ETSI GR PDL 001 V1.1.1 (2020-03)

Permissioned Distributed Ledger (PDL); Landscape of Standards and Technologies

DGR/PDL-001_Landscape

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 26-Mar-2020
• Technical Committee: PDL - Permissioned Distributed Ledger
• Current Stage: 12 - Completion
• Due Date: 06-Apr-2020
• Completion Date: 27-Mar-2020

Standards Content (Sample)

ETSI GR PDL 001 V1.1.1 (2020-03)






GROUP REPORT
Permissioned Distributed Ledger (PDL);
Landscape of Standards and Technologies
Disclaimer
The present document has been produced and approved by the Permissioned Distributed Ledger ETSI Industry Specification
Group (ISG) and represents the views of those members who participated in this ISG.
It does not necessarily represent the views of the entire ETSI membership.

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2 ETSI GR PDL 001 V1.1.1 (2020-03)



Reference
DGR/PDL-001_Landscape
Keywords
blockchain, gap analysis, state of the art, survey

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®
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3 ETSI GR PDL 001 V1.1.1 (2020-03)
Contents
Intellectual Property Rights . 4
Foreword . 4
Modal verbs terminology . 4
Introduction . 4
1 Scope . 6
2 References . 6
2.1 Normative references . 6
2.2 Informative references . 6
3 Definition of terms, symbols and abbreviations . 7
3.1 Terms . 7
3.2 Symbols . 7
3.3 Abbreviations . 7
4 Introduction to main areas of application of PDL technologies and role of standards . 8
5 Current activities in standardization . 10
5.1 International Standards Organization (ISO TC-307) . 10
5.2 CEN-CENELEC FGBDLT . 10
5.3 ITU-T FG-DLT . 11
5.4 IEEE Standards Association . 11
5.5 ETSI . 11
6 Current activities in research . 12
7 Activities of professional initiatives and alliances . 12
7.1 Opentimestamps . 12
7.2 W3C . 12
7.3 Alastria . 12
7.4 Dutch Blockchain Coalition (Private Public Partnership Netherlands) . 12
TM
7.5 Hyperledger Project . 13
7.6 EEA . 13
7.7 SEP: Common denominator with SEP (Standards Essential Patent) Landscape . 13
7.8 INATBA . 13
7.9 Alliance for Internet of Things Innovation . 13
®
7.10 Industrial Internet Consortium . 14
7.11 Internet Society (ISoc) IRTF . 14
7.12 OASIS . 14
7.13 SBS . 14
®
7.14 OGC . 14
7.15 FIG . 14
TM
7.16 oneM2M . 15
TM
7.17 OMA . 15
8 Highlights of PDL solutions and needs . 15
8.1 Regulatory Aspects. 15
8.2 Ecosystem and EU-Market aspects . 16
9 Enhancements and recommendations for further collaboration . 16
Annex A: Ledger Data Structures: . 17
Annex B: List of EU funded H2020 Research Projects on DLT . 18
History . 25


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Intellectual Property Rights
Essential patents
IPRs essential or potentially essential to normative deliverables may have been declared to ETSI. The information
pertaining to these essential IPRs, if any, is publicly available for ETSI members and non-members, and can be found
in ETSI SR 000 314: "Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs); Essential, or potentially Essential, IPRs notified to ETSI in
respect of ETSI standards", which is available from the ETSI Secretariat. Latest updates are available on the ETSI Web
server (https://ipr.etsi.org/).
Pursuant to the ETSI IPR Policy, no investigation, including IPR searches, has been carried out by ETSI. No guarantee
can be given as to the existence of other IPRs not referenced in ETSI SR 000 314 (or the updates on the ETSI Web
server) which are, or may be, or may become, essential to the present document.
Trademarks
The present document may include trademarks and/or tradenames which are asserted and/or registered by their owners.
ETSI claims no ownership of these except for any which are indicated as being the property of ETSI, and conveys no
right to use or reproduce any trademark and/or tradename. Mention of those trademarks in the present document does
not constitute an endorsement by ETSI of products, services or organizations associated with those trademarks.
Foreword
This Group Report (GR) has been produced by ETSI Industry Specification Group (ISG) Permissioned Distributed
Ledger (PDL).
Modal verbs terminology
In the present document "should", "should not", "may", "need not", "will", "will not", "can" and "cannot" are to be
interpreted as described in clause 3.2 of the ETSI Drafting Rules (Verbal forms for the expression of provisions).
"must" and "must not" are NOT allowed in ETSI deliverables except when used in direct citation.
Introduction
Standards are everywhere and are playing a key role to protect consumers, workers and environment. Blockchain and
Distributed Ledger Technologies represent a key performance indicator for the Standardization Bodies and
Organizations worldwide. First initiative was launched by ISO in 2016, as an initiative from Australian mirror
Committee which conformed the Committee ISO/TC 307 [i.1] with the Scope "Standardisation of Blockchain
technologies and distributed ledger technologies".
Following the aim of standardization at the European level, CEN-CENELEC conformed a Focus Group [i.2] for
Blockchain and Distributed ledger technologies in 2017 which is under liaison with ISO TC307 and a White Paper
"Recommendations for Successful Adoption in Europe of Emerging Technical Standards on Distributed
Ledger/Blockchain Technologies" [i.2] was approved and published by CEN-CENELEC in 2018.
At United Nations level, the International Telecommunication Union is working very efficient with various Study
Groups and related materials and it is relevant the Focus Group [i.5] on Application of Distributed Ledger Technology
in May 2017.
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There are also initiatives and programs which are focus on standardization like the Joint Initiative on Standardization
under the Single Market Strategy [i.3] which is a voluntary collaborative effort and does not establish any new legal
commitments whereby Standards are key for innovation and progress within the European competitiveness. Basically,
this Joint Initiative on Standardization sets out a shared vision for European standards in order to take steps to better
prioritize and to modernize the current European Standardization system, as well as to strive for the timely delivery of
standardization deliverables. It supports the relevant aspects of the ten European Commission's Priorities and other
policy objectives, while clearly respecting the distribution of different competences between the EU and the Member
States.
The European Blockchain Observatory and Forum (https://www.eublockchainforum.eu/) is an open project to create
most comprehensive map of the European Blockchain ecosystem and as European Commission Initiative to accelerate
blockchain innovation and the development of blockchain ecosystem within the EU and so help cement Europe's
position as a global leader in this transformative new technology.
There are also other alternative efforts related to the standardization of some properties that DLTs can provide which
are considered within the present document like W3C (https://www.w3.org/) or https://opentimestamps.org/.

