Abstract
The digitisation of administrative tasks and processes is a reality nowadays, translating into added value such as agility in process management, or simplified access to stored data. The digitisation of processes of decision-making in collegiate bodies, such as Academic Councils, is not yet a common reality. Voting acts are still carried out in person, or at most in online meetings, without having a real confirmation of the vote of each element. This is particularly complex to achieve in remote meeting scenarios, where connection breaks or interruptions of audio or video streams may exist. A new digital platform was already previously proposed. It considered decision-making, by voting in Academic Councils, to be supported by a system that guarantees the integrity of the decisions taken, even when meeting online. Our previous work mainly considered the overall design. In this work, we bettered the design and specification of our previous proposal and describe the implemented prototype, and validate and discuss the obtained results.

Abstract
The sharing of cyberthreat information within a community or group of entities is possible due to solutions such as the Malware Information Sharing Platform (MISP). However, the MISP was considered limited if its information was deemed as classified or shared only for a given period of time. A solution using searchable encryption techniques that better control the sharing of information was previously proposed by the same authors. This paper describes a prototype implementation for two key functionalities of the previous solution, considering multiple entities sharing information with each other: the symmetric key generation of a sharing group and the functionality to update a shared index. Moreover, these functionalities are evaluated regarding their performance, and enhancements are proposed to improve the performance of the implementation regarding its execution time. As the main result, the duration of the update process was shortened from around 2922 s to around 302 s, when considering a shared index with 100,000 elements. From the security analysis performed, the implementation can be considered secure, thus confirming the secrecy of the exchanged nonces. The limitations of the current implementation are depicted, and future work is pointed out.

Abstract
The role of new technologies such as additive manufacturing and blockchain technology in designing and implementing circular economy ecosystems is not a trivial issue. This study aimed to understand if blockchain technology can be an enabler tool for developing additive symbiotic networks. A real case study was developed regarding a circular economy ecosystem in which a fused granular fabrication 3D printer is used to valorize polycarbonate waste. The industrial symbiosis network comprised four stakeholders: a manufacturing company that produces polycarbonate waste, a municipality service responsible for the city waste management, a start-up holding the 3D printer, and a non-profit store. It was identified a set of six requirements to adopt the blockchain technology in an additive symbiotic network, bearing in mind the need to have a database to keep track of the properties of the input material for the 3D printer during the exchanges, in addition to the inexistence of mechanisms of trust or cooperation between well-established industries and the additive manufacturing industry. The findings suggested a permissioned blockchain to support the implementation of the additive symbiotic network, namely, to enable the physical transactions (quantity and quality of waste material PC sheets) and monitoring and reporting (additive manufacturing technology knowledge and final product's quantity and price).Future research venues include developing blockchain-based systems that enhance the development of ad-ditive symbiotic networks.

Abstract
Traditional identity management (IdM) systems rely on third-party identity providers (IdPs) and are centralised, which can make them vulnerable to data breaches and other security risks. Self-sovereign identity (SSI) is a newer IdM model that allows users to control their own identities by using decentralised technologies like blockchain to store and verify them. However, SSI systems have their own security concerns, such as digital wallet vulnerabilities, blockchain threats and conflicts with general data protection regulation (GDPR). Additionally, the lack of incentives for issuers, verifiers and data owners could limit its acceptance. This paper proposes SPIDVerify, which is a decentralised identity verification framework that utilises an SSI-based architecture to address these issues. The framework uses a mixed method for acquiring a W3C standard verified credentials and to ensure that only a thoroughly verified entity acquires verified credential, and employs secure key cryptographic protocols; Diffie-Hellman (DH) and Extended Triple Diffie-Hellman (X3DH) for forward secrecy secure communication, single-use challenge-response for authentication, and Swarm network for decentralised storage of data. These methods enhance the security of the proposed framework with better resilience against impersonation and credential stealing. To evaluate the proposal, we have outlined the limitations in related works and demonstrated two scenarios to showcase the strength and effectiveness of SPIDVerify in dealing with the threats identified. We have also tested the methods used in SPIDVerify by measuring the time taken to execute certain processes. © 2023 IEEE.

Abstract
Pulp and Paper Companies collaborate to monitor and monetize waste and create value from their by-products. This process of Industrial Symbiosis requires the creation and maintenance of trusted and transparent relationships between all entities participating in these networks, which is a constant challenge. In this context, a blockchain-based system can help in establishing and maintaining these networks, serving as a ground truth between companies operating at a national or a global scale. This paper proposes a scalable and modular blockchain architecture design using smart contracts to enhance the industrial symbiosis process of the Pulp, Paper, and Cardboard Production Sector companies in Portugal. This design comprehends all entities participating in the network. The implementation of this design assumes the use of a permissioned ledger built using Hyperledger Fabric to provide the required trust and transparency between all entities.