• NTT Research hosted a hackathon to create an attribute-based encryption application to protect images containing private or sensitive information.
• A team from NTT Global in Belgium won the hackathon with their demonstration titled “Confidentiality in Images”.
• Honorable mentions were given to demos created by NTT DATA teams from Italy and Romania.
NTT Research, Inc., a division of NTT (TYO:9432), recently held a hackathon at their offices in Sunnyvale, Calif. from September 16 to 29. The goal of the hackathon was for teams from around the world to create an application for attribute-based encryption (ABE) to protect images containing private or sensitive information.
Five NTT-affiliated teams from across the globe participated in the hackathon. Among them was a team from NTT Global in Belgium, comprised of Senior Software Engineer Pascal Mathis and Data Scientist Jean-Philippe Cabay. Their demonstration, titled “Confidentiality in Images”, received the top prize. The video of their presentation was showcased at the NTT R&D Forum, a virtual business conference that took place November 16-18.
The hackathon was judged by a panel of representatives from NTT DATA, NTT Research, and the NTT Service Innovation Laboratory. Honorable mentions were given to demos created by NTT DATA teams from Italy and Romania.
The application of ABE to images is a groundbreaking concept. By using ABE on the sensitive parts of the images, the idea is to ensure fine-grained control over who can access which information. Such a concept will help to protect the privacy of individuals and organizations by preventing unauthorized access to sensitive data.
In addition to the top prize winners from Belgium, the hackathon was a great success for the other participating teams. The demos from Italy and Romania showcased the creativity and technical expertise of their respective teams.
The hackathon was a unique opportunity for NTT-affiliated teams from around the world to collaborate on a project with global relevance. By leveraging the collective knowledge and experience of the teams, NTT Research was able to unlock groundbreaking applications that balance privacy and security.