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1 Scope
The present document will identify current activities in standardization and in research which are particularly relevant
to PDL, with the goal of identifying applicable solutions, required enhancements and recommendations for further
collaboration. As appropriate, activities of professional or non-profit initiatives will also be considered.
2 References
2.1 Normative references
Normative references are not applicable in the present document.
2.2 Informative references
References are either specific (identified by date of publication and/or edition number or version number) or
non-specific. For specific references, only the cited version applies. For non-specific references, the latest version of the
referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
NOTE: While any hyperlinks included in this clause were valid at the time of publication, ETSI cannot guarantee
their long term validity.
The following referenced documents are not necessary for the application of the present document but they assist the
user with regard to a particular subject area.
[i.1] ISO/TC 307: "Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies".
NOTE: Available at https://www.iso.org/committee/6266604.html.
[i.2] CEN-CENELEC Focus Group on Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies:
"Recommendations for Successful Adoption in Europe of Emerging Technical Standards on
Distributed Ledger/Blockchain Technologies".
NOTE: Available at
ftp://ftp.cencenelec.eu/EN/EuropeanStandardization/Sectors/ICT/Blockchain%20+%20DLT/FG-BDLT-
White%20paper-Version1.2.pdf.
[i.3] European Commission: "The Single Market Strategy".
NOTE: Available at https://ec.europa.eu/growth/single-market/strategy_en.
[i.4] ISO/TR 23455:2019: "Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies -- Overview of and
interactions between smart contracts in blockchain and distributed ledger technology systems".
NOTE: Available at https://www.iso.org/standard/75624.html.
[i.5] ITU Focus Group on Application of Distributed Ledger Technology.
NOTE: Available at https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-T/focusgroups/dlt/Pages/default.aspx.
[i.6] W3C Recommendation 19 November 2019: "Verifiable Credentials Data Model 1.0".
NOTE: Available at https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-data-model/
[i.7] Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain
legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal
Market.
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[i.8] European Commission JRC Science for Policy Report: "Licensing Terms of Standard Essential
Patents".
NOTE: Available at
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/bitstream/JRC104068/jrc104068%20online.pdf
[i.9] European Commission Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs: "Landscaping
study of standard essential patents in Europe".
NOTE: Available at http://ec.europa.eu/growth/content/landscaping-study-standard-essential-patents-europe-
0_en.
[i.10] Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012
on European standardisation, amending Council Directives 89/686/EEC and 93/15/EEC and
Directives 94/9/EC, 94/25/EC, 95/16/EC, 97/23/EC, 98/34/EC, 2004/22/EC, 2007/23/EC,
2009/23/EC and 2009/105/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing
Council Decision 87/95/EEC and Decision No 1673/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of
the Council.
[i.11] Geospatial Standardization of Distributed Ledger Technologies.
3 Definition of terms, symbols and abbreviations
3.1 Terms
Void.
3.2 Symbols
Void.
3.3 Abbreviations
For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviations apply:
AI Artificial Intelligence
AML Anti-Money Laundering
API Application Programming Interface
CEN European Committee for Standardization
CENELEC European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization
CFT Counter-Financing of Terrorism or Combating the financing terrorism
CLC CENELEC
CTN Technical Committee of Standardization (Comité Técnico de Normalización)
DAO Decentralized Autonomous Organization
DIN Decentralized Internet Infrastructure
DINRG Decentralized Internet Infrastructure Research Group
DLT Distributed Ledger Technology
EBP European Blockchain Partnership
EBSI European Blockchain Service Infrastructure
EC European Commission
EEA Enterprise Ethereum Alliance
EFTA European Free Trade Association
eIDAS Electronic Identification, Authentication and Trust Services
EIRA European Interoperability Reference Architecture
ESSIF European Self Sovereign Identity Framework
ETSI European Telecommunication Standards Institute
EU European Union
FG Focus Group
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FIG International Federation of Surveyors
FRAND Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory
GDPR General Data Protection Regulation
H2020 Horizon 2020
HE Horizon Europe
ICO Initial Coin Offering
ICT Information and Communications Technology
INATBA International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications
IoT Internet of Things
IRTF Internet Research Task Force
ISO International Standards Organization
ITU International Telecommunication Union
ITU-T International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunications standardization sector.
JTC Joint Technical Committee
KYC Know Your Customer
OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
OGC Open Geospatial Consortium
OMA Open Mobile Alliance
PDL Permissioned Distributed Ledger
PIA Privacy Impact Assessment
PKI Public Key Infrastructure
PR Property Rights
RG Research Group
SBS Small Business Standards
SC11 Sub-Committee 11.
SDO Standard Developing Organization
SEP Standards-Essential Patents
SG Study Group.
SME Small and Medium Enterprise
STO Security Token Offering
TOOP The Once-Only Principle
TSAG Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group
UN/CEFACT United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business
UNCITRAL United Nations Commission on International Trade Law
UNE Spanish Association for Standardization
WS Work-Shop
4 Introduction to main areas of application of PDL
technologies and role of standards
Distributed Ledgers Technology is categorized as a General Purpose Technology and as such can provide benefits to a
large number of applications across most industries. Applications that use PDL technologies will benefit from
distributed trusted databases with recorded verifiable transactions which can be automated to increase efficiency and
reduce costs.
Typical applications, industrialized and emerging, may be divided into horizontal applications which provide common
functions, and vertical applications that serves a more specific industry application typically leveraging one or more
horizontal application. Some examples below.
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Table 1: Main Areas of PDL Applications
HORIZONTAL DOMAIN VERTICAL DOMAIN
Identity Management: individuals, objects, legal entities eGovernment: Properties, benefits records
and processes
Data Management: data sharing Healthcare: Health records, Prescriptions
Logistics and Supply-Chain Industries: Manufacturing distribution
Security Management Automotive and IoT: Supply chain, data integrity,
Autonomous vehicles
Digital Evidence Commerce, digital evidence admissible in court
Invoicing Management Finance: securities trading, Trade finance, Micro-credits
and remitance, insurance
Crypto-structures and DAO Utilities: Share records and trading, Energy Sector, Smart-
Metering, Smart-grids, Telecommunications, Water and
Waste management.
Contract Management: Smart Contracts Media and Social Media: Intellectual Properties
management, e-Sport, Culture, Art, Advertisement
Commodity Management Yield management, Agriculture
Decision Management: A.I.-decision traceability Education: e-learning, Diplomas validation
Privacy management Healthcare, Automotive and IoT, Commerce, Finance-
securities trading, Utilities
Infrastructure Management ICT: Internet resource management, Trust infrastructure
(e.g. PKI), Network security

