Digitalent

digitalent

Getting your first users for a tech startup can feel like chasing a needle in a haystack. Forget the same old advice about ads, posting content into the void and networking events. There are smarter, free and underrated ways to get people talking about your product. In this article, we’re diving into unconventional, game-changing actionable tactics to attract those first users fast. Whether you’re bootstrapping or scaling, these strategies will give your startup the spark it needs to accelerate revenue and growth. Let’s get started! 1. Share your product in the following subreddits where submissions are allowed: r/RoastMyStartup


r/AlphaandBetausers


r/GrowthHacking


r/Digitalnomad


r/Promotereddit


r/Entrepreneur


r/EntrepreneurRideAlong


r/IMadeThis


r/IndieBiz


r/SideProject


r/SmallBusiness


r/Startups


r/Growmybusiness


r/Linkbuilding


r/SEO


r/Freepromote


r/SocialMediaMarketing


r/Analytics


r/Content_marketing


r/Advertising


r/PPC


r/AskMarketing 2. Recruit beta testers using Linkedin Jobs Here’s how to get 500 users for your product/SaaS for free: Make a free job posting on Linkedin
Make it explicit: ‘volunteer role, no pay'
Recruit beta-test volunteers for your startup
Redirect them to Google form and collect emails
Set up a Zapier automation to send emails to applicants for them to test the web app P.s. Repeat step 1 every 6 hours. Linkedin free job posting caps out at 150 views (the algorithm de-ranks after that) 3. Send cold emails using Apollo Access: Apollo. io
Click on Search and select “C-level” under job titles
Choose "verified" for the Email status
Insert your business niche in the “Currently hiring for” section (to detect a clear buying intent for your solution)
Filter companies with an ARR ranging from 0.1 - 5 Million USD
Save search results and add scraped emails to the  new sequence
Use the following subject line:
[Their company] <> [Your Company]
Don't sell in the first email, instead, outline your value proposition in under 50 words.
Avoid spam words: free trial, investment opportunity, etc. P.s. If you want to stand out and get 20% more replies, consider increasing the font size of the body text from normal to Header 1. 4. Launch your startup on Product Hunt Sign up for free on Producthunt com


Set up a teaser page for your business


Locate the discussion section


Find the CEOs who are active members of PH


Send them connection request on Linkedin


Say Hi and tell them that you are launching the product soon and you will support their upcoming launches too.


8 out of 10 people will subscribe to the teaser page. 5. Use Parasite Marketing and join Facebook groups Identify the businesses which are already selling to your ICP


Find their official Facebook or Linkedin groups


Share educational content that solves their micro problems


Optimize your bio or open your DMs so people can reach out to you 6. Join Pinterest Group Boards Go to Pinterest .com


Add the main keyword in the search bar


Locate the filters section


Select boards that have “Request to join” button


Distribute and promote the product for free to 1000s of target followers 7. Find warm leads using Phantom Buster How to find warm leads i.e. get customers easily: Go to Phantom Buster
Select Twitter Liker Collector workflow
Find 5 tweets that are very popular among your ideal customers
Export the liker profiles using step 2
Insert your offer in the Twitter Message Sender
Click launch and automate workflows
Reply to follow-up messages 8. Find B2B/enterprise customers using Getkoala's Free database If you have $0 for marketing, here’s what you should do: Go to “Getkoala com database”


Filter companies based on industry and revenue


Download up to 10,000 company profiles for free


Reach out to C-level executives from those companies and softly pitch your products or services Getting your first users for a tech startup can feel like chasing a needle in a haystack. Forget the same old advice about ads, posting content into the void and networking events. There are smarter, free and underrated ways to get people talking about your product. In this article, we’re diving into unconventional, game-changing actionable tactics to attract those first users fast. Whether you’re bootstrapping or scaling, these strategies will give your startup the spark it needs to accelerate revenue and growth. Let’s get started! 1. Share your product in the following subreddits where submissions are allowed: r/RoastMyStartup r/AlphaandBetausers r/GrowthHacking r/Digitalnomad r/Promotereddit r/Entrepreneur r/EntrepreneurRideAlong r/IMadeThis r/IndieBiz r/SideProject r/SmallBusiness r/Startups r/Growmybusiness r/Linkbuilding r/SEO r/Freepromote r/SocialMediaMarketing r/Analytics r/Content_marketing r/Advertising r/PPC r/AskMarketing r/RoastMyStartup r/RoastMyStartup r/AlphaandBetausers r/AlphaandBetausers r/GrowthHacking r/GrowthHacking r/Digitalnomad r/Digitalnomad r/Promotereddit r/Promotereddit r/Entrepreneur r/Entrepreneur r/EntrepreneurRideAlong r/EntrepreneurRideAlong r/IMadeThis r/IMadeThis r/IndieBiz r/IndieBiz r/SideProject r/SideProject r/SmallBusiness r/SmallBusiness r/Startups r/Startups r/Growmybusiness r/Growmybusiness r/Linkbuilding r/Linkbuilding r/SEO r/SEO r/Freepromote r/Freepromote r/SocialMediaMarketing r/SocialMediaMarketing r/Analytics r/Analytics r/Content_marketing r/Content_marketing r/Advertising r/Advertising r/PPC r/PPC r/AskMarketing r/AskMarketing 2. Recruit beta testers using Linkedin Jobs Here’s how to get 500 users for your product/SaaS for free: Make a free job posting on Linkedin Make it explicit: ‘volunteer role, no pay' Recruit beta-test volunteers for your startup Redirect them to Google form and collect emails Set up a Zapier automation to send emails to applicants for them to test the web app Make a free job posting on Linkedin Make it explicit: ‘volunteer role, no pay' Recruit beta-test volunteers for your startup Redirect them to Google form and collect emails Set up a Zapier automation to send emails to applicants for them to test the web app P.s. Repeat step 1 every 6 hours. Linkedin free job posting caps out at 150 views (the algorithm de-ranks after that) 3. Send cold emails using Apollo Access: Apollo. io Click on Search and select “C-level” under job titles Choose "verified" for the Email status Insert your business niche in the “Currently hiring for” section (to detect a clear buying intent for your solution) Filter companies with an ARR ranging from 0.1 - 5 Million USD Save search results and add scraped emails to the  new sequence Use the following subject line:
[Their company] <> [Your Company] Don't sell in the first email, instead, outline your value proposition in under 50 words. Avoid spam words: free trial, investment opportunity, etc. Access: Apollo. io Click on Search and select “C-level” under job titles Choose "verified" for the Email status Insert your business niche in the “Currently hiring for” section (to detect a clear buying intent for your solution) Filter companies with an ARR ranging from 0.1 - 5 Million USD Save search results and add scraped emails to the  new sequence Use the following subject line:
[Their company] <> [Your Company] Don't sell in the first email, instead, outline your value proposition in under 50 words. Avoid spam words: free trial, investment opportunity, etc. P.s. If you want to stand out and get 20% more replies, consider increasing the font size of the body text from normal to Header 1. 4. Launch your startup on Product Hunt Sign up for free on Producthunt com Set up a teaser page for your business Locate the discussion section Find the CEOs who are active members of PH Send them connection request on Linkedin Say Hi and tell them that you are launching the product soon and you will support their upcoming launches too. 8 out of 10 people will subscribe to the teaser page. Sign up for free on Producthunt com Sign up for free on Producthunt com Set up a teaser page for your business Set up a teaser page for your business Locate the discussion section Locate the discussion section Find the CEOs who are active members of PH Find the CEOs who are active members of PH Send them connection request on Linkedin Send them connection request on Linkedin Say Hi and tell them that you are launching the product soon and you will support their upcoming launches too. Say Hi and tell them that you are launching the product soon and you will support their upcoming launches too. 8 out of 10 people will subscribe to the teaser page. 8 out of 10 people will subscribe to the teaser page. 5. Use Parasite Marketing and join Facebook groups Identify the businesses which are already selling to your ICP Find their official Facebook or Linkedin groups Share educational content that solves their micro problems Optimize your bio or open your DMs so people can reach out to you Identify the businesses which are already selling to your ICP Identify the businesses which are already selling to your ICP Find their official Facebook or Linkedin groups Find their official Facebook or Linkedin groups Share educational content that solves their micro problems Share educational content that solves their micro problems Optimize your bio or open your DMs so people can reach out to you Optimize your bio or open your DMs so people can reach out to you 6. Join Pinterest Group Boards Go to Pinterest .com Add the main keyword in the search bar Locate the filters section Select boards that have “Request to join” button Distribute and promote the product for free to 1000s of target followers Go to Pinterest .com Go to Pinterest .com Add the main keyword in the search bar Add the main keyword in the search bar Locate the filters section Locate the filters section Select boards that have “Request to join” button Select boards that have “Request to join” button Distribute and promote the product for free to 1000s of target followers Distribute and promote the product for free to 1000s of target followers 7. Find warm leads using Phantom Buster How to find warm leads i.e. get customers easily: Go to Phantom Buster Select Twitter Liker Collector workflow Find 5 tweets that are very popular among your ideal customers Export the liker profiles using step 2 Insert your offer in the Twitter Message Sender Click launch and automate workflows Reply to follow-up messages Go to Phantom Buster Select Twitter Liker Collector workflow Find 5 tweets that are very popular among your ideal customers Export the liker profiles using step 2 Insert your offer in the Twitter Message Sender Click launch and automate workflows Reply to follow-up messages 8. Find B2B/enterprise customers using Getkoala's Free database If you have $0 for marketing, here’s what you should do: Go to “Getkoala com database” Filter companies based on industry and revenue Download up to 10,000 company profiles for free Reach out to C-level executives from those companies and softly pitch your products or services Go to “Getkoala com database” Go to “Getkoala com database” Filter companies based on industry and revenue Filter companies based on industry and revenue Download up to 10,000 company profiles for free Download up to 10,000 company profiles for free Reach out to C-level executives from those companies and softly pitch your products or services Reach out to C-level executives from those companies and softly pitch your products or services

