KTH Software Research Meetup

Javier Ron, KTH PhD Student will give a talk on:

### Proving and Rewarding Client Diversity to Strengthen Resilience of Blockchain Networks

Abstract follows:
Client diversity is a cornerstone of blockchain resilience, yet most networks suffer from a dangerously skewed distribution of client implementations. This monoculture exposes the network to very risky scenarios, such as massive financial losses in the event of a majority client failure. In this paper, we present a novel framework that combines verifiable execution and economic incentives to provably identify and reward the use of minority clients, thereby promoting a healthier, more robust ecosystem. Our approach leverages state-of-the-art verifiable computation (zkVMs and TEEs) to generate cryptographic proofs of client execution, which are then verified on-chain. We design and implement an end-to-end prototype of verifiable client diversity in the context of Ethereum, by modifying the popular Lighthouse client and by deploying our novel diversity-aware reward protocol. Through comprehensive experiments, we quantify the practicality of our approach, from overheads of proof production and verification to the effectiveness of the incentive mechanism. This work demonstrates, for the first time, a practical and economically viable path to encourage and ensure provable client diversity in blockchain networks. Our findings inform the design of future protocols that seek to maximize the resilience of decentralized systems.

Professor Slinger Jansen, associate professor at Utrecht University will deliver a remote talk on:

Cybersecurity and Trust in Software Ecosystems

Software ecosystems are the backbone of modern digital infrastructure, shaping everything from critical infrastructure to everyday applications. Yet, they struggle with trust, security, and governance at scale. In this talk, I will explore how we can infuse these ecosystems with trust by leveraging empirical software engineering, data-driven insights, AI-powered vulnerability detection, and decentralized governance models. I will discuss how structured trust data can enhance decision-making, how automation accelerates security assessments, and how new forms of governance can sustain these initiatives beyond individual stakeholders. As society becomes increasingly dependent on software, strengthening its resilience is essential, not just for developers and organizations, but for the stability of society as a whole.

About Slinger:
Slinger Jansen is an associate professor at Utrecht University, where he leads the Software Ecosystems Security research group. He is one of the leading researchers in the domain of software ecosystems and co-founders of the International Conference on Software Business and International Workshop on Software Ecosystems.