Privacy-preserving federated learning for residential short-term load forecasting

in Applied Energy (2022), 326

With high levels of intermittent power generation and dynamic demand patterns, accurate forecasts for residential loads have become essential. Smart meters can play an important role when making these ... [more ▼]

With high levels of intermittent power generation and dynamic demand patterns, accurate forecasts for residential loads have become essential. Smart meters can play an important role when making these forecasts as they provide detailed load data. However, using smart meter data for load forecasting is challenging due to data privacy requirements. This paper investigates how these requirements can be addressed through a combination of federated learning and privacy preserving techniques such as differential privacy and secure aggregation. For our analysis, we employ a large set of residential load data and simulate how different federated learning models and privacy preserving techniques affect performance and privacy. Our simulations reveal that combining federated learning and privacy preserving techniques can secure both high forecasting accuracy and near-complete privacy. Specifically, we find that such combinations enable a high level of information sharing while ensuring privacy of both the processed load data and forecasting models. Moreover, we identify and discuss challenges of applying federated learning, differential privacy and secure aggregation for residential short-term load forecasting. [less ▲]

Opportunities and challenges of using blockchain technology in public administration – Insights from the FLORA project of Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees

Report (2022)

The Role of Cultural Fit in the Adoption of Fashionable IT: A Blockchain Case Study

in Forty-Third International Conference on Information Systems (2022, October)

Investments in fashionable IT do not make organizations more successful than investments in less fashionable alternatives. Many organizations nevertheless associate with fashionable IT to signal ... [more ▼]

Investments in fashionable IT do not make organizations more successful than investments in less fashionable alternatives. Many organizations nevertheless associate with fashionable IT to signal compliance with norms of progress and rationality. These decisions can be risky as fashionable IT is often surrounded by wishful and unbalanced discourse, especially in the ‘fashion up-swing’. Engagement with fashionable IT thus requires the ability to navigate hype narratives and fit the new technology into the adopting organization. Fit needs to be established in many regards, such as political and technological. In this paper, we explore a third and so far, understudied perspective: cultural fit between the values attributed to the fashionable IT through the fashion discourse and those of the recipient organizational context. Through an inductive case study of two blockchain projects, we find that cultural fit can equally be an important determinant for successful adoption of fashionable IT. Moreover, we develop a process theory for how cultural fit can be established through a process of cultural sensemaking and dissonance reduction along two recursive pathways. Adopting organizations can change their implementation of fashionable IT systems and re-frame the narratives surrounding them to fit their organization’s cultural values. Alternatively, they can transform their local or overarching organizational culture by integrating values attributed to the fashionable IT. Overall, we contribute a much-needed organizational culture perspective to IT fashions and extend the discussions on IT cultural conflict. [less ▲]

Guiding Refugees Through European Bureaucracy: Designing a Trustworthy Mobile App for Document Management

in Drechsler, A.; Gerber, A.; Hevner, A. (Eds.) The Transdisciplinary Reach of Design Science Research. DESRIST 2022 (2022, May 25)

After being granted asylum in European countries, refugees need to go through a multitude of administrative processes before they can participate in society. However, these processes are often challenging ... [more ▼]

After being granted asylum in European countries, refugees need to go through a multitude of administrative processes before they can participate in society. However, these processes are often challenging, as refugees struggle to understand them, lack instructions for managing paperwork, and do not possess the required language skills. Prior research emphasizes the role of information and communication technologies to simplify and enable refugee-friendly administrative processes. However, recent research and existing applications mainly focus on information retrieval and do not offer assistance for understanding official letters, completing administrative forms, and managing corresponding documents. Furthermore, refugees are often reluctant to use existing applications as they do not trust their host country’s governments and public authorities. In this research, we aim to address this functional and trust gap. We follow a design science research approach to develop a design for a refugee-centric and trustworthy mobile application that assists refugees along administrative processes. In doing so, we identify three design principles that may guide the development of such applications for refugees. [less ▲]

The Social Construction of Self-Sovereign Identity: An Extended Model of Interpretive Flexibility

in Proceedings of the 55th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) (2022, January)

User-centric identity management systems are gaining momentum as concerns about Big Tech and Big Government rise. Many of these systems are framed as offering Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI). Yet, competing ... [more ▼]

