Data Sovereignty and Compliance in the Computing Continuum

The surge of data generated by the Internet of Things (IoT) has driven the evolution of different computing layers such as edge, fog, and cloud. More recently, the inherent need for IoT data management and processing within and among these layers has set the stage for the novel concept of the computing continuum. The computing continuum describes a system that seamlessly spans from the IoT through the edge, the fog, and the cloud, facilitating a fluid and dynamic allocation of computing resources tailored to IoT data workflows. Despite its innovative approach to resource utilization, the computing continuum may face significant challenges in aligning with emerging legislative measures governing data sharing and privacy. In fact, most related approaches in the literature do not consider the implications of new data protection laws. This can jeopardize the applicability of such approaches to real-world scenarios. To address this problem, we propose a system that integrates access and usage control policies to enable compliance with data protection regulations while transferring the data across the continuum. Furthermore, we highlight real-world use cases that can benefit from this approach, for example, related to data management in the context of energy analytics and environmental monitoring, and we demonstrate the potential impact of the proposed system.