The Technology Research Group (GRET in Catalan) was created in 2021 with the aim of promoting research in the technological field and, especially, in the sectors of computer security, information privacy, Blockchain technology and Serious Games. This research group gathers the legacy of the Educational Technology Applied to Teaching (Editad) team, which operated between 2016 and 2019 with the aim of integrating technology as a methodological tool for teaching at all levels.
Lines of research:
- Computer networks
- Biometrics and Security
- Blockchain Technology
- Teaching through technology through Serious Games
- Data privacy
Group manager
Aleix Dorca Josa adorca@uda.ad orcid
PhD in Biometrics and Computer Security, MSc in Open Source Software, MSc in Computer Security, MSc en Computer Science, BSc in Computer Science, BSc in Telematics.
Contact: Google Scholar, ResearchGate
Collaborators
Jordi Herrera Joancomartí jordi.herrera@uab.cat
MSc in Mathematics from UAB and PhD in Mathematics from UPC. Associate Professor in the Enginyeria de la Informació i les Comunicacions department at UAB.
Contacte: Google Scholar
PhD students
Francesc Garcia Grau fgarciag@uda.ad
MSc in Computer Science, International MSc in IT Security (MISTIC).
Contact: ResearchGate
Jan Sau Batlle jsau@uda.ad
BSc in Computer Science. MSc in Computer Games Design, MSc in Education and IT. Experience in videogames and Serious Games development.
PROJECT 1. Linkable anonymous credentials: how to apply self-managed identity to electronic voting with Blockchain and Smart Contracts.
Anonymous attribute-based credentials (ABC) provide the means for the implementation of self-managed identities (SSI) that transfer responsibility for the custody of personal data to the user, and allow them to have control over who, where and when they want to share such data.
Electronic voting systems suffer from a lack of transparency and the need for anonymity. Transparency is achieved with the use of Blockchain and Smart Contracts, but anonymity becomes a matter of trust. Self-managed identities guarantee this need for anonymity, but to a superlative degree, since it is not possible to link different presentations of the same attribute, and therefore does not apply to electronic voting.
Objective:
This project seeks to be able to give an individual the right to do something, preserving their privacy and once this right has been given, eliminate the need for trusted third parties, although ensuring that they can only exercise this right in a unique way.
Thus, the concept of anonymous attributes linkable within the ABC is defined, which guarantee the anonymity and ownership of being unique within a given scope, making these attributes linkable and can be used in electronic voting, preserving anonymity and the property of being unique, even before a malicious user or a collusion between different actors.
As a result of this research, we want to achieve a protocol that ensures anonymity, that is, it is not possible to know who is behind given credentials, but that at the same time these credentials are unique within a given field to be able to detect the repeated use of these credentials.
This protocol aims to demonstrate that it is possible to apply it to remote electronic voting based on Blockchain and Smart Contracts.
Actions already carried out:
- Study of the state of art
- Design of the theoretical framework
- Writing of first article on non-reusable anonymous credentials.
PROJECT 2. Application of Serious Games in the museum sector of the Principality of Andorra.
Objectives:
- Identify and study the use of technology in the museum sector of the Principality of Andorra, with the aim of a proposal to implement a serious game.
- Design a serious game and implement it in a museum.
- Collect data from visitors to the museum where it has been implemented.
- Compare the qualitative data obtained, in order to confirm or disment the hypothesis that Serious Games improve the experience.
Actions already carried out:
- Study of the state of art
- Design of the theoretical framework
Doctoral Theses:
- Identifying users using Keystroke Dynamics and contextual information (05-02-2018), Dorca Josa, Aleix
Conferences, congresses, articles and books
2021:
- Garcia Grau, F. (2021). Credencials anònimes enllaçables: com aplicar la identitat autogestionada a les votacions electròniques amb Blockchain i Smart Contracts. 14ns Debats de recerca: Noves Tecnologies i la Investigació científica. 18 i 19 d’octubre, 2021, Andorra.
2020:
- Yáñez, C. & Dorca, A. (2020). Impacte de la COVID-19 sobre el sector cultural i creatiu d’Andorra. Inf. tèc. GRIE, Universitat d’Andorra, 2020.
2019:
- Mariño-Mesías, R.M., Sabrià-Bernadó, B., Fortó-Areny, J., & Dorca-Josa, A. (2019, November). Study of Customer Satisfaction with The Hotel Sector of The Principality of Andorra Based on The Reviews on Booking. XI International Tourism Congress (ITC), Madeira. This paper was granted an Honorable Mention.
- Dorca-Josa, A., Mariño-Mesías, R.M., Fortó-Areny, J., & Sabrià-Bernadó, B. (2019, October). Analysis of customer satisfaction with the Andorran hotel sector. 5th International Tourism and Hospitality Management Conference (ITHMC), Sarajevo.
2017:
- Dorca-Josa, A., Morán-Moreno, J. A., & Santamaría-Pérez, E. (2017). Using Keystroke Dynamics and context features to assess authorship in online learning environments.
- Dorca-Josa, A., Morán-Moreno, J. A., & Santamaría-Pérez, E. (2017). Identificacion de usuarios mediante dinámica de tecleo en entornos de entrada libre usando informacion de contexto. INTED2017 Proceedings, pp. 3167-3176.
- Dorca-Josa, A., Yáñez-Aldecoa, C., Macià, N., & Llorente-Vaquero, V. (2017). Aprèn amb Pitavola: A Contemporaty After-Scholl Program for Awakening STEM Skills. EDULEARN17 Proceedings, pp. 1585-1592.
