PD ISO/TS 23258:2021

Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies — Taxonomy and Ontology

PD ISO/TS 23258:2021 PUBLISHED DOCUMENT

National foreword

This Published Document is the UK implementation of ISO/TS 23258:2021.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee DLT/1, Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

This publication is not to be regarded as a British Standard.

© The British Standards Institution 2021 Published by BSI Standards Limited 2021

ISBN 978 0 580 99868 3

ICS 35.240.40; 35.030; 35.240.99

Compliance with a Published Document cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This Published Document was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 30 November 2021.

Amendments/corrigenda issued since publication

Date Text affected

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION

PD ISO/TS 23258:2021

ISO/TS 23258

First edition

2021-11

Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies — Taxonomy and Ontology

Technologies des chaînes de blocs et technologies de registre distribué — Taxinomie et ontologie

Reference number ISO/TS 23258:2021(E)

© ISO 2021

PD ISO/TS 23258:2021

ISO/TS 23258:2021(E)

Contents Page

Foreword iv

Introduction v

1. Scope 1

2. Normative references 1

3 Terms and definitions 1

1. Abbreviated terms 1

2. Taxonomy 2

5.1 Introduction 2

1. Taxonomy of concepts 2

2. Taxonomy of DLT systems 12

   1. General 12

   2. Major characteristics of DLT systems 12

3. Taxonomy of application domains, purposes and economic activity sections for

   use cases 17

   1. General 17

   2. Cross-sector application domains 17

   3. Cross-sector use cases purposes 19

   4. Economic activity sections 21

6 Ontology 22

6.1 Introduction 22

1. Ledger Class 22

2. Distributed ledger class 23

3. Blockchain class 23

4. Block class 24

Annex A (informative) Classification of DLT system based on the taxonomy of DLT systems 25

Annex B (informative) Context from use-case classification 26

Bibliography 28

© ISO 2021 – All rights reserved

iii

PD ISO/TS 23258:2021

ISO/TS 23258:2021(E)

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 307, Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

iv © ISO 2021 – All rights reserved

PD ISO/TS 23258:2021

ISO/TS 23258:2021(E)

Introduction

A taxonomy is useful for defining information and data classification rules and for identifying classification items and classification criteria. An ontology aims at clearly showing the concepts that make up the conceptual basis and the vocabulary of the technology under consideration and at creating a foundation that is a prerequisite for understanding the concepts through the definition of their mutual relations (synonyms, inclusions, dependencies, etc.).

A consistent taxonomy is a valuable resource in its own right that also supports and helps to understand other relevant standards.

This document includes a taxonomy of concepts, a taxonomy of DLT systems, and a taxonomy of application domains, purposes and economic activity sections for use cases. This document includes an ontology providing classes and attributes as well as relations between concepts.

Figure 1 shows the relationships between this document and other standards developed by ISO/TC 307.

Key

feedback direction of input affects each other

Figure 1 — Relationships between this document and other standards developed by ISO/TC 307

© ISO 2021 – All rights reserved v

PD ISO/TS 23258:2021

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION ISO/TS 23258:2021(E)

Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies — Taxonomy and Ontology

1. Scope

   This document specifies a taxonomy and an ontology for blockchain and distributed ledger technologies (DLT). The taxonomy includes a taxonomy of concepts, a taxonomy of DLT systems and a taxonomy of application domains, purposes and economy activity sections for use cases. The ontology includes classes and attributes as well as relations between concepts.

   The audience includes but is not limited to academics, architects, customers, users, tool developers, regulators, auditors and standards development organizations.

   
   

2. Normative references

The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.

ISO 22739, Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies — Vocabulary

3 Terms and definitions

For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 22739 and the following apply. ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:

• ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp

• IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/

3.1

taxonomy

scheme of categories and subcategories that can be used to sort and otherwise organize itemized knowledge or information

[SOURCE: ISO 5127:2017, 3.8.6.07]

4 Abbreviated terms

DLT Distributed Ledger Technology

PoW Proof-of-Work

PoS Proof-of-Stake

DPoS Delegated Proof-of-Stake

BFT Byzantine Fault Tolerance

PBFT Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance

TPS Transaction Per Second

© ISO 2021 – All rights reserved 1