The many initiatives have created a fragmented market and many reports states the lack of standards as a significant
barrier to adoption. Several initiatives are ongoing and examples of where standards can help include terminology,
interoperability, security, privacy and data management.
AI- data traceability: AI is a number of technologies of data processing nature that may assist decision making. The use
of AI may be validated and enhanced by traceability. The traceability of a number of data management processes
involving machine, scripting and human processing may be enhanced with the use of AI and its functionality.
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5 Current activities in standardization
5.1 International Standards Organization (ISO TC-307)
ISO/TC 307 [i.1] Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies since 2016 has 43 participating members and
13 observing members. It has liaisons committees to ISO/TC 307 and from ISO/ TC307. And it is relevant the Joint
Working Groups ISO/TC46/SC11/JWG1 with title Joint ISO/TC46/SC 11-ISO/TC 307 WG: Blockchain. There are also
organizations in liaison like European Commission, Enterprise Ethereum Alliance Inc, Institute of Electrical and
Electronic Engineers Inc, ITU, OECD, SWIFT, UNECE and International Federation of Surveyors.
ISO TC 307
ISO/CD 23257.2
Reference architecture
ISO/DIS 22739
ISO/NP TS 23635
Terminology
Guidelines for governance
ISO/CD TR 3242
ISO/WD TS 23258
ISO/AWI TS 23259
Use Cases
Taxonomy and Ontology
ISO/CD TR 23244 Legally binding
Privacy and personally Smart Contracts
identifiable information
ISO/NP TR 23246
protection
Overview of identity management
ISO/CD TR 23576
considerations
Using blockchain and DLTs
Security management of
digital asset custodians
ISO/CD TR 23245
Security risks, threats and vulnerabilities

NOTE: ISO/TR 23455:2019 [i.4] overview of and interactions between Smart Contracts and DLT systems is
published already.

