayelana nokuthi kuphathelene nani ukuxhumana kanye nokubandakanywa kwabantu emhlabeni, ikakhulukazi maqondana nokubandakanywa okuphathelene ne-distributed ledger technology. Lolu cwaningo luvala igebe lokungabi khona kolwazi ngokuthi lunikeze incazelo enembayo yomongo we-distributed value ecosystem. Ucwaningo luyalekelela futhi lufake isandla ekutholakaleni kokuqonda okuhle nokuhleleke kahle futhi okuyisisekelo komongo we-distributed value ecosystem okungukuthi lokhu kuwuhlobo lwamaphethini obudlelwano obuboniswa ngababambiqhaza maqondana ne-distributed ledger technology. Umphumela osemqoka kakhulu futhi oyiqiniso otholakale ocwaningweni wukuthi ubunjalo kanye nephethini yalobu budlelwano ibandakanya izinhloso zokuzizuzela okuthile futhi okungubudlelwano obusasiyingi. Iphethini encanyelwa yiningi lezinhlangano yi-bounded binary transactional pattern. Izinhlangano zihlose ikakhulukazi ukuba namandla phezu kwezinto ezithile ezinobunkimbinkimbi emphakathini lapho zenza umsebenzi wazo. Kodwa-ke ngokuhamba kwesikhathi i-bounded binary transactional pattern kungenzeka ibonise ubudlelwano obungenakho ukulingana futhi obuchemile obungenabugugu. Impendulo yokubhekana nobudlelwano obungama-unbalanced binary bounded value relationships yi-unbounded transactional pattern, enikeza ababambiqhaza ukukhululeka nokuzimela okukhudlwana kanye nobumfihlo bokuthi bangazidaluli noma baziveze ukuthi bangobani, kodwa-ke lokhu akubanikezi ukusebenza ngendlela esobala okuyinto edingekayo ekusebenzeni ngaphandle kwezihibe. I-third value relationship pattern kanye nomqondo ophusile owethulwayo yi-folded value relationship pattern lapho ababambiqhaza beqinisekisa ukuthi kunokulingana phakathi kokungqubuzana noma udweshu oluphathelene nezinto eziyinkimbinkimbi emphakathini maqondana nabo uqobo kanye nabanye abantu, ngokuthi bahlangabezane nama-narrow micro-level near-interaction conditions. Lokhu kuwumdladlwana ofongqekile wesimanjemanje futhi okhethekile nosemqoka ongasetshenziswa ngababambiqhaza. Umthelela osemqoka walokhu emphakathini nasezinhlanganweni wukuthi lokhu kuhlinzeka ngendlela ehlukile yokubhekana nokungqubuzana nodweshu kubudlelwano obuyinkimbinkimbi emphakathini. Empeleni, ku-folded transactional pattern, ababambiqhaza bahlose ukuthola okungcono kubudlelwano phakathi kwabo bona uqobo lwabo kanye nabanye abantu esikhundleni sokwakha ubudlelwano lapho izinhlangothi zonke zithola ukushintshisana okulinganayo noma ukuzidela okuthile maqondana nobudlelwano, okuyinto eholela ekutheni kube nokuvumelana phakathi kwezinhlangothi okuhambisana nokuzidela komuntu uqobo lwakhe noma-ke ukukhonya phezu kwabanye. Kodwa-ke umthelela walokho oqondene nabaphathi wukuthi akulula neze ukwakha i-folded value relationship pattern yoqobo futhi lokhu kuyivela kancane. / Business Management / D. Com. (Business Management)

The ideas and techniques of cryptography and decentralized storage have seen tremendous growth in many industries, as they have been adopted to improve activities in the organization. That called Blockchain technology, it provides an effective transparency solution. Generally, Blockchain has been used for digital currency or cryptocurrency since its inception. One of the best-known Blockchain protocols is Ethereum, which has invented the smart contract to enable Blockchain’s ability to execute a condition, rather than simply acting as storage. Applications that adopt this technology are called ‘Dapps’ or ‘decentralized applications’. However, there are ongoing arguments about synchronization associated with the system. System synchronization is currently extremely important for applications, because the waiting time for a transaction to be verified can cause dissatisfaction in the user experience. Several studies have revealed that privacy leakage occurs, even though the Blockchain provides a degree of security, as a result of the traditional transaction, which requires approval through an intermediate institution. For instance, a bank needs to process transactions via many constitution parties before receiving the final confirmation, which requires the user to wait for a considerable amount of time. This thesis describes the challenge of transaction synchronization between the user and smart contract, as well as the matter of a privacy strategy for the system and compliance. To approach these two