Secure Conversion Coefficient Storage for Supply Chain Traceability
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Solution Overview
Problem
In supply chain systems, it is challenging to accurately calculate and disclose the total carbon footprint of products across multiple companies without revealing confidential conversion coefficients used for unit conversions, which are sensitive information.
Innovation Solution
An information processing device and method that stores conversion coefficients securely within designated storage areas accessible only to authorized downstream companies, allowing for the conversion and integration of traceability information while keeping the coefficients concealed from other companies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conversion coefficients are stored in shared storage areas accessible to multiple companies, then traceability information integration is facilitated, but confidential information is exposed to unauthorized parties
Solution Approach 1:
The storage system is segmented into multiple storage areas with different access permissions. Some storage areas are accessible only to specific companies (e.g., upstream company only, downstream company only, or both), while others are completely private. This segmentation allows traceability information to be integrated where needed while keeping conversion coefficients confidential.
Solution Approach 2:
Different storage areas have different access qualities assigned based on the sensitivity and usage requirements of the data they contain. Conversion coefficients are stored in storage areas with restricted access quality (private to specific companies), while traceability information that needs sharing is placed in storage areas with broader access quality. This local differentiation of access permissions resolves the contradiction between integration ease and confidentiality.
2Measurement precision
If conversion coefficients are made accessible to all supply chain companies, then data integration accuracy is improved, but information security deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments storage areas by access permission levels, creating private storage areas for each company and shared storage areas for authorized parties. Conversion coefficients remain in private storage areas, ensuring information security, while traceability information is integrated from authorized storage areas, maintaining data integration accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The information processing device acts as an intermediary that retrieves traceability information from authorized storage areas, performs integration calculations using conversion coefficients from private storage areas, and outputs results without exposing the coefficients. This intermediary role maintains both security and accuracy.
3Reliability
If conversion coefficients are stored in company-private storage areas, then information confidentiality is maintained, but data integration complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The information processing device serves as an intermediary that automatically retrieves traceability information from various authorized storage areas, fetches conversion coefficients from private storage areas, performs the integration calculations, and outputs the results. This centralized intermediary approach maintains confidentiality while managing integration complexity within the system.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables companies to self-manage their own conversion coefficients in their private storage areas without requiring system-wide configuration changes. Each company independently maintains and updates their own coefficients, reducing the overall system complexity while maintaining security.
Data Source
AI summary
A control unit of an information processing device is configured to: receive a conversion coefficient from an account of a downstream company; store the conversion coefficient in a first storage area for which access authority is invested only in the account of the downstream company; convert a first value obtained from traceability information on a first product into a second value expressed in a second unit by using the conversion coefficient; and acquire traceability information on a second product by integrating the second value and a third value obtained from traceability-related information on the second product, and output a fourth value.