Cybernetica is a company rooted in research and development. Because of this, we strive to help researchers access the data they need for a robust study. Thus, we make the Sharemind MPC platform available to universities with our Academic license program.
"Technologies like secure multi-party computation will change the way we build all our IT systems, but nobody can do this alone. This is why we are working with universities - to ensure that the knowledge reaches as many people as possible and future specialists know how to use technologies like Sharemind," says Dan Bogdanov, Head of the Department of Information Security Systems.
Once we receive an academic license request, we ask for a brief overview of how the platform will be used. Our goal is to assess if Sharemind MPC is the right fit for the research. Each academic license requires an agreement with the participating university.
After completion of the contract process, the researcher will be able to download a virtual machines image to use. There are some basic requirements to using Sharemind MPC, for example knowledge of Linux is helpful for working with the environment set up in the virtual machine. More on Sharemind development can be found on our Developer's Zone.
Marcella Hastings from the University of Pennsylvania used the Sharemind Academic License for her research on secure multiparty computation platforms. "I worked on a research project comparing frameworks for secure multi-party computation, including Sharemind MPC. The academic licensing process was straightforward and the Sharemind team was extremely helpful; they worked with us to determine the appropriate resources for our project and answered our questions throughout the process about the license and the software itself. The whole process was easy and efficient, even with a major time zone difference," Hastings said.
What do we ask for in return for access to our secure computing platform? We ask that you tell us your experience using Sharemind, and allow us to share your research with others. Being able to showcase studies that have used Sharemind encourages others to consider using privacy-preserving technologies when conducting research.
Whether you are doing a social impact study or taking a deep dive into privacy preserving technologies, Sharemind MPC may be just the key to unlock the data you need. Contact us for more information on the academic license, and join the growing number of universities using our platform. Here's a link to Marcella’s work. Another research project completed using Sharemind: Secure MPC on Big Data.