challenges, the first task separates different events and evaluates the results compared to an alternative solution. This is done by testing the smart contract to find the best gas price result, which varies over time. In the Ethereum protocol, gas price is one of the best ways to decrease the transaction time to meet user expectations. The gas price is affected by the code structure and the network. In the smart contract, testing is run based on two cases, and solves platform issues such as runners and user experience and reduces costs. It has also been found that collecting the fee before participating in an auction can prevent the problem of runners. The second case aims to prove that freezing the amount of a bid is the best way to increase the user’s experience, and to achieve the better experience of an online auction. The second challenge mainly focuses on the privacy strategy and risk management for the platform, which involves identifying possible solutions for all risk situations, as well as detecting, forecasting and preventing them. Providing strategies, such as securing the smart contract structure, increasing the encryption method in the database, designing a term sheet and agreement, and authorization, help to prevent system vulnerabilities. Therefore, this research aims to improve and investigate an online auction platform by using a Blockchain smart contract to provide evocative user experiences. / Idéer och tekniker för kryptografi och decentraliserad lagring har haft en enorm tillväxt i många branscher, eftersom de har antagits för att förbättra verksamheten i organisationen. Den som kallas Blockchain-tekniken ger den en effektiv transparenslösning. Generellt har Blockchain använts för digital valuta eller cryptocurrency sedan starten. Ett av de mest kända Blockchainprotokollen är Ethereum, som har uppfunnit det smarta kontraktet för att möjliggöra Blockchains förmåga att utföra ett villkor, snarare än att bara fungera som lagring. Applikationer som använder denna teknik kallas 'Dapps' eller 'decentraliserade applikationer'. Det finns emellertid pågående argument om synkronisering associerad med systemet. Systemsynkronisering är för närvarande oerhört viktigt för applikationer, eftersom väntetiden för att en transaktion ska verifieras kan orsaka missnöje i användarupplevelsen. Flera studier har visat att sekretessläckage inträffar, även om Blockchain ger en viss säkerhet, till följd av den traditionella transaktionen, som kräver godkännande genom en mellaninstitution. Till exempel måste en bank bearbeta transaktioner via många konstitutionspartier innan den får den slutliga bekräftelsen, vilket kräver att användaren väntar en betydande tid. Den här avhandlingen beskriver utmaningen med transaktionssynkronisering mellan användaren och smart kontrakt, samt frågan om en sekretessstrategi för systemet och efterlevnad. För att närma sig dessa två utmaningar separerar den första uppgiften olika händelser och utvärderar resultaten jämfört med en alternativ lösning. Detta görs genom att testa det smarta kontraktet för att hitta det bästa gasprisresultatet, som varierar över tiden. I Ethereum-protokollet är gaspriset ett av de bästa sätten att minska transaktionstiden för att möta användarens förväntningar. Gaspriset påverkas av kodstrukturen och nätverket. I det smarta kontraktet körs test baserat på två fall och löser plattformsproblem som löpare och användarupplevelse och minskar kostnaderna. Det har också visat sig att insamlingen av avgiften innan du deltar i en auktion kan förhindra löparproblemet. Det andra fallet syftar till att bevisa att frysning av budbeloppet är det bästa sättet att öka användarens upplevelse och att uppnå en bättre upplevelse av en online auktion. Den andra utmaningen fokuserar huvudsakligen på sekretessstrategin och riskhanteringen för plattformen, som innebär att identifiera möjliga lösningar för alla risksituationer, samt att upptäcka, förutse och förhindra dem. Tillhandahållande av strategier, som att säkra den smarta kontraktsstrukturen, öka krypteringsmetoden i databasen, utforma ett termblad och avtal och godkännande, hjälper till att förhindra systemets sårbarheter. Därför syftar denna forskning till att förbättra och undersöka en online-auktionsplattform genom att använda ett smart avtal med Blockchain för att ge upplevande användarupplevelser.

