Strange Loop

If only I owned my data: Architecting decentralized data systems

Today, our personal and business data are not in our own hands. They're trapped in silo-ed and proprietary centralized systems. Let's explore an alternative architecture and ecosystem, where industry-wide decentralized data ownership is the prime directive. 
To appreciate what this future entails, we tour related compositional elements of decentralized identity (user-controlled digital identity), privacy journeys (user-controlled data access), decentralized depositories (user-controlled data storage) and federated machine learning (distributed data analysis at system endpoints). Applied to real-world consumer applications, we examine tradeoffs of product resiliency, user privacy, data portability and durability. We leave you with concrete (open source) tools and emerging standards that you can leverage today, as technology leaders in the industry.

katharine jarmul

Principal Data Scientist & Privacy Activist

Katharine Jarmul is a Principal Data Scientist at Thoughtworks Germany focusing on privacy, ethics and security for data science workflows. Previously, she has held numerous roles at large companies and startups in the US and Germany, implementing data processing and machine learning systems with a focus on reliability, testability, privacy and security.

Nimisha Asthagiri

Principal Digital Platform Strategist

Nimisha Asthagiri is a Principal Consultant at Thoughtworks, a global technology consultancy that integrates strategy, design and engineering to transform enterprises to modern digital businesses. Prior, she was Chief Architect and Senior Director of Engineering at edX, driving intentional architecture for the next generation of large-scale online learning. She is a long-term technologist who values innovations that result from the amplification of diverse voices and the synergism of collective strength. Her past accomplishments include leading the security of a peer-to-peer group communications platform at Groove Networks.