Balancing Interoperability and Data Sensitivity: A Design Science approach to building a zero-knowledge API for Healthcare Data

Sammanfattning: The aim of the study was to develop a platform to monitor and evaluate care homes using heterogeneous data sources for a French startup company. The study found that there was no current system to supervise healthcare resources in these facilities with live data. To address this, a digital platform was proposed that would integrate information from various sources, including IoT devices, existing software systems and digital documents. The proposed platform, which would be built from scratch, includes a data collection and processing system, and a blockchain to store the processed data. The platform would also include a dashboard with features, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and graphs for stakeholders to access.   The research would focus on the first two objectives of the proposed platform, which are design a platform for real time access to heterogeneous data sources and generate derivative dataset (generate transformed data set from the primary raw data set) with access but not visibility of the accessible zero knowledge heterogeneous data in secured way. Zero knowledge refers to fetching data from primary data sources and present it to users of in another format which can be understand easily, while hiding actual data and transforming mechanism (Goldreich, 2004). The proposed solution should be versatile and extensible to incorporate additional data sources and generate derivative datasets in a scalable manner. The study concludes that utilizing the Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM) to investigate and identify an ideal solution to the research topics is both challenging and stimulating. Additionally, the findings can be applied by other researchers working in related fields.   In summary, the proposed solution involves the development of a digital platform based on information system theories and technologies that will enrich the area of Information Systems for similar problems. The thesis will evaluate existing research on these theories and technologies and recommend the best solution by integrating the most suitable set of theories and technologies for the given problem. This will provide a practical solution for the immediate needs of the startup company and contribute to future research on similar problems.