8 Underrated Marketing Ideas to Find the First Users For Your SaaS Startup

Cryptographic Ransomware Encryption Detection: Survey: Author's Declaration

Minimal Knowledge PT-AE Attacks on Black-Box Speaker Recognition Models

MVP Game Development With Flutter and Flame

ফ্লটার এবং ফ্লেম সহ MVP গেম ডেভেলপমেন্ট

MVP-Spieleentwicklung mit Flutter und Flame

Desarrollo de juegos MVP con Flutter y Flame

Développement de jeux MVP avec Flutter et Flame

फ़्लटर और फ्लेम के साथ एमवीपी गेम डेवलपमेंट

Flutter と Flame を使用した MVP ゲーム開発

Flutter 및 Flame을 사용한 MVP 게임 개발

Desenvolvimento de jogos MVP com Flutter and Flame

Разработка игр MVP с Flutter и Flame

Flutter ve Flame ile MVP Oyun Geliştirme

Phát triển trò chơi MVP với Flutter và Flame

使用 Flutter 和 Flame 进行 MVP 游戏开发

This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED license.
Authors:
(1) Ehud Shapiro,  Department of Computer Science and Applied Math, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel and ehud.shapiro@weizmann.ac.il. Table of Links Abstract and Introduction
Grassroots Protocols
Grassroots Implementation of Grassroots Dissemination
Applications of Grassroots Dissemination Supporting Digital Sovereignty
Future Work & Discussion
References
A. Preliminaries: Asynchronous Distributed Multiagent Transition Systems
B. All-to-All Dissemination is not Grassroots
C. Proofs References 1 Martin R Albrecht, Jorge Blasco, Rikke Bjerg Jensen, and Lenka Mareková. Mesh messaging in large-scale protests: Breaking bridgefy. In Cryptographers’ Track at the RSA Conference, pages 375–398. Springer, 2021. 2 Juan Benet. Ipfs-content addressed, versioned, p2p file system. arXiv preprint arXiv:1407.3561, 2014. 3 Sonja Buchegger, Doris Schiöberg, Le-Hung Vu, and Anwitaman Datta. Peerson: P2p social networking: early experiences and insights. In Proceedings of the Second ACM EuroSys Workshop on Social Network Systems, pages 46–52, 2009. 4 Vitalik Buterin et al. A next-generation smart contract and decentralized application platform. white paper, 3(37), 2014. 5 Manuel Castells. The city and the grassroots: a cross-cultural theory of urban social movements. Number 7. Univ of California Press, 1983. 6 Miguel Castro, Barbara Liskov, et al. Practical byzantine fault tolerance. In OsDI, volume 99, pages 173–186, 1999. 7 Gregory Chockler, Roie Melamed, Yoav Tock, and Roman Vitenberg. Constructing scalable overlays for pub-sub with many topics. In Proceedings of the twenty-sixth annual ACM symposium on Principles of distributed computing, pages 109–118, 2007. 8 Gregory Chockler, Roie Melamed, Yoav Tock, and Roman Vitenberg. Spidercast: a scalable interest-aware overlay for topic-based pub/sub communication. In Proceedings of the 2007 inaugural international conference on Distributed event-based systems, pages 14–25, 2007. 9 Bram Cohen. Incentives build robustness in bittorrent. In Workshop on Economics of Peer-to-Peer systems, volume 6, pages 68–72. Berkeley, CA, USA, 2003. 10 Alan Demers, Karin Petersen, Mike Spreitzer, Doug Terry, Marvin Theimer, and Brent Welch. The bayou architecture: Support for data sharing among mobile users. In 1994 First Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications, pages 2–7. IEEE, 1994. 11 Bitcoin Developer. P2p network, Retrieved 20222. URL: https://developer.bitcoin.org/ devguide/p2p_network.html. 12 Ethereum Developer. go-ethereum/params/bootnodes.go, Retrieved 2023. URL: https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/blob/master/params/bootnodes.go. 13 Adem Efe Gencer, Soumya Basu, Ittay Eyal, Robbert van Renesse, and Emin Gün Sirer. Decentralization in bitcoin and ethereum networks. In International Conference on Financial Cryptography and Data Security, pages 439–457. Springer, 2018. 14 Gabriele Goldacker. Digitale souveränität [white paper of kompetenzzentrum öffentliche it (öfit)]. retrieved april 20, 2021, 2017. 15 Idit Keidar, Eleftherios Kokoris-Kogias, Oded Naor, and Alexander Spiegelman. All you need is dag, 2021. arXiv:2102.08325. 16 Idit Keidar, Oded Naor, and Ehud Shapiro. Cordial miners: A family of simple and efficient consensus protocols for every eventuality. arXiv preprint arXiv:2205.09174, 2022. 17 Antony Lewis. A gentle introduction to self-sovereign identity. 2017. URL: https://bitsonblocks.net/2017/05/17/a-gentle-introduction-to-self-sovereign-identity/. 18 Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system, 2019. 19 Romualdo Pastor-Satorras, Claudio Castellano, Piet Van Mieghem, and Alessandro Vespignani. Epidemic processes in complex networks. Reviews of modern physics, 87(3):925, 2015. 20 Julia Pohle and Thorsten Thiel. Digital sovereignty. Internet Policy Review: Journal on Internet Regulation, 9(4):1–19, 2020. 21 Aravindh Raman, Sagar Joglekar, Emiliano De Cristofaro, Nishanth Sastry, and Gareth Tyson. Challenges in the decentralised web: The mastodon case. In Proceedings of the Internet Measurement Conference, pages 217–229, 2019. 22 Vinay Setty, Maarten van Steen, Roman Vitenberg, and Spyros Voulgaris. Poldercast: Fast, robust, and scalable architecture for p2p topic-based pub/sub. In ACM/IFIP/USENIX International Conference on Distributed Systems Platforms and Open Distributed Processing, pages 271–291. Springer, 2012. 23 Devavrat Shah et al. Gossip algorithms. Foundations and Trends® in Networking, 3(1):1–125, 2009. 24 Ehud Shapiro. Multiagent transition systems: Protocol-stack mathematics for distributed computing. arXiv preprint arXiv:2112.13650, 2021. 25 Ehud Shapiro. Sovereign personal cryptocurrencies: A grassroots foundation for a digital economy. arXiv preprint arXiv:2202.05619, 2022. 26 Marc Shapiro, Nuno Preguiça, Carlos Baquero, and Marek Zawirski. Conflict-free replicated data types. In Symposium on Self-Stabilizing Systems, pages 386–400. Springer, 2011. 27 Robert Shostak, Marshall Pease, and Leslie Lamport. The byzantine generals problem. ACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems, 4(3):382–401, 1982. 28 Ion Stoica, Robert Morris, David Karger, M Frans Kaashoek, and Hari Balakrishnan. Chord: A scalable peer-to-peer lookup service for internet applications. ACM SIGCOMM computer communication review, 31(4):149–160, 2001. 29 Maofan Yin, Dahlia Malkhi, Michael K Reiter, Guy Golan Gueta, and Ittai Abraham. Hotstuff: Bft consensus with linearity and responsiveness. In Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing, pages 347–356, 2019. 30 Shoshana Zuboff. The age of surveillance capitalism: The fight for a human future at the new frontier of power: Barack Obama’s books of 2019. Profile books, 2019. