“Incorporating Cryptographic Methods in Economics” at MIT-ILP’s NextGen Security Conference

On May 16, 2024, DCI collaborator Dan Aronoff presented a lecture at the MIT Industrial Liaison Program’s NextGen Security Conference entitled “Incorporating Cryptographic Methods in Economics.” DCI research scientist Madars Virza co-created the slide deck with Dan.

Abstract:

This talk demystifies the cutting-edge fields of fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), multiparty computation (MPC), and zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP), showcasing their pivotal role in ensuring privacy and security. We provide examples of applications of these technologies drawn from the fields of finance, insurance, and banking. [We] will explain how FHE enables encrypted data to be aggregated and analyzed without revealing private info (e.g., designing an incentive-compatible insurance contract where participants self-report privately & truthfully); We explain how to use MPC to jointly compute on private data (e.g., determining the winner of a 2nd-price auction) and we explain how ZKP enables the revelation of provably correct but limited info (e.g., proving that a balance-sheet contains amounts of assets or liabilities without revealing the entire sheet to a lender or regulator).