Abstract
Implementation of cross-enterprise business processes is complex. The
globalization of businesses has resulted in a greater demand for
business platforms that provide information security and privacy. In
these processes, technological advancements are extensively leveraging
automation and simplification. However, most enterprise systems are
still centralized and work in silos. The advent of Distributed Ledger
Technologies (DLT) and Smart Contracts is addressing some security and
privacy challenges. However, these systems do not provide a perfect
balance between end-to-end and cross-enterprise visibility and security.
A further challenge is that the consensus/agreement provided by these
systems cannot accommodate wider application requirements. The business
platforms currently provide agreement at the level of individual
messages without considering the context of the business workflow. This
paper defines the Design-Centric Consensus (DCC) and information flow
security inspired by the literature on information flow models and
security protocols. It also identifies the need for multiple levels of
consensus based on the application requirements. An architectural
framework is also proposed that provides application-specific consensus
while maintaining DCC and visibility