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED license. Authors: (1) Ehud Shapiro,  Department of Computer Science and Applied Math, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel and ehud.shapiro@weizmann.ac.il. This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED license. Authors: Authors: (1) Ehud Shapiro,  Department of Computer Science and Applied Math, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel and ehud.shapiro@weizmann.ac.il. Table of Links Abstract and Introduction Grassroots Protocols Grassroots Implementation of Grassroots Dissemination Applications of Grassroots Dissemination Supporting Digital Sovereignty Future Work & Discussion References A. Preliminaries: Asynchronous Distributed Multiagent Transition Systems B. All-to-All Dissemination is not Grassroots C. Proofs Abstract and Introduction Abstract and Introduction Grassroots Protocols Grassroots Protocols Grassroots Implementation of Grassroots Dissemination Grassroots Implementation of Grassroots Dissemination Applications of Grassroots Dissemination Supporting Digital Sovereignty Applications of Grassroots Dissemination Supporting Digital Sovereignty Future Work & Discussion Future Work & Discussion References References A. Preliminaries: Asynchronous Distributed Multiagent Transition Systems A. Preliminaries: Asynchronous Distributed Multiagent Transition Systems B. All-to-All Dissemination is not Grassroots B. All-to-All Dissemination is not Grassroots C. Proofs C. Proofs References 1 Martin R Albrecht, Jorge Blasco, Rikke Bjerg Jensen, and Lenka Mareková. Mesh messaging in large-scale protests: Breaking bridgefy. In Cryptographers’ Track at the RSA Conference, pages 375–398. Springer, 2021. 2 Juan Benet. Ipfs-content addressed, versioned, p2p file system. arXiv preprint arXiv:1407.3561, 2014. 3 Sonja Buchegger, Doris Schiöberg, Le-Hung Vu, and Anwitaman Datta. Peerson: P2p social networking: early experiences and insights. In Proceedings of the Second ACM EuroSys Workshop on Social Network Systems, pages 46–52, 2009. 4 Vitalik Buterin et al. A next-generation smart contract and decentralized application platform. white paper, 3(37), 2014. 5 Manuel Castells. The city and the grassroots: a cross-cultural theory of urban social movements. Number 7. Univ of California Press, 1983. 6 Miguel Castro, Barbara Liskov, et al. Practical byzantine fault tolerance. In OsDI, volume 99, pages 173–186, 1999. 7 Gregory Chockler, Roie Melamed, Yoav Tock, and Roman Vitenberg. Constructing scalable overlays for pub-sub with many topics. In Proceedings of the twenty-sixth annual ACM symposium on Principles of distributed computing, pages 109–118, 2007. 8 Gregory Chockler, Roie Melamed, Yoav Tock, and Roman Vitenberg. Spidercast: a scalable interest-aware overlay for topic-based pub/sub communication. In Proceedings of the 2007 inaugural international conference on Distributed event-based systems, pages 14–25, 2007. 9 Bram Cohen. Incentives build robustness in bittorrent. In Workshop on Economics of Peer-to-Peer systems, volume 6, pages 68–72. Berkeley, CA, USA, 2003. 10 Alan Demers, Karin Petersen, Mike Spreitzer, Doug Terry, Marvin Theimer, and Brent Welch. The bayou architecture: Support for data sharing among mobile users. In 1994 First Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications, pages 2–7. IEEE, 1994. 11 Bitcoin Developer. P2p network, Retrieved 20222. URL: https://developer.bitcoin.org/ devguide/p2p_network.html. 12 Ethereum Developer. go-ethereum/params/bootnodes.go, Retrieved 2023. URL: https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/blob/master/params/bootnodes.go. 13 Adem Efe Gencer, Soumya Basu, Ittay Eyal, Robbert van Renesse, and Emin Gün Sirer. Decentralization in bitcoin and ethereum networks. In International Conference on Financial Cryptography and Data Security, pages 439–457. Springer, 2018. 14 Gabriele Goldacker. Digitale souveränität [white paper of kompetenzzentrum öffentliche it (öfit)]. retrieved april 20, 2021, 2017. 15 Idit Keidar, Eleftherios Kokoris-Kogias, Oded Naor, and Alexander Spiegelman. All you need is dag, 2021. arXiv:2102.08325. 16 Idit Keidar, Oded Naor, and Ehud Shapiro. Cordial miners: A family of simple and efficient consensus protocols for every eventuality. arXiv preprint arXiv:2205.09174, 2022. 17 Antony Lewis. A gentle introduction to self-sovereign identity. 2017. URL: https://bitsonblocks.net/2017/05/17/a-gentle-introduction-to-self-sovereign-identity/. 18 Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system, 2019. 19 Romualdo Pastor-Satorras, Claudio Castellano, Piet Van Mieghem, and Alessandro Vespignani. Epidemic processes in complex networks. Reviews of modern physics, 87(3):925, 2015. 20 Julia Pohle and Thorsten Thiel. Digital sovereignty. Internet Policy Review: Journal on Internet Regulation, 9(4):1–19, 2020. 21 Aravindh Raman, Sagar Joglekar, Emiliano De Cristofaro, Nishanth Sastry, and Gareth Tyson. Challenges in the decentralised web: The mastodon case. In Proceedings of the Internet Measurement Conference, pages 217–229, 2019. 22 Vinay Setty, Maarten van Steen, Roman Vitenberg, and Spyros Voulgaris. Poldercast: Fast, robust, and scalable architecture for p2p topic-based pub/sub. In ACM/IFIP/USENIX International Conference on Distributed Systems Platforms and Open Distributed Processing, pages 271–291. Springer, 2012. 23 Devavrat Shah et al. Gossip algorithms. Foundations and Trends® in Networking, 3(1):1–125, 2009. 24 Ehud Shapiro. Multiagent transition systems: Protocol-stack mathematics for distributed computing. arXiv preprint arXiv:2112.13650, 2021. 25 Ehud Shapiro. Sovereign personal cryptocurrencies: A grassroots foundation for a digital economy. arXiv preprint arXiv:2202.05619, 2022. 26 Marc Shapiro, Nuno Preguiça, Carlos Baquero, and Marek Zawirski. Conflict-free replicated data types. In Symposium on Self-Stabilizing Systems, pages 386–400. Springer, 2011. 27 Robert Shostak, Marshall Pease, and Leslie Lamport. The byzantine generals problem. ACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems, 4(3):382–401, 1982. 28 Ion Stoica, Robert Morris, David Karger, M Frans Kaashoek, and Hari Balakrishnan. Chord: A scalable peer-to-peer lookup service for internet applications. ACM SIGCOMM computer communication review, 31(4):149–160, 2001. 29 Maofan Yin, Dahlia Malkhi, Michael K Reiter, Guy Golan Gueta, and Ittai Abraham. Hotstuff: Bft consensus with linearity and responsiveness. In Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing, pages 347–356, 2019. 30 Shoshana Zuboff. The age of surveillance capitalism: The fight for a human future at the new frontier of power: Barack Obama’s books of 2019. Profile books, 2019.