User-centric identity management systems are gaining momentum as concerns about Big Tech and Big Government rise. Many of these systems are framed as offering Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI). Yet, competing appropriation and the social embedding of SSI have resulted in diverging interpretations. These vague and value-laden interpretations can damage the public discourse and risk misrepresenting values and affordances that technology offers to users. To unpack the various social and technical understandings of SSI, we adopt an ‘interpretive flexibility’ lens. Based on a qualitative inductive interview study, we find that SSI’s interpretation is strongly mediated by surrounding institutional properties. Our study helps to better navigate these different perceptions and highlights the need for a multidimensional framework that can improve the understanding of complex socio-technical systems for digital government practitioners, researchers, and policy-makers. [less ▲]

With or Without Blockchain? Towards a Decentralized, SSI-based eRoaming Architecture

in Proceedings of the 55th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) (2022)

Fragmentation and limited accessibility of charging infrastructure impede the adoption of electric vehicles. To improve the availability of charging infrastructure independent of providers, eRoaming ... [more ▼]

Fragmentation and limited accessibility of charging infrastructure impede the adoption of electric vehicles. To improve the availability of charging infrastructure independent of providers, eRoaming offers a promising solution. Yet, current eRoaming systems are typically centralized, which raises concerns of market power concentration. While the use of blockchain technology can obviate such concerns, it comes with significant privacy challenges. To address these challenges, we explore a combination of blockchain with self-sovereign identity. Specifically, we apply a design science research approach, which helps us to identify requirements, derive a conceptual architecture, and deduce design principles for decentralized eRoaming and beyond. We find that blockchain may best leverage its benefits when it takes a backseat as a public registry for legal entities. Moreover, we find that the use of self-sovereign identities could improve compliance with privacy regulations, but they should not be overused. [less ▲]

Artificial Intelligence as a Call for Retail Banking : Applying Digital Options Thinking to Artificial Intelligence Adoption

in Proceedings of the Thirtieth European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2022), Timisoara, Romania: Artificial Intelligence as a Call for Retail Banking : Applying Digital Options Thinking to Artificial Intelligence Adoption (2022)

Technology-driven challenges, both existing and emerging, require banks to invest in IT capabilities, especially in artificial intelligence (AI). Digital options theory presents a valuable guide rail for ... [more ▼]

Technology-driven challenges, both existing and emerging, require banks to invest in IT capabilities, especially in artificial intelligence (AI). Digital options theory presents a valuable guide rail for these investments. However, the nature of AI as a moving frontier of computing requires certain extensions to established digital option thinking. Based on interviews with 23 experts in the retail banking industry, we highlight the importance of thinking broadly when laying the foundation for AI options and being mindful of the dynamic effects of contextual factors. Drawing from digital options theory and the Technology-Organization-Environment framework as dual lens, our study adds a structured approach to consciously balance resources and AI-related capability investments with a broader consideration of the banking industry’s complex environment. In this way, our study complements recent research on the interplay between incumbents’ resources and digital opportunities. [less ▲]

Not yet another digital identity

in Nature Human Behaviour (2021)

The privacy challenge in the race for digital vaccination certificates

in Med (2021)

The Blockchain Effect: From Inter-Ecosystem to Intra-Ecosystem Competition

in Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS) (2021)

Blockchains enable distributed operation, decentralized control, and token-based representations of tangible and intangible assets. Organizations commonly use blockchain technology to foster collaboration ... [more ▼]

Blockchains enable distributed operation, decentralized control, and token-based representations of tangible and intangible assets. Organizations commonly use blockchain technology to foster collaboration. In this paper, we investigate the use of blockchain to foster competition. We conduct a single-case study of Germany’s mobility-as-a-service community and its efforts to use blockchain as a technical backbone for mobility ecosystems. The community views blockchain as a technology that embodies organizing principles of empowerment and equality. These principles motivated the community to rethink ecosystem structure. In particular, the community began to question the exclusive, non-adversarial position of mobility service aggregators. We find that rethinking this position might shift their competitive focus from the inter- to the intra-ecosystem level and enables the creation of a larger ecosystem. As a second-order effect, the community began to rethink ecosystem governance. Specifically, it began to explore options for effectively distributed decision making while safeguarding efficiency. [less ▲]