GC4SHEEP

Abstract

GC4SHEEP is a European research project aimed at developing a Federated Data Cloud Platform with an Artificial Intelligence layer to support the genetic and reproductive improvement of the national dairy sheep sector. The platform enables secure data sharing and advanced analytics across multiple stakeholders, fostering innovation in agricultural productivity and sustainability.

The project is funded by the European Union’s Next Generation Funds under the EIP-Agri Operational Groups framework, within the National Rural Development Programme, and focuses on interoperability, data sovereignty, and trust in distributed environments.

Details

I participated in the GC4SHEEP project as a developer within the Gradiant team, contributing to the design and implementation of the security and digital identity layer of the federated platform.

My main responsibility was the management of digital identities and electronic certificates to ensure data integrity, authentication, authorization, and non-repudiation across a highly distributed and federated ecosystem. I worked on the definition and implementation of a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) tailored to the project’s requirements, enabling the secure issuance, validation, and lifecycle management of digital certificates for users, organizations, and system components.

Given the federated nature of the platform, special attention was paid to ensuring interoperability and trust among heterogeneous participants while preserving data ownership and access control policies. These mechanisms provide a secure foundation for data exchange and AI-driven processing within the platform.

Through these contributions, GC4SHEEP incorporates a robust security and identity framework that supports trustworthy collaboration among stakeholders, reinforcing the reliability of data-driven decision-making in the agricultural domain.

Technologies

• Programming Languages: Python

• Security & Identity: Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), digital certificates, non-repudiation

• Cryptography Standards: PKCS#11

• Data & Federation: Trino

• Architecture: Federated Data Cloud environments

• Domains: Secure data sharing, distributed identity management