Grassroots Distributed Systems for Digital Sovereignty: References

From X to the Online World As I landed on X December last year, I encountered a dynamic community of entrepreneurs sharing content, exchanging insights, narrating their experiences, and marketing their products. The sheer volume of activities made it challenging to stay abreast of everyone's endeavors and the content they shared. Unlocking X’s Potential Viewed through the lens of an independent entrepreneur, the platform offers the distinct advantage of a rich learning environment. Despite the varying degrees of relevance in the shared content, a noteworthy aspect is the "Give vs. Ask" ethos, expounded upon in the insightful piece titled "Promoting on Reddit (or Anywhere) By Giving Before Asking," penned by Bill Prin. Here, the act of entrepreneurs sharing their learnings, data, or product statistics represents a 'Give,’ while the promotion of their product is an 'Ask'’ The true value of time spent on X hinges on the prevalence of 'Give' content. But, the reality is that the recurrence of similar ideas dilutes the impact of the platform. The Double-Edged Sword of X If this is the benefit of X, the downside is that you become one among many entrepreneurs. If you want people to notice your stuff, you have to do a lot of giving and always be honest. I don't mind being honest and giving, but the thing is, it takes up a lot of time. Marc Louvion said in one of the promotional videos that he spends 5 hours a day on X. I’m pretty sure this can be a valid approximation, and I don’t want to spend that much time on X. I decided to add a website tracker extension on Google Chrome and Firefox. This tool aims to provide insights into my time spent on browsers, helping me make informed decisions to maximize my productivity. Strategic Spots for Startup Promotion In this X journey, I stumbled upon this tweet: Guess what? Some entrepreneurs out there are selling lists of places to promote your startup. I did some detective work on Google and found a bunch of websites sharing these lists. Check out the ones I looked into: 500+ Places to Promote Your Startup


75+ Places to Promote Your Startup for Free


Top 20 Sites to Submit Your Startup to Promote It in 2024


Top 14 Sites to Promote Your Startup


89 Places to Promote Your Startup My goal throughout this journey was to amplify the reach of my projects without breaking the bank. While paid promotion options exist, I decided to steer clear, considering my budget constraints. These lists I found have a mix of everything—some duplicates, some websites that aren't around anymore, and some with dark patterns like making you fill out a bunch of info and then springing a surprise payment on you. I spent quite a few hours sorting through all of this to figure out which websites let you submit your startup. I hope that I can save some time for folks who want to get their app out there. I've even included the ones that want you to pay for a speedy listing or make you wait for months before they showcase your startup. Here's the list: https://alternativeto.net/ https://apprater.net/ https://appsumo.com/ https://awesomeindie.com/ https://betalist.com/ https://crazyaboutstartups.com/ https://ctrlalt.cc/ https://fazier.com/ https://feedmystartup.com/ https://financesonline.com/ https://launched.io/ https://lazyhunt.com/ https://microlaunch.net/ https://owwly.com/ https://peerlist.io/ https://pitchwall.co/ https://portal.10words.io/ https://sell.g2.com/create-a-profile https://startupbase.io/ https://startupbuffer.com/ https://startupinspire.com/ https://startupstash.com/ https://wellfound.com/ https://www.affordhunt.com/ https://www.allstartups.info/ https://www.betabound.com/ https://www.betafy.co/ https://www.crunchbase.com/ https://www.f6s.com/ https://www.feedough.com/ https://www.gartner.com/en/digital-markets/basic-listing https://www.indiehackers.com/ https://www.insanelycooltools.com/ https://www.launchingnext.com/ https://www.producthunt.com/ https://www.saasprojects.com/ https://www.sideprojectors.com/#/ https://www.slant.co/ https://www.startupranking.com/ https://www.startups.fyi/ https://www.trustpilot.com/ https://www.uneed.best/ Those lists also include Reddits, but heads up, all links posted on Reddit are "no follow" (here is a perfect article on why this is important). But since Bill Prin had a good experience starting to promote on Reddit, I'm thinking of giving it a shot sometime soon. Here's the list of reddits: r/advancedentrepreneur r/advertising r/alphaandbetausers r/announcements r/AskMarketing r/Business_Ideas r/Businessideas r/coupons r/CrazyIdeas r/digitalnomad r/Emailmarketing r/Entrepreneur r/EntrepreneurRideAlong r/growinpublic r/growmybusiness r/GrowthHacking r/ideas r/indiebiz r/indiehackers r/InternetIsBeautiful r/Lightbulb r/MadeThis r/marketing r/microsaas r/NicheWebsites r/Plugyourproduct r/ProductHunters r/programming r/projects r/roastmystartup r/SaaS r/sales r/SideProject r/smallbusiness r/socialmedia r/startup r/startups r/startups_promotion r/sweatystartup r/webmarketing There are also Facebook groups and communities, but for now, as I decided to stay away from Facebook, there's no plan to check those out for now. Tracking Success with Bonetflix Implementing this strategy, I've promoted my project, Bonetflix, on all these platforms. In a past issue, I shared some metrics about it, and I expect these numbers to evolve in the following weeks. Stay tuned to witness positive transformations in this journey. Thanks for reading David's Indie Hacker Journey! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Also published here. From X to the Online World As I landed on X December last year, I encountered a dynamic community of entrepreneurs sharing content, exchanging insights, narrating their experiences, and marketing their products. The sheer volume of activities made it challenging to stay abreast of everyone's endeavors and the content they shared. Unlocking X’s Potential Viewed through the lens of an independent entrepreneur, the platform offers the distinct advantage of a rich learning environment. Despite the varying degrees of relevance in the shared content, a noteworthy aspect is the "Give vs. Ask" ethos, expounded upon in the insightful piece titled "Promoting on Reddit (or Anywhere) By Giving Before Asking," penned by Bill Prin . Here, the act of entrepreneurs sharing their learnings, data, or product statistics represents a 'Give,’ while the promotion of their product is an 'Ask'’ The true value of time spent on X hinges on the prevalence of 'Give' content. But, the reality is that the recurrence of similar ideas dilutes the impact of the platform. "Promoting on Reddit (or Anywhere) By Giving Before Asking," Bill Prin The Double-Edged Sword of X If this is the benefit of X, the downside is that you