Figure 1: ISO TC307 - Standards under development
5.2 CEN-CENELEC FGBDLT
CEN-CENELEC: CEN (European Committee for Standardization) and CENELEC (European Committee for
Electrotechnical Standardization) are recognized by the EU and EFTA as European Standardization Organizations
responsible for developing standards at European level. These standards set out specifications and procedures in relation
to a wide range of materials, processes, products and services. The members of CEN-CENELEC are the National
Standardization Bodies and National Electrotechnical Committees of 34 European countries. European Standards and
other standardization deliverables adopted by CEN-CENELEC are accepted and recognized in all these countries. For
Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies the Focus Group in 2019 will identify specific European needs and
release a new version of its technical white paper for the successful implementation of Blockchain and DLT in Europe.
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There are numerous standards under development within CEN-CENELEC and the strategy which is public consider
between their pivotal highlights' Digital transformation, International cooperation like task force with Gulf, India,
Japan, China and Africa; seminars and workshops. Some of the interesting standards under development are: For
Digital Society, CEN/WS 084 Self-Sovereign Identifier for Personal Data Ownership and Usage Control,
CEN/CLC/WS SEP2 Industry Best Practices and Industry Code of Conduct for Licensing of Standard Essential Patents
in the field of 5G and Internet of Things, CLC/TC108X Safety of electronic equipment within the fields of
Audio/Video, Information Technology and Communication Technology, CLC/TC 209 Cable networks for television
signals, sound signals and interactive services. For Mechanical and machinery mainly focus for safety and segments
like entertainment technology and amusement park machinery and structures. For services CEN/TC 445 Digital
Information Interchange in the Insurance Industry, CEN/TC 278 Intelligent transport systems. Recently
CEN-CENELEC has approved liaison with ETSI ISG PDL and a new TC will act as mirror with ISO/TC 307 [i.1].
This Focus Group has decided to continue as a technical committee CEN/CLC JTC19.
5.3 ITU-T FG-DLT
ITU The Focus Group for Distributed ledger technologies (DLT) was established in May 2017 and concluded
August 2019. A parent group is TSAG (Telecommunication Standardization Advisory group) the participation in
FG DLT is open. Deliverables of the FGDLT can be found at [i.5]. The deliverables have been transferred to SG16 and
SG17, which have established new Questions for further study of DLT.
ITU-T
FG DLT
ITU-T FG DFC Digital Currency
Including digital fiat currency
ITU-T SG16 MULTIMEDIA
ITU-T SG17 SECURITY
ITU-T FG DPM
Data Processing and
Management to support IoT
ITU-T SG20
And Smart cities & Communities
IoT, Smart Cities & Communitites

NOTE: There are other Study Groups which are related to DLTs like SG 13 of ITU-T about Future Internet, the
Work Item is Decentralized Network Infrastructure. The interaction with the SG 16 about Multimedia has
launched three new areas of exploration for the ITU-T FG DLT.

Figure 2: Related standards
5.4 IEEE Standards Association
IEEE Standards Association is doing prospection in some areas with some projects for Blockchain and Distributed
ledger with some report and documents that can be found herein https://blockchain.ieee.org/standards.
5.5 ETSI
European Telecommunication Standards Institute: ETSI ISG PDL is the unique Working Group specifically working on
DLT however there are others standards from ETSI that are usefully elements for DLT considerations.
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6 Current activities in research
The research community is actively working on the evolution of PDLs and the list of on-going projects in this area is
exhaustive. Over the Multi-Annual Financial Framework (2014-2020), the EU has allocated an amount of funds (i.e.
€80 billion) for the over-all research and innovation through H2020 programme. Mainly because of the interest of the
research community more than €180 million is allocated to Research & Innovation is linked to blockchain. The H2020 -
a seven-year (2014-2020) programme is the EU's biggest Research and innovation programme ever, which involves
many projects related to PDLs; a list with information on some of these research projects can be found in annex B.
In order to strengthen the European commission strategy on blockchain, there has been additionally a H2020 Call ICT-
54-2020 - Blockchain for the next generation Internet (https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-
tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details
...