TREVO: Trusted e-Voting
Voting systems have evolved during the last hundreds of years to become more sophisticated and complex, starting from paper-based ballots up to electronic voting machines and internet voting which have been introduced as new voting technologies. However, electronic-based methods have raised concerns about security and the potential for tampering results, manipulation or hacking. The TREVO project aims to revolutionize electronic voting systems by employing decentralized identities rooted on blockchain and an SSI approach that puts the user at the center of the process from the early phases of the design phase. The main objective of TREVO is to tackle main challenges in electronic voting that are still open, such as voter anonymity, ballot privacy, trusted tally/audit as well as verifiability. It employs blockchain technology and more specifically Decentralised Identities, Verifiable Credentials and state-of-the-art communication protocols and architectures, following the latest EU guidelines and regulations in terms of digital identities and data protection. The framework incorporates a mobile wallet that enables EU-wide interoperability for citizen authentication and authorization based on well-established technologies entailing trust from anchors of the public sector.
TREVO’s mobile application is the main output of the project which will be cocreated with the end-users, keeping them in the loop from the ideation and design process up to the testing and evaluation, integrating their feedback through an iterative procedure. TREVO will be deployed and evaluated/validated in real use cases of a Greek municipality (Trikala) where direct citizen feedback is needed for addressing issues such as urban planning, wider regional strategies (e.g. energy or digital transition) and e-governance, leaving no one behind, including elderly people and vulnerable groups.
The new approach is expected to increase the trustworthiness of e-voting systems in EU and across the globe and even make a step towards initiating the discussion for e-voting in national elections.
- Motivation for the project: There are significant challenges that need to be addressed to ensure the security, accuracy, and transparency of e-voting systems. They also need to protect the privacy of the voters and prevent disclosure of sensitive personal information. To address these challenges, e-voting systems need to be designed with robust security measures, rigorous testing, thorough auditing processes and should also incorporate transparent procedures for verifying and validating the accuracy of the vote count.
- Generic use case description: TREVO enables secure and transparent electronic voting through its mobile application and digital wallet, which employ DIDs, VCs and ZKPs to ensure voter anonymity, ballot privacy, trusted audit and verifiability through blockchain. TREVO will be validated in real, e-governance scenarios in the Municipality of Trikala, Greece.
- Essential functionalities: TREVO provides a mobile application which employs a digital identity wallet that guarantees the secure management and sharing of identity data (DIDs, VCs, cryptographic material) and ensures the privacy of the holder. It also enables the secure connection with the blockchain and the backend servers, through encrypted and scalable communication protocols.
- How these functionalities can be integrated within the software ecosystem: TREVO is in line with the latest EU Guidelines as well as with the TrustChain objective towards an ecosystem of decentralised software solutions. TREVO goes side by side with the NGI goals for the future internet by ensuring transparency and security through the employment of blockchain, inclusivity through the co-creation process, privacy and protection of data through its SSI approach and interoperability across the EU through the compliance with standards and reference architectures.
- Gap being addressed: Despite several attempts to solve the challenges of e-voting through blockchain, the main limitation of current solutions is that they don’t use decentralised identities and they don’t follow SSI principles, diverging from EU regulations for data privacy.
- Expected benefits achieved with the novel technology building blocks: The new approach increases the trustworthiness of e-voting systems in EU and across the globe and even makes a step towards initiating the discussion for e-voting in national elections. Moreover, the technical outputs of TREVO, namely the decentralised identity framework and the mobile wallet are fully aligned with the latest EU guidelines.
- Potential demonstration scenario: TREVO will be demonstrated in real e-governance scenarios in the Municipality of Trikala, Greece. Examples include local citizen consultation (e.g. street/bridge naming, transport system adaptations, energy matters), elections at the municipal youth council of Trikala.
Team
Stephane Kundig
Stephane Kundig is a senior research Engineer and PhD graduate in computer science, with an expertise in distributed networks and IoT systems.
Harris Niavis
Harris Niavis is a senior research Engineer with >10 years experience in research and his interests lie in the areas of distributed networks, blockchains and decentralised identities.
George Misiakoulis
George Misiakoulis is an accomplished senior software Engineer with a diverse skill set that encompasses various domains, along with deep expertise in Kubernetes and Blockchain technologies.
Leonidas Valavanis
Leonidas Valavanis is a senior software Engineer with a MSc in Machine Learning. He has experience in web/mobile development and specializes in deep learning and computer vision.
Konstantinos Loupos
Konstantinos Loupos is a senior researcher with a background in Electrical Engineering, microelectronics and embedded systems and with particular expertise in IoT and digital systems.
Antonis Mygiakis
Antonis Mygiakis is an Electrical & Electronics Engineer with an extensive 19-year experience in Software Engineering, co-founder and Managing Director of Konnecta.
Thanasis Ballis
Thanasis Ballis is a Computer Engineer working as a Project Manager for over a decade.
Elpida Nika
Elpida Nika is a student at University of Ioannina, department of Computer Science and Engineering, currently working at Digital Applications, e-trikala.
Entity
Konnecta Systems IKE (KONN)
Konnecta is an IT consulting and solutions SME specializing in Connected Intelligence Application Systems and Digital Transformation Solutions. A key aspect of KONNECTA’s commercial vision is the use of cutting-edge technologies such as Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Extended Reality (XR) and Digital Twins.
Website: www.konnecta.io
ANAPTYXIAKI ETAIREIA DIMOU TRIKKAION ANAPTYXIAKI ANONYMI ETAIREIA OTA e-TRIKALA A.E. (e-TRIKALA)
e-Trikala is the development agency of the Municipality of Trikala, Thessaly, Greece, with the main objective to operate a programming point, documentation and mediation for the Municipality of Trikala in the Operational Programmes "Information Society" and "Digital Convergence”, with strong involvement in a series of EU/R&D projects.
Website: www.e-trikala.gr/company-profile