become one among many entrepreneurs. If you want people to notice your stuff, you have to do a lot of giving and always be honest. I don't mind being honest and giving, but the thing is, it takes up a lot of time. Marc Louvion said in one of the promotional videos that he spends 5 hours a day on X. Marc Louvion I’m pretty sure this can be a valid approximation, and I don’t want to spend that much time on X. I decided to add a website tracker extension on Google Chrome and Firefox. This tool aims to provide insights into my time spent on browsers, helping me make informed decisions to maximize my productivity. Strategic Spots for Startup Promotion In this X journey, I stumbled upon this tweet: Guess what? Some entrepreneurs out there are selling lists of places to promote your startup. I did some detective work on Google and found a bunch of websites sharing these lists. Check out the ones I looked into: 500+ Places to Promote Your Startup 75+ Places to Promote Your Startup for Free Top 20 Sites to Submit Your Startup to Promote It in 2024 Top 14 Sites to Promote Your Startup 89 Places to Promote Your Startup 500+ Places to Promote Your Startup 500+ Places to Promote Your Startup 500+ Places to Promote Your Startup 75+ Places to Promote Your Startup for Free 75+ Places to Promote Your Startup for Free 75+ Places to Promote Your Startup for Free Top 20 Sites to Submit Your Startup to Promote It in 2024 Top 20 Sites to Submit Your Startup to Promote It in 2024 Top 20 Sites to Submit Your Startup to Promote It in 2024 Top 14 Sites to Promote Your Startup Top 14 Sites to Promote Your Startup Top 14 Sites to Promote Your Startup 89 Places to Promote Your Startup 89 Places to Promote Your Startup 89 Places to Promote Your Startup My goal throughout this journey was to amplify the reach of my projects without breaking the bank. While paid promotion options exist, I decided to steer clear, considering my budget constraints. These lists I found have a mix of everything—some duplicates, some websites that aren't around anymore, and some with dark patterns like making you fill out a bunch of info and then springing a surprise payment on you. I spent quite a few hours sorting through all of this to figure out which websites let you submit your startup. I hope that I can save some time for folks who want to get their app out there. I've even included the ones that want you to pay for a speedy listing or make you wait for months before they showcase your startup. Here's the list: https://alternativeto.net/ https://alternativeto.net/ https://apprater.net/ https://apprater.net/ https://appsumo.com/ https://appsumo.com/ https://awesomeindie.com/ https://awesomeindie.com/ https://betalist.com/ https://betalist.com/ https://crazyaboutstartups.com/ https://crazyaboutstartups.com/ https://ctrlalt.cc/ https://ctrlalt.cc/ https://fazier.com/ https://fazier.com/ https://feedmystartup.com/ https://feedmystartup.com/ https://financesonline.com/ https://financesonline.com/ https://launched.io/ https://launched.io/ https://lazyhunt.com/ https://lazyhunt.com/ https://microlaunch.net/ https://microlaunch.net/ https://owwly.com/ https://owwly.com/ https://peerlist.io/ https://peerlist.io/ https://pitchwall.co/ https://pitchwall.co/ https://portal.10words.io/ https://portal.10words.io/ https://sell.g2.com/create-a-profile https://sell.g2.com/create-a-profile https://startupbase.io/ https://startupbase.io/ https://startupbuffer.com/ https://startupbuffer.com/ https://startupinspire.com/ https://startupinspire.com/ https://startupstash.com/ https://startupstash.com/ https://wellfound.com/ https://wellfound.com/ https://www.affordhunt.com/ https://www.affordhunt.com/ https://www.allstartups.info/ https://www.allstartups.info/ https://www.betabound.com/ https://www.betabound.com/ https://www.betafy.co/ https://www.betafy.co/ https://www.crunchbase.com/ https://www.crunchbase.com/ https://www.f6s.com/ https://www.f6s.com/ https://www.feedough.com/ https://www.feedough.com/ https://www.gartner.com/en/digital-markets/basic-listing https://www.gartner.com/en/digital-markets/basic-listing https://www.indiehackers.com/ https://www.indiehackers.com/ https://www.insanelycooltools.com/ https://www.insanelycooltools.com/ https://www.launchingnext.com/ https://www.launchingnext.com/ https://www.producthunt.com/ https://www.producthunt.com/ https://www.saasprojects.com/ https://www.saasprojects.com/ https://www.sideprojectors.com/#/ https://www.sideprojectors.com/#/ https://www.slant.co/ https://www.slant.co/ https://www.startupranking.com/ https://www.startupranking.com/ https://www.startups.fyi/ https://www.startups.fyi/ https://www.trustpilot.com/ https://www.trustpilot.com/ https://www.uneed.best/ https://www.uneed.best/ Those lists also include Reddits, but heads up, all links posted on Reddit are "no follow" ( here is a perfect article on why this is important). But since Bill Prin had a good experience starting to promote on Reddit, I'm thinking of giving it a shot sometime soon. Here's the list of reddits: here Bill Prin r/advancedentrepreneur r/advancedentrepreneur r/advertising r/advertising r/alphaandbetausers r/alphaandbetausers r/announcements r/announcements r/AskMarketing r/AskMarketing r/Business_Ideas r/Business_Ideas r/Businessideas r/Businessideas r/coupons r/coupons r/CrazyIdeas r/CrazyIdeas r/digitalnomad r/digitalnomad r/Emailmarketing r/Emailmarketing r/Entrepreneur r/Entrepreneur r/EntrepreneurRideAlong r/EntrepreneurRideAlong r/growinpublic r/growinpublic r/growmybusiness r/growmybusiness r/GrowthHacking r/GrowthHacking r/ideas r/ideas r/indiebiz r/indiebiz r/indiehackers r/indiehackers r/InternetIsBeautiful r/InternetIsBeautiful r/Lightbulb r/Lightbulb r/MadeThis r/MadeThis r/marketing r/marketing r/microsaas r/microsaas r/NicheWebsites r/NicheWebsites r/Plugyourproduct r/Plugyourproduct r/ProductHunters r/ProductHunters r/programming r/programming r/projects r/projects r/roastmystartup r/roastmystartup r/SaaS r/SaaS r/sales r/sales r/SideProject r/SideProject r/smallbusiness r/smallbusiness r/socialmedia r/socialmedia r/startup r/startup r/startups r/startups r/startups_promotion r/startups_promotion r/sweatystartup r/sweatystartup r/webmarketing r/webmarketing There are also Facebook groups and communities, but for now, as I decided to stay away from Facebook, there's no plan to check those out for now. Tracking Success with Bonetflix Implementing this strategy, I've promoted my project, Bonetflix, on all these platforms. In a past issue , I shared some metrics about it, and I expect these numbers to evolve in the following weeks. Stay tuned to witness positive transformations in this journey. In a past issue Thanks for reading David's Indie Hacker Journey! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Also published here. Also published here . here

