Incentivized Research Data Sharing, Reusing and Repurposing with Blockchain Technologies

Abstract

Data is the lifeblood of many organizations. Compared to the centralized mechanisms of data sharing (and the subsequent reuse and repurposing), many, if not all, aspects of these processes can be decentralized by using blockchain and provenance semantics. By capturing metadata details at each step of the workflow, data will be easier to audit, verify, and merge with related datasets. It is common in settings where data is either sensitive or valuable (or both) to have formal data use agreements or sometimes less formal rules for reuse, which we have captured in smart contracts. A key innovative aspect of this work is the departure from the traditional natural language-based data use agreements with the aim of making these agreements more computable, resulting in enhanced usability by a broader community. We have also engineered an innovative incentive mechanism for sharing data using an ERC20 token, a popular technical standard for developing fungible tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. The system we developed can be used to track data reuse, thus providing metrics for use in measuring data producers' impact for enterprise reward structures and research measures such as an h-index. As an example application, we discuss how this approach could radically improve the quality and the efficiency of scientific output in the setting of research data sharing. We address the challenge of the costly and time-consuming effort needed to bring an innovative idea from the bench (basic research) to the bedside (clinical level).