<div>Graph-structured data is pervasive. Modeling large-scale network-structured datasets require graph processing and management systems such as graph databases. Further, the analysis of graph-structured data often necessitates bulk downloads/uploads from/to the cloud or edge nodes. Unfortunately, experience has shown that malicious actors can compromise the confidentiality of highly-sensitive data stored in the cloud or shared nodes, even in an encrypted form. For particular use cases —multi-modal knowledge graphs, electronic health records, finance— network-structured datasets can be highly sensitive and require auditability, authentication, integrity protection, and privacy-preserving computation in a controlled and trusted environment, i.e., the traditional cloud computation is not suitable for these use cases. Similarly, many modern applications utilize a "shared, replicated database" approach to provide accountability and traceability. Those applications often suffer from significant privacy issues because every node in the network can access a copy of relevant contract code and data to guarantee the integrity of transactions and reach consensus, even in the presence of malicious actors.</div><div><br></div><div>This dissertation proposes breaking from the traditional cloud computation model, and instead ship certified pre-approved trusted code closer to the data to protect graph-structured data confidentiality. Further, our technique runs in a controlled environment in a trusted data owner node and provides proof of correct code execution. This computation can be audited in the future and provides the building block to automate a variety of real use cases that require preserving data ownership. This project utilizes trusted execution environments (TEEs) but does not rely solely on TEE's architecture to provide privacy for data and code. We thoughtfully examine the drawbacks of using trusted execution environments in cloud environments. Similarly, we analyze the privacy challenges exposed by the use of blockchain technologies to provide accountability and traceability.</div><div><br></div><div>First, we propose AGAPECert, an Auditable, Generalized, Automated, Privacy-Enabling, Certification framework capable of performing auditable computation on private graph-structured data and reporting real-time aggregate certification status without disclosing underlying private graph-structured data. AGAPECert utilizes a novel mix of trusted execution environments, blockchain technologies, and a real-time graph-based API standard to provide automated, oblivious, and auditable certification. This dissertation includes the invention of two core concepts that provide accountability, data provenance, and automation for the certification process: Oblivious Smart Contracts and Private Automated Certifications. Second, we contribute an auditable and integrity-preserving graph processing model called AuditGraph.io. AuditGraph.io utilizes a unique block-based layout and a multi-modal knowledge graph, potentially improving access locality, encryption, and integrity of highly-sensitive graph-structured data. Third, we contribute a unique data store and compute engine that facilitates the analysis and presentation of graph-structured data, i.e., TruenoDB. TruenoDB offers better throughput than the state-of-the-art. Finally, this dissertation proposes integrity-preserving streaming frameworks at the edge of the network with a personalized graph-based object lookup.</div>

Handeln av non-fungible tokens (NFT) har vuxit fram i en drastisk fart de senaste tre åren med försäljningar till miljonbelopp. Begreppet non-fungible åsyftar en icke-utbytbar egendom som karaktäriseras av sin unika kvalité och dessa tokens bygger på blockkedjeteknik med decentraliserade system. NFT:s effektiviserar överlåtelsetransaktioner av såväl materiell som immateriell egendom genom kryptering av äganderättigheter.  Den här framställningen syftar till att studera ägande i förhållande till ny teknik och egendomsslaget kyprotillgångar. I uppsatsen utreds vilket äganderättsligt skydd som ges till innehavaren av en NFT och i vilka specifika delar de ur tekniken härrörande riskerna inte omfattas av förevarande lagstiftning. För att utreda rättsläget för dessa tokens görs en genomgång av äganderättsliga och immaterialrättsliga bestämmelser ämnat att bilda en förståelse för traditionella egendomsslag och hur ägandeskap har förändrats i takt med samhällsutvecklingen. Vidare görs en övergripande presentation av decentraliserade databaser, blockkedjor samt smarta kontrakt, vilka utgör teknologin bakom NFT:s. Därtill görs en längre studie av en NFT och dess risker, följt av en redogörelse för de bestämmelser som appliceras på handeln av dessa tokens idag. Avslutningsvis dras slutsatserna att ett förvärv av en NFT enbart ger äganderätt till denna token och inte per automatik ger äganderätt till ytterligare egendom. En sådan äganderätt tilllerkänner innehavaren en ensamrätt att använda, att modifiera, att sälja samt att exkludera andra från egendomen. I den mån en NFT även är tänkt att representera en underliggande tillgång krävs att parter överenskommit om det. Förutsatt att ett smart kontrakt erkänns som juridiskt bindande kan det ensamt aktualisera köplagen och andra avtalsrättsliga bestämmelser. Ett juridisk erkännande är avgörande och fram tills att så skett krävs en separat överenskommelse mellan kontraktsparter bortom blockkedjan. Kontrollen och besittningen över tillgångarna kan få praktisk betydelse. Framställningen landar i att NFT:s är unika, såväl i karaktär som i funktion, och bör betraktas som sui generis i stället för att försöka omfattas av redan befintlig lagstiftning. Förevarande lagstiftning är otillfredsställande och i praktiken är det svårt att vidga bestämmelser att även omfatta denna nya teknologi. Därför är ytterligare skyddsregler nödvändiga och teknologin fordrar skydd i en lagstiftning efter sitt eget slag, särskilt anpassad för handeln av NFT:s.