Online Spaces Where Your Startup Could Thrive

NFTs on the Solana blockchain have been gaining significant traction recently, leading to a surge in popularity and adoption. This growth can be attributed to several key factors that have contributed to the rise of NFTs on Solana, making them increasingly convenient and appealing to users. Let's delve into the reasons behind the current boom of NFTs on Solana, explore some main use cases, highlight their convenience, and discuss the volumes involved in this burgeoning market. If you’re running an NFT/Web3 project (including the ones that on SOL), and you need advice on marketing and community building, you can directly. message me NFTs on Solana: A Rising Trend The emergence of Solana (SOL) NFTs and the innovative platform Blast have been making significant waves in the crypto space. Solana NFTs have seen explosive growth, with sales surpassing $5 billion in just a few months. This surge in activity highlights the increasing popularity and value of NFTs on the Solana blockchain. Additionally, Blast, a layer-2 solution, has attracted developers due to its deep liquidity and successful founder background. Protocols built on Blast have quickly amassed a total value locked (TVL) of nearly $1 billion within two weeks of its mainnet launch. The success of Solana NFTs and Blast can be attributed to various factors, including the pragmatic approach of building user-friendly products that drive adoption. The founder of Blast, Roquerre, who previously co-founded Blur, a prominent NFT marketplace, has demonstrated a keen understanding of the market dynamics and user preferences. The strategic use of incentives like points systems to encourage user engagement and participation has been instrumental in driving growth on platforms like Blur and Blast.Moreover, the involvement of reputable entities like Paradigm, a well-known crypto venture capital firm, has further bolstered confidence in Blast. Paradigm's participation in Blast's seed round and subsequent collaboration to enhance the project's upgrade system underscore the industry's recognition of Blast's potential despite initial criticisms Main Use Cases of NFTs on Solana Art and Collectibles NFTs on Solana have become a popular medium for artists and creators to tokenize their work, providing a secure and transparent way to buy, sell, and collect digital art pieces. This has led to the emergence of various NFT marketplaces on Solana, such as Solanart and DigitalEyes, which offer a diverse range of digital artworks and collectibles. 2.Gaming The gaming industry has embraced NFTs on Solana, integrating them into games to offer unique in-game assets, characters, and experiences that players can own and trade. This has opened up new possibilities for gamers and developers alike, creating new revenue streams and enhancing the gaming experience. 3. Digital Real Estate NFTs on Solana are also being used to represent ownership of virtual real estate, enabling users to buy, sell, and trade virtual land and properties in decentralized virtual worlds. This has led to the creation of new digital economies and communities, such as Portals and Solana Monkey Business. 4. Music and Entertainment Musicians and entertainers are leveraging NFTs on Solana to release exclusive content, concert tickets, and merchandise, creating new revenue streams and engaging directly with their fans. This has the potential to revolutionize the music and entertainment industries, providing artists with more control over their content and creating new opportunities for fan engagement. Volumes and Market Dynamics The Solana blockchain has witnessed a significant increase in NFT trading volumes, with various collections and projects gaining traction in the market. Platforms like Solanart and SolSea have emerged as prominent marketplaces for buying, selling, and trading NFTs on Solana, offering a diverse range of collections and artworks to users. The total market capitalization of NFTs on Solana has surpassed $1 billion, reflecting the growing interest and investment in digital assets on the Solana blockchain. All these metrics indicate a strong growing interest and investment in this space, reflecting the increasing popularity and demand for digital assets on the Solana blockchain. Convenience and Benefits of NFTs on Solana 1. Solana's low transaction fees make it cost-effective for users to buy, sell, and trade NFTs, reducing barriers to entry and enabling broader participation in the market. Low Transaction Costs: 2. Solana's high throughput and low latency ensure that NFT transactions are processed quickly, providing users with a seamless and efficient trading experience. Fast Transactions: 3. NFTs on Solana can be easily integrated with other blockchain platforms, allowing for cross-chain compatibility and expanding the reach and utility of these digital assets. Interoperability: 4. : Solana NFT platforms like SolSea offer embedded copyright licenses, providing creators with legal protection and ensuring the authenticity and ownership of their digital creations. Embedded Licenses How To Create Your Own NFT On Solana? To create your own NFT on Solana, you can follow these steps based on the information from the provided sources: 1. Setting Up Tools: - You will need tools like NodeJS, Git, "yarn" (a package manager), and TS-node for creating NFTs on Solana. - NodeJS serves as a JavaScript runtime, Git for cloning repositories, and "yarn" to install dependencies. 2. Using Metaplex's NFT Candy Machine: - Metaplex is a popular NFT ecosystem that offers an easy way to create NFTs on Solana. - Metaplex provides tools like NFT Candy Machine, which simplifies the NFT creation process on the Solana blockchain. 3. Initial Setup: - Start by setting up Candy Machine v2 by installing the necessary tools and dependencies. - Clone the repository, install required dependencies, and set up the execution environment using TS-node. 4. Uploading NFT Files and Metadata: - Utilize the 'upload' command to upload NFT images and JSON files to decentralized storage of your choice. - Follow the command lines in the Metaplex documentation, making relevant modifications to paths. 5. Creating NFT Collection: - Use specific command lines from the Metaplex docs to create your NFT collection. - Deploy an instance of Candy Machine on the Solana devnet and upload all assets to prepare your NFT collection. 6. Minting the NFTs: - Copy the required command from Metaplex docs and adjust it according to your file paths for minting NFTs. - Choose between individual minting or batch minting for creating multiple NFTs in a single transaction. 7. Exploring Compressed NFTs: - Solana offers the unique feature of creating compressed NFTs using Merkle trees and state compression to reduce storage costs. - Compressed NFTs store metadata on the ledger instead of in a Solana account, enhancing efficiency and cost-effectiveness. To wrap up, the current boom of NFTs on Solana can be attributed to the platform's technical capabilities, user-friendly features, and the diverse range of use cases that appeal to creators and collectors alike. With low transaction costs, fastz processing speeds, and innovative applications across various industries, NFTs on Solana have established themselves as a vibrant and dynamic market with significant growth potential in the digital economy. P.S. Check out some of my previous articles at HackerNoon: NFT Marketing Guide - The Most Complete and Detailed Playbook Bitcoin NFTs: Trends and How to Create It Autoglyphs: The $14.6 mln NFT Phenomenon Explained Cracking the NFT Code: The Psychology Behind Buying Digital Assets Breaking Down the Next Big Thing in NFTs: ERC-404 Spotlight Nobody Buys an NFT Just for Art DeFi Community Building: A Step-by-Step Guide for Crypto Startups

