KnowLedger - A Multi-Agent System Blockchain for Smart Cities Data

Bruno Fernandes (University of Minho), André Diogo (University of Minho), Fábio Silva (Polytechnic Institute of Porto), José Neves (University of Minho), Cesar Analide (University of Minho)

Abstract

Smart Cities introduce novel problems related to the management of inordinate amounts of data of different types and sources. Hence, solutions are required where data may be committed by any actor, being, at the same time, freely available to the community. With this in mind, this study introduces KnowLedger, a multi-agent system (MAS) blockchain to store structured data, where a new protocol, entitled as Proof-of-Confidence, is used to award those who commit accurate and reliable data. The obtained results show that the MAS proved to be beneficial not only for data collection but mainly for the maintenance of the blockchain, with the agents being responsible for the entire workload, from data collection to mining.