[Source] Hanyang News 30.11.2022 16:34 article
Professor Oh Hyun-ok achieves global innovation with blockchain privacy protection technology
[Original article] http://www.newshyu.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=1008054
Blockchain online voting app wins ‘CES 2023’ Best Innovation Award Securing transparency and reliability of online voting by utilizing ‘zero-knowledge proof technology’ “We will provide useful services to society through continuous technology development”
The blockchain privacy protection technology of Professor Oh Hyun-ok of the Department of Information Systems has been recognized worldwide for its technological prowess. On the 16th of last month, at the world's largest electronics and IT exhibition 'CES 2023', Professor Oh's blockchain online voting system 'zkVoting' won the Best of Innovation Award in the cyber security and privacy category.
[Professor Oh Hyun-ok, Department of Information System]
Professor Oh even received an innovation award in the same category for the digital asset anonymous transaction service system ‘Azeroth’. We heard about the technology and research achievements from Professor Oh, who has achieved global innovation with blockchain privacy protection technology.
The 'blockchain online voting system 'zkVoting', which received the Best Innovation Award at 'CES 2023', is the world's first and top-notch online voting app that solves the problems and vulnerabilities of the existing blockchain voting system. Voters' personal information is completely protected, so they can vote with confidence and significantly reduce manpower, cost, and time required for election management. In particular, since voting results can be verified by anyone, the transparency and reliability of elections are dramatically improved.
Professor Oh explained about zkVoting, “It is a voting system that allows you to check whether your ballot was properly put in the ballot box and whether the ballots were counted properly while maintaining the confidentiality of voting.” He expressed his expectation, saying, "If online voting is activated through this app, voting can be conducted safely and at a much lower cost than offline."
▲ 'zkVoting' is currently in the commercialization stage so that it can be downloaded from Google Play and App Store. ⓒ Professor Hyunok Oh
This app was created using the ‘zero-knowledge proof technology’ developed by Professor Oh. 'Zero-Knowledge Proof' is a technology that proves that an individual (prover) knows information to a verifier, a counterparty, without disclosing secret information that only he/she owns. It is a key technology for protection. Professor Oh believed that security would become an issue as the blockchain became more active, so he studied zero-knowledge proof technology for several years, and as a result, he was able to reap valuable achievements today.
This development was carried out through Professor Oh's laboratory start-up company 'zkypto'. zkrypto was established through the 2020 Preliminary Startup Package (non-face-to-face) support project supervised by Hanyang University. Regarding the reason for creating zkrypto, Professor Oh said, “It was unfortunate that there was no company that could transfer zero-knowledge proof technology,” and “I created it to commercialize this technology and continue research and development.”
▲ Blockchain online voting app ‘zkVoting’ has dramatically improved the transparency and reliability of online voting. ⓒ Professor Hyunok Oh
Zkrypto recently supplied privacy protection technology to the Bank of Korea's central bank digital currency (CBDC) simulation project. Regarding the successive achievements, Professor Oh expressed his gratitude, saying, “The government-level block chain assignments and programs, and the full support of the school were great.” He continued, "We will continue to provide services beneficial to society through continuous technology development."
Regarding future plans, Professor Oh announced that he will complete the commercialization of the CES award-winning blockchain voting system 'zkVoting' and digital asset anonymous transaction service system 'Azeroth'. He plans to continue research on zero-knowledge proof technology. This is because zero-knowledge proof technology not only protects privacy, but also contributes to improving blockchain performance. Professor Oh is also developing a platform that can trade digital content while protecting privacy.
▲ zkrypto, a start-up in Professor Oh's lab, recently provided technology to the Bank of Korea's digital currency simulation project. ⓒ Professor Hyunok Oh
Professor Oh gave advice to Hanyang people facing the rapidly changing digital age such as blockchain and NFT. He urged us to be flexible in line with the changing times, saying, “Everything we have transacted with paper so far will be digitalized.” “The world will change faster in the future. I hope you have the attitude to constantly learn and the boldness not to be afraid of new technologies.”
Source: News H (http://www.newshyu.com)
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