NFTs on Solana: A Rapidly Expanding Market with Unique Advantages


This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license. Authors: (1) Ayei E. Ibor, Trustworthy Digital Infrastructure for Identity Systems, The Alan Turing Institute, United Kingdom; (2) Mark Hooper, Trustworthy Digital Infrastructure for Identity Systems, The Alan Turing Institute, United Kingdom; (3) Carsten Maple, Trustworthy Digital Infrastructure for Identity Systems, The Alan Turing Institute, United Kingdom; (4) Gregory Epiphaniou, WMG, University of Warwick, United Kingdom. Table of Links Abstract & Introduction Background Review of Literature Methodology Discussion of Findings Conclusion and Future Work & References 6. Conclusion and Future Work Trustworthy interoperability is a key enabler for identity management and widens the dimensions of e-government in developing countries. This research provided insights into the challenges, opportunities, and requirements of interoperability and highlighted the limitations of current interoperability solutions such as the Estonian X-Road and the eIDAS of the European Union. We found that each existing interoperability solution has its benefits and drawbacks, although both are targeted at a common goal. To achieve seamless communication of identification data, we proposed an approach for scoping requirements by first identifying the key processes to identity management in an interoperability context. Furthermore, we addressed the limitations of the current solutions using an architecture that considers the flexibility of identity verification and validation through an interoperable layer that is based on four interacting layers of data representation, semantics, binding, and security and privacy. For future work, an analysis of country-specific use cases for achieving interoperability in the African identity ecosystem will be performed. References African Union, 2020. The Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa (2020-30), Available at https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/278587/1/GhaEcon_24.pdf, Accessed 20 May 2023. Alamillo, I., Mouille, S., Rock, A., Soumelidis, N., Tabor, M., Gorniak, S., 2023. Digital identity standards: Analysis of standardisation requirements in support of cybersecurity policy, Available at file:///C:/Users/aIbor/Downloads/Digital_Identity_Standards%20(1).pdf, Accessed 30 July 2023. Aldosary, M. and Alqahtani, N., 2021. A Survey on Federated Identity Management Systems Limitation and Solutions. International Journal of Network Security & Its Applications (IJNSA) Vol, 13. ANSSI, 2023. The EIDAS Regulation, Available at https://www.ssi.gouv.fr/en/regulation/digital-confidence/the-eidas-regulation/, Accessed 09 April 2023. Atick, J., 2016. Digital identity: the essential guide. In ID4Africa Identity Forum (Vol. 2016, pp. 1-3). Backhouse, J. and Halperin, R., 2009. Approaching interoperability for identity management systems. In The Future of Identity in the Information Society (pp. 245-268). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Bakhtina, M., Matulevičius, R., Awad, A. and Kivimäki, P., 2022. Rebooting Trust Management in X-Road, Public Report. Nordic Institute for Interoperability Solutions (NIIS). Bhattarai, R., Pappel, I., Vainsalu, H., Yahia, S.B. and Draheim, D., 2019. The impact of the single digital gateway regulation from the citizens’ perspective. Procedia Computer Science, 164, pp.159-167. Bandura, R. and Ramanujam, S.R., 2021. Developing inclusive digital payment systems. Center for Strategic and International Studies, 21. Benaddi, H., Laaz, N., Bouhlal, A. and El Kettani, E., 2023. Data storage architecture for egovernment interoperability: Morocco case. Indonesian Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 29(3), pp.1678-1686. Catuogno, L. and Galdi, C., 2014. Achieving interoperability between federated identity management systems: A case of study. Journal of High Speed Networks, 20(4), pp.209-221. Colbern, A. and Ramakrishnan, S.K., 2020. Citizenship reimagined: A new framework for state rights in the United States. Cambridge University Press. Cuijpers, C.M.K.C. and Schroers, J., 2014. eIDAS as guideline for the development of a pan European eID framework in FutureID. Domingo, E. and Teevan, C., 2022. Africa’s journey towards an integrated digital payments landscape and how the EU can support it. ECDPM brief, 23. European Commission, 2023a. X-Road Data Exchange Layer, Available at https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/collection/ict-security/solution/x-road-data-exchange-layer/about, Accessed 10 April 2023. European Commission, 2023b. Shaping Europe’s digital future, Available at https://digitalstrategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/discover-eidas, Accessed 20 April 2023. Fathalla, E.S., Azab, M., Xin, C. and Wu, H., 2023. PT-SSIM: A Proactive, Trustworthy SelfSovereign Identity Management System. IEEE Internet of Things Journal. Grassi, P.A., Garcia, M.E. and Fenton, J.L., 2017. Digital identity guidelines. NIST special publication, 800, pp.63-3. Gelb, A. and Metz, A.D., 2018. Identification revolution: Can digital ID be harnessed for development?. Brookings Institution Press. Halili, F. and Ramadani, E., 2018. Web services: a comparison of soap and rest services. Modern Applied Science, 12(3), p.175. Hoffmann, T. and Solarte-Vasquez, M.C., 2022. The estonian e-residency programme and its role beyond the country’s digital public sector ecosystem. Revista CES Derecho, 13(2), pp.184-204. Hölbl, M., Kežmah, B. and Kompara, M., 2023. eIDAS Interoperability and Cross-Border Compliance Issues. Mathematics, 11(2), p.430. Hummer, D. and Rebovich, D.J., 2023. Identity theft and financial loss. In Handbook on Crime and Technology (pp. 38-53). Edward Elgar Publishing. Irvin-Erickson, Y., 2023. How Does Immigration Status and Citizenship Affect Identity Theft Victimization Risk in the US? Insights from the 2018 National Crime Victimization Survey Identity Theft Supplement. Victims & Offenders, pp.1-24. Kaaniche, N., Laurent, M. and Belguith, S., 2020. Privacy enhancing technologies for solving the privacy-personalization paradox: Taxonomy and survey. Journal of Network and Computer Applications, 171, p.102807. Kanagwa, B., Nakatumba-Nabende, J., Mugwanya, R., Kigozi Kahiigi, E. and Ngabirano, S., 2018. Towards an interoperability e-government framework for Uganda. In e-Infrastructure and e-Services for Developing Countries: 9th International Conference, AFRICOMM 2017, Lagos, Nigeria, December 11-12, 2017, Proceedings 9 (pp. 16-28). Springer International Publishing. Kiourtis, A., Giannetsos, T., Menesidou, S.A., Mavrogiorgou, A., Symvoulidis, C., GRAZİANİ, A., KLEFTAKİS, S., MAVROGİORGOS, K., ZAFEİROPOULOS, N., GKOLİAS, C.A. and KYRİAZİS, D., 2023. Identity management standards: A literature review. Computers and Informatics, 3(1), pp.35-46. Krimmer, R., Dedovic, S., Schmidt, C. and Corici, A.A., 2021, August. Developing crossborder e-Governance: Exploring interoperability and cross-border integration. In International Conference on Electronic Participation (pp. 107-124). Cham: Springer International Publishing. Kotzé, P. and Alberts, R., 2017. Towards a Conceptual Model for an e-Government Interoperability Framework for South Africa. In ICEIS (3) (pp. 493-506). Lips, S., Bharosa, N. and Draheim, D., 2020. eIDAS implementation challenges: the case of Estonia and the Netherlands. 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How to implement the European digital single market: identifying the catalyst for digital transformation. Journal of European Integration, 44(1), pp.59-80. Sedlmeir, J., Smethurst, R., Rieger, A. and Fridgen, G., 2021. Digital identities and verifiable credentials. Business & Information Systems Engineering, 63(5), pp.603-613. Sharif, A., Ranzi, M., Carbone, R., Sciarretta, G. and Ranise, S., 2022, August. SoK: A Survey on Technological Trends for (pre) Notified eIDAS Electronic Identity Schemes. In Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security (pp. 1-10). Sharma, R. and Panigrahi, P.K., 2015. Developing a roadmap for planning and implementation of interoperability capability in e-government. Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, 9(4), pp.426-447. Solvak, M., Unt, T., Rozgonjuk, D., Võrk, A., Veskimäe, M. and Vassil, K., 2019. Egovernance diffusion: Population level e-service adoption rates and usage patterns. Telematics and Informatics, 36, pp.39-54. Spiliotopoulos, T., Sheik, A.T., Gottardello, D. and Dover, R., 2023. Onboarding Citizens to Digital Identity Systems. arXiv preprint arXiv:2306.13511. Srinivas, J., Das, A.K. and Kumar, N., 2019. Government regulations in cyber security: Framework, standards and recommendations. Future generation computer systems, 92, pp.178-188. Tang, F., Ma, C. and Cheng, K., 2023. Privacy-preserving authentication scheme based on zero trust architecture. Digital Communications and Networks. The World Bank, 2023a. ID4D Global Dataset, Available at https://id4d.worldbank.org/global-dataset, Accessed: 17 July 2023. The World Bank, 2023b. Practitioner’s Guide: Interoperability, Available at https://id4d.worldbank.org/guide/interoperability, Accessed: 22 April 2023. Walters, R., 2023. Theft [Identity]. In Cybersecurity and Data Laws of the Commonwealth: International Trade, Investment and Arbitration (pp. 297-306). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. World Bank Group, 2016. ID4D Country Diagnostic: Nigeria, 2016, Available at https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/136541489666581589/pdf/113567-REPLNigeria-ID4D-Diagnostics-Web.pdf, Accessed 20 May 2023. W3C Recommendation, 2022. Verifiable credentials data model v1.1, Available at https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-data-model/#dfn-credential, Accessed 04 April 2023. World Bank Group, 2018. Guidelines for ID4D Diagnostics, Available at https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/370121518449921710/Guidelines-for-ID4DDiagnostics.pdf, Accessed: 22 April 2023. X-Road, 2020. X-Road: Message Transport Protocol, Available at https://www.xtee.ee/docs/live/xroad/pr-messtransp_x-road_message_transport_protocol.html, Accessed 12 April 2023. X-Road, 2023a. X-Road Security, Available at https://x-road.global/security, Accessed 03 April 2023. X-Road, 2023b. X-Road Technology Overview, Available at https://x-road.global/x-roadtechnology-overview, Accessed 10 March 2023. X-Road, 2023c. X-Road: Use Case Model for Member Communication, Available at https://docs.x-road.global/UseCases/uc-mess_x-road_member_communication_use_case_model.html#version-history, Accessed 12 April 2023. X-Road, 2023d. Technical Specification: X-Road Architecture, Available at https://docs.xroad.global/Architecture/arc-g_x-road_arhitecture.html#version-history, Accessed 12 April 2023. Yin, J., Xiao, Y., Pei, Q., Ju, Y., Liu, L., Xiao, M. and Wu, C., 2022. SmartDID: a novel privacy-preserving identity based on blockchain for IoT. IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 10(8), pp.6718-6732. This paper is available on under CC 4.0 license. Arxiv

