D-VRE: From a Jupyter-enabled private research environment to decentralized collaborative research ecosystem
Today, scientific research is increasingly becoming data-centric and compute-intensive, relying on data and models across distributed sources. However, challenges still exist in the traditional cooperation mode, given the high storage and computing costs, geolocation barriers, and local confidential...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Blockchain: Research and Applications |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2096720924000575 |
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| author | Yuandou Wang Sheejan Tripathi Siamak Farshidi Zhiming Zhao |
| author_facet | Yuandou Wang Sheejan Tripathi Siamak Farshidi Zhiming Zhao |
| author_sort | Yuandou Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Today, scientific research is increasingly becoming data-centric and compute-intensive, relying on data and models across distributed sources. However, challenges still exist in the traditional cooperation mode, given the high storage and computing costs, geolocation barriers, and local confidentiality regulations. The Jupyter environment has recently emerged and evolved into a vital virtual research environment for scientific computing, which researchers can use to scale computational analyses up to larger datasets and high-performance computing resources. Nevertheless, existing approaches lack robust support of a decentralized cooperation mode to unlock the full potential of decentralized collaborative scientific research, e.g., seamlessly secure data sharing. In this work, we change the basic structure and legacy norms of current research environments via the seamless integration of Jupyter with Ethereum blockchain capabilities. As such, it creates a Decentralized Virtual Research Environment (D-VRE) from private computational notebooks to a decentralized collaborative research ecosystem. We propose a novel architecture for the D-VRE and prototype some essential D-VRE elements for enabling secure data sharing with decentralized identity, user-centric agreement-making, membership, and research asset management. To validate our method, we conduct an experimental study to test all functionalities of D-VRE smart contracts and their gas consumption. In addition, we deploy the D-VRE prototype on a test net of the Ethereum blockchain for demonstration. The feedback from the studies showcases the current prototype's usability, ease of use, and potential, and suggests further improvements. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-42e572c8fcf74f75bd670ddff28a24ea |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2666-9536 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Blockchain: Research and Applications |
| spelling | doaj-art-42e572c8fcf74f75bd670ddff28a24ea2025-08-20T02:48:22ZengElsevierBlockchain: Research and Applications2666-95362025-03-016110024410.1016/j.bcra.2024.100244D-VRE: From a Jupyter-enabled private research environment to decentralized collaborative research ecosystemYuandou Wang0Sheejan Tripathi1Siamak Farshidi2Zhiming Zhao3Multiscale Networked System, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1098 XH, the Netherlands; Corresponding authors.Multiscale Networked System, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1098 XH, the Netherlands; Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1081 HV, the NetherlandsMultiscale Networked System, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1098 XH, the Netherlands; Information Technology, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen 6706 KN, the NetherlandsMultiscale Networked System, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1098 XH, the Netherlands; LifeWatch ERIC Virtual Lab and Innovation Center (VLIC), Amsterdam 1098 XH, the Netherlands; Corresponding authors.Today, scientific research is increasingly becoming data-centric and compute-intensive, relying on data and models across distributed sources. However, challenges still exist in the traditional cooperation mode, given the high storage and computing costs, geolocation barriers, and local confidentiality regulations. The Jupyter environment has recently emerged and evolved into a vital virtual research environment for scientific computing, which researchers can use to scale computational analyses up to larger datasets and high-performance computing resources. Nevertheless, existing approaches lack robust support of a decentralized cooperation mode to unlock the full potential of decentralized collaborative scientific research, e.g., seamlessly secure data sharing. In this work, we change the basic structure and legacy norms of current research environments via the seamless integration of Jupyter with Ethereum blockchain capabilities. As such, it creates a Decentralized Virtual Research Environment (D-VRE) from private computational notebooks to a decentralized collaborative research ecosystem. We propose a novel architecture for the D-VRE and prototype some essential D-VRE elements for enabling secure data sharing with decentralized identity, user-centric agreement-making, membership, and research asset management. To validate our method, we conduct an experimental study to test all functionalities of D-VRE smart contracts and their gas consumption. In addition, we deploy the D-VRE prototype on a test net of the Ethereum blockchain for demonstration. The feedback from the studies showcases the current prototype's usability, ease of use, and potential, and suggests further improvements.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2096720924000575BlockchainJupyterSecure data sharingUser-centric policy-makingVirtual research environmentWeb 3.0 |
| spellingShingle | Yuandou Wang Sheejan Tripathi Siamak Farshidi Zhiming Zhao D-VRE: From a Jupyter-enabled private research environment to decentralized collaborative research ecosystem Blockchain: Research and Applications Blockchain Jupyter Secure data sharing User-centric policy-making Virtual research environment Web 3.0 |
| title | D-VRE: From a Jupyter-enabled private research environment to decentralized collaborative research ecosystem |
| title_full | D-VRE: From a Jupyter-enabled private research environment to decentralized collaborative research ecosystem |
| title_fullStr | D-VRE: From a Jupyter-enabled private research environment to decentralized collaborative research ecosystem |
| title_full_unstemmed | D-VRE: From a Jupyter-enabled private research environment to decentralized collaborative research ecosystem |
| title_short | D-VRE: From a Jupyter-enabled private research environment to decentralized collaborative research ecosystem |
| title_sort | d vre from a jupyter enabled private research environment to decentralized collaborative research ecosystem |
| topic | Blockchain Jupyter Secure data sharing User-centric policy-making Virtual research environment Web 3.0 |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2096720924000575 |
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