ONTOCHAIN: Apply for €145k Funding in Open Call #2! + Two examples of projects using iExec
On September 15th, the European project ONTOCHAIN will close its 2nd Open Call for participation. Just like the 1st Open Call last year, ONTOCHAIN will select the most promising projects to develop a new ecosystem for trusted, traceable, and transparent ontological knowledge management. As a technological partner of ONTOCHAIN, iExec takes this opportunity to introduce this new call, offering up to €145k of funding per applicant. We’ll also take this chance to introduce CopyrighLY and KnowledgeX, two ONTOCHAIN projects using iExec.
What is ONTOCHAIN?
Launched in 2020, ONTOCHAIN is a European initiative that aims to create an ecosystem for trusted, traceable & transparent ontological knowledge. For that purpose, ONTOCHAIN empowers innovators to develop blockchain-based knowledge management solutions, with up to €4.2 million funding, mentoring by reputed organizations, and access to existing infrastructure. The concept underlying this ecosystem is a better sharing of knowledge and value on the Internet and that for various domains.
ONTOCHAIN is a 3 year-long project, split into 3 separate Open Calls. For each Open Call, applicants have to submit a project addressing one of several topics relevant to ONTOCHAIN.
Learn more about ONTOCHAIN: https://ontochain.ngi.eu/
Within Open Call #1, 18 projects were selected by the ONTOCHAIN board, you can read more about them here:
As one of the 7 ONTOCHAIN’s core partners, iExec brings its expertise in blockchain and confidential computing as well as infrastructure to these participating projects. Over the course of their projects, successful applicants will be encouraged to use and extend existing software solutions from ONTOCHAIN technical partners, including those from iExec.
ONTOCHAIN Open Call #2: Apply before September 15th!
As a 3 year-long project, ONTOCHAIN currently opens its second year of work with Open Call #2, which started on July 15th. Applicants still have until September 15th, 17:00 pm CET to submit their idea to ONTOCHAIN. At the end of October, the applicants will know whether their team was selected to join the ONTOCHAIN initiative and receive funding.
What are the Open Call topics?
- Topic 1 - Decentralized Oracles for ONTOCHAIN
- Topic 2 - Market Mechanisms for ONTOCHAIN
- Topic 3 - ONTOCHAIN interoperability & API Gateways
- Topic 4 - ONTOCHAIN Network Design & Scalability
- Topic 5 - Semantic-based marketplaces for ONTOCHAIN
- Topic 6 - Data provenance in ONTOCHAIN
- Open Topic - Topic relevant to the implementation of the ONTOCHAIN ecosystem
Who can apply?
Similar to Open Call #1, Internet technologists, researchers, developers, and innovators. Applicants can apply as individuals or be linked to a legal entity.
How does Open Call #2 differ from Open Call #1?
Through ONTOCHAIN Open Call #1, 18 teams of high-level innovators got the opportunity to specify the core design aspects of the ONTOCHAIN ecosystem. These core aspects will be now implemented by the teams selected in Open Call #2. For this 2nd Open Call, up to 12 projects will be selected to join an up to 10-month supporting program:
- 6 projects will be selected for a 10-months program and earn up to €145,000 funding.
- 6 projects will be selected for a 5-months program and earn up to €75,000 funding.
To help you understand the ONTOCHAIN project and the process of applying for this 2nd Open Call, watch the dedicated webinars: ONTOCHAIN Open Call #2 webinar 1 & webinar 2.
Want to know more about the eligibility criteria? Check out the dedicated page on the ONTOCHAIN website:
Want to apply?
Earn extra funding! You may be able to get your hands on even more funding rewards from iExec’s own developer rewards program:
Projects using iExec: A look back at ONTOCHAIN Open Call #1
During the process, iExec provides the teams with resources and technical support to help them implement their solution and integrate it into the ONTOCHAIN ecosystem. The resources include the iExec Decentralized Marketplace for executing off-chain computing tasks as well as iExec Confidential Computing services.
The variety of decentralized projects that can be developed and supported using iExec’s infrastructure and technologies in the context of ONTOCHAIN is colossal! Let’s have a look at two examples of use cases that have been implemented with the help of iExec technology during Open Call #1.
CopyrightLY: A Semantic-based Marketplace to implement a Decentralized Copyright Management for Social Media.
- How is iExec used? iExec Decentralized Oracles
- The issue addressed: With more content being published on social media than ever before, based on very few centralized services, it becomes more and more difficult for individuals to monetize their creations and ensure authorship.
- The project: CopyrightLY provides a decentralized application that leverages semantic web technologies and blockchain to facilitate copyright management. For that, CopyrightLY uses the iExec Decentralized Oracles to link content authorship on social media to the blockchain. How does it work? YouTube video creators can store their content off-chain, generating a hash specific for the content. Through an on-chain transaction, an authorship claim of that hash is stored. The hash is also added to the YouTube video description. Potential reusers can follow the hash from the description to recover the authorship claim and the reuse conditions. Content hashes are verified on-chain using iExec Decentralized Oracles, which can also associate social media user profiles with on-chain identities.
KnowledgeX: A decentralized platform for trusted data-driven knowledge extraction
- How is iExec used? iExec Trusted/Confidential Compute
- The issue addressed: Creating knowledge from data increasingly requires highly specialized data scientists with deep domain knowledge and expertise in data analysis on the one hand and access to elastic computing resources on the other. In addition, data providers need to be sure that the data scientist has the experience needed and will only handle the data according to their authorization.
- The project: KnowledgeX provides a decentralized platform where companies can find specialized data scientists for their specific use cases, and obtain traceable and transparent knowledge generation with Trusted Execution Environments and blockchain technologies. The platform uses iExec Confidential Computing technology to create a secure environment where data owners can hire independent contractors to gain valuable insights without risking losing any data. Independent data scientists can bid on proposed gigs without getting prior access to confidential data, and the actual data analytics can be delegated to the iExec platform.
Interested in more details about CopyrightLY and KnowledgeX projects? Keep an eye out, we have dedicated articles on each of the projects planned for publication within the next few months!
💡 Want to learn more on how you can use the iExec infrastructure for your decentralized application? Check out iExec Academy!
iExec Academy aggregates all content related to the project. You’ll find articles, documentation, videos, interactive demos, and much more to help you understand iExec technologies!