Trustworthy Interoperability and Identity Management Systems: What Comes Next

The healthcare industry is experiencing rapid change thanks to the rise of big data. Big data refers to the massive amounts of information generated from electronic health records, wearable devices, genetic testing, social media, and more. This data has tremendous potential to improve diagnosis, enable predictive analytics, allow for personalized medicine, and further medical research. However, along with these benefits come significant risks, especially regarding patient privacy and data security. How can we harness big data to advance healthcare while protecting sensitive patient information? This article explores and answers that question. Understanding Big Data in Healthcare Big data in healthcare is characterized by the four V’s: volume, variety, velocity, and veracity. Volume refers to the vast quantities of data created. The global healthcare data market size was valued at USD 32.9 billion in 2021 and is predicted to reach USD 105.73 billion by 2030. Variety encompasses the many forms data takes, including numbers, text, images, and more. Velocity describes how quickly new data is generated and processed. For example, wearable devices produce continuous real-time data streams. Finally, veracity refers to the accuracy and reliability of the data. Noise, errors, and inconsistencies can affect healthcare data quality. Big data enables several key applications in healthcare: Diagnostics. By integrating information from symptoms, history, tests, and more, systems like can help clinicians diagnose diseases more accurately and efficiently. Merative Predictive analytics. Statistical models and AI can identify patients at high risk for complications or readmissions, and likely treatment responders. Personalized medicine. Genomic data can inform individually tailored therapies based on a patient’s genetic makeup and other factors. Research. Large datasets, like the collecting samples and health data from 500,000 people over 30 years, can uncover new disease insights and treatments. UK Biobank Potential benefits from big data analytics in healthcare abound: Improved patient outcomes through data-driven, timely, personalized care Reduced costs by optimizing resource allocation and minimizing waste Accelerated medical research and increased scientific productivity The Need for Data Privacy and Security While promising, big data also raises serious privacy concerns. Medical data is highly sensitive, revealing intimate details about a person’s physical, mental, and emotional health. If compromised, it can inflict significant harm through: Privacy violations from unauthorized data sharing, like with insurers or employers, prompt discrimination Potential data misuse like identity theft, fraud, or cyberattacks Several high-profile breaches have exposed these dangers: In 2021, Florida Healthy Kids Corporation suffered a breach exposing 3.5 million customer and employee records containing personal information and medical IDs. The same year, Eskenazi Health was attacked by ransomware that affected 1.5 million patient records with data like addresses, birth dates, and clinical info. Also in 2021, CaptureRx was hacked by cybercriminals who accessed 1.6 million patient records containing first name, last name, date of birth, and prescription information. These incidents reveal the need for robust security measures to safeguard patient data. Existing Regulations In response to the risks posed to patient privacy, numerous regulations have been established to set standards for protecting patient health information. In the United States, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a key legislation. HIPAA sets forth two primary rules - the Privacy Rule and the Security Rule. The Privacy Rule outlines how personally identifiable health information should be used and disclosed, whereas the Security Rule specifies the administrative, physical, and technical safeguards necessary to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and security of electronically protected health information. To comply with HIPAA, companies must ensure their software solutions and procedures are aligned with these rules, incorporating features like strong user authentication, encryption, audit trails, automatic logoff, and secure data transmission. Regular risk assessments and staff training on HIPAA rules also form an integral part of a HIPAA compliance strategy. Across the Atlantic, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) harmonizes rules for personal data protection in the European Union (E.U.), giving individuals control over their information. Other nations have enacted similar laws, including Canada’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), and India’s Information Technology Act. While these regulations represent significant progress, there are still gaps when it comes to addressing big data: Jurisdictional conflicts can arise from countries having different standards. Stricter E.U. policies may inhibit data sharing with the U.S. Some nations lack adequate protections. Innovative technologies like AI and blockchain may outpace regulations not designed for them. Ethical dilemmas around informed consent, privacy, and fair data use require guidance. These challenges highlight the need for more adaptive laws and standards that can keep pace with the complex and rapidly evolving big data landscape. Best Practices for Data Security Data security is crucial for protecting sensitive patient information. Healthcare organizations should implement robust security controls following industry best practices: Encrypt data in transit and at rest using strong standards like AES-256 to prevent unauthorized access. Enforce multi-factor authentication and single sign-on to authenticate users and prevent account takeovers. Conduct routine security audits, penetration testing, and vulnerability scans to identify risks proactively. Implement access controls and least privilege principles to restrict data access on a need-to-know basis. Deploy data loss prevention tools to monitor and control sensitive data flows. Back up data regularly and test restores to enable quick recovery from outages or incidents. Provide comprehensive security awareness training to employees to promote best practices. Establish an incident response plan with defined procedures to contain, eradicate, and recover from breaches. Monitor systems and networks extensively using SIEM solutions to detect threats early. Ensure third-party security with vendor risk assessments and contractual protections. Following standards like NIST CSF or ISO 27001 also provides frameworks to build comprehensive security programs. With robust controls and vigilance, healthcare entities can significantly reduce data breach risks. Emerging Privacy-Enhancing Technologies Innovative privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) can help healthcare organizations process and share data securely: Homomorphic encryption allows computations on encrypted data without decrypting it first. This enables analytics while preserving confidentiality. Differential privacy injects controlled noise into data to mask individual identities while still extracting useful insights from populations. Federated learning trains AI models across institutions without exposing raw patient data, only sharing model updates. Synthetic data generation produces artificial patient datasets with the statistical properties of real data but without being traceable to actual people. Zero-knowledge proofs let parties validate information without revealing the underlying data. Adopting PETs facilitates responsible data use for research and innovation while protecting sensitive health information. However, PETs have limitations like computational overhead, lack of standards, and re-identification risks from auxiliary data. Thoughtful implementation is key. The Patient’s Role in Data Privacy Patients have an important role in managing their health data privacy. They should: Review privacy policies to understand how providers handle sensitive information. Carefully read consent forms before permitting health data use and sharing. Request copies of medical records to review for accuracy and completeness. Ask providers about opt-out choices for data sharing like research or marketing. Enable access restrictions and notifications in patient portals to control access. Consider using personal health record apps to consolidate health data securely. Report any suspected privacy violations or breaches to providers immediately. Educating themselves on data privacy rights and options allows patients to make informed choices about their sensitive medical information. However, complex privacy policies and a lack of transparency can disempower patients. Providers should clearly communicate data practices and respect patient preferences. A Balancing Act for the Future Balancing innovation and privacy around health data requires trade-offs and diligence: Regulations must evolve to address new data sources like genomics, wearables, and social media with clear ethics-based standards. Providers should implement robust security programs while enabling controlled data use for care improvements and research. New techniques like data minimization, anonymization, abstraction, and encryption can facilitate privacy-preserving data sharing. Transparency and consent mechanisms should give patients granular controls over health data use. Cross-sector collaboration can develop best practices and governance models for secure, ethical data use. Ongoing reassessments of policies and technologies are needed as practices and risks evolve over time. With responsible data stewardship, healthcare can harness data-driven innovation to improve care and outcomes while respecting patients’ rights. Conclusion Navigating the promises and perils of big data in healthcare requires diligence and responsibility from all involved. Patients must ensure that their most sensitive information is handled with care. To be trusted by patients, healthcare providers need to be transparent, accountable, and responsible with data. Policymakers need to develop clear, adaptive guidelines for fair information use. Researchers and innovators must consider ethics alongside progress. By embracing this shared duty of care, we can unlock big data’s immense potential to understand diseases, develop treatments, and save lives - without compromising core patient rights. The following several key principles should guide us: Progress and privacy can go hand-in-hand with responsible innovation. Modern technologies can enable breakthroughs while boosting security. Listening to patient voices and concerns is crucial when shaping data practices. Policies should empower patients with control. Cross-sector and global collaboration is needed to solve a complex, international challenge. Alignment of standards serves all parties. Regular reassessment of policies, practices, and technology is necessary as the landscape evolves. What protects data today may not tomorrow. Balance, nuance, and wisdom are required around data trade-offs. Benefits and risks must be weighed carefully and holistically. The opportunities from healthcare’s digital data revolution are too great to ignore, but they must be pursued thoughtfully. With patient wellbeing at the core, a collaborative spirit, and a vision to match ambition with ethics, we can build a brighter data-driven future for human health. The potential rewards - preventing disease, expanding access, democratizing medicine - make it essential that we get big data right. By upholding both innovation and privacy, the healthcare community can earn the trust and partnership needed to transform lives with data responsibly. References The use of Big Data Analytics in healthcare | Journal of Big Data | Full Text (springeropen.com) Digital Transformation in Healthcare: Technology Acceptance and Its Applications - PMC (nih.gov) The digital transformation of healthcare organizations | Wolters Kluwer How Digital Transformation Can Improve Hospitals’ Operational Decisions (hbr.org) Digital transformation in healthcare | Deloitte Insights Digital Transformation in Healthcare in 2023: 7 Key Trends | DAP (digitalauthority.me) Frontiers | Digital transformation of health quality services in the healthcare industry during disruption and society 5.0 era (frontiersin.org) Healthcare Cybersecurity: 8 Data Protection Best Practices | CSA (cloudsecurityalliance.org) Emerging privacy-enhancing technologies: Current regulatory and policy approaches | en | OECD What is Data Privacy in Healthcare? | Box, Inc. The Balancing Act: Juggling EHRs and New Digital Health Applications | LinkedIn Five Best Practices for Securing Health Data | Persona (withpersona.com) Using Algorithmic Privacy-Enhancing Technologies in Healthcare Analytics (healthitanalytics.com)

Navigating Big Data's Potential and Privacy in Modern Medicine

In the digital age, where artificial intelligence (AI) shapes many aspects of our lives, the emergence of advanced tools like ChatGPT by OpenAI marks a transformative era. However, beneath the surface of this innovative technology lies a disturbing trend: the intentional misuse of ChatGPT. This article explores the dark facets of how individuals and groups are exploiting this language model, highlighting the urgent need for ethical guidelines and robust security measures. Scams and Deceptive Content: A New Playground for Fraudsters The versatility of ChatGPT, while impressive, has opened doors to nefarious activities. As detailed in , ChatGPT's ability to generate convincing and contextually relevant content makes it a powerful tool in the hands of scammers. From crafting believable phishing emails to creating fake news, the misuse extends to various forms of deception and fraud. Digital Trends Unleashing Chaos: The Propaganda Machine The societal impact of ChatGPT's misuse is far-reaching, particularly in the realm of misinformation and propaganda. According to , the language model's proficiency in mimicking human-like text enables the mass production of misleading information, fueling propaganda, and potentially inciting unrest. Europol Workplace Ethics: Crossing the Line The professional environment is not immune to ChatGPT's exploitation. An insightful piece from discusses the ethical dilemmas posed by ChatGPT in the workplace. The model's use for generating work-related content, while efficient, raises questions about authenticity, intellectual honesty, and the devaluation of human effort. SHRM Security Threats: A New Frontier for Cybercrime The security implications of ChatGPT misuse are alarming. highlights how ChatGPT can be weaponized to bypass security protocols, aiding in sophisticated cyber-attacks. This capability not only threatens individual data security but also poses significant risks at the institutional level. IANS Research In conclusion The misuse of ChatGPT is a stark reminder of the ethical and security challenges that come with advanced AI. While ChatGPT serves as a revolutionary tool for legitimate purposes, its exploitation underscores the critical need for stringent regulations, user awareness, and the development of AI for positive, constructive use. As we tread into this new era of technology, prioritizing the ethical use of AI like ChatGPT becomes not just advisable, but imperative. References: https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/bad-things-chatgpt-has-been-used-for/ https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/criminal-use-of-chatgpt-cautionary-tale-about-large-language-models https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/global-hr/pages/europe-chatgpt-workplace-use-misuse.aspx https://www.iansresearch.com/resources/all-blogs/post/security-blog/2023/05/11/chatgpt-uncovering-misuse-scenarios-and-ai-security-challenges

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