BARIUM5G – Blockchain and ARtificial Intelligence for Ubiquitous coMputing via 5G Giuseppe Loseto * , Floriano Scioscia * , Agnese Pinto * , Filippo Gramegna * , Saverio Ieva * , Michele Ruta * and Eugenio Di Sciascio * * Polytechnic University of Bari – via E. Orabona 4, Bari (I-70125), Italy {name.surname}@poliba.it Abstract—The BARIUM5G project aims to define and propose innovative, sustainable and replicable hardware and software solutions on a large scale for the following Smart City scenarios: (a) efficient management of public lighting; (b) blockchain-based analysis and certification of vehicle fleet data; (c) blockchain- based supply chain traceability; (d) last-mile logistics based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality (AR). The fifth-generation (5G) mobile network will be leveraged across the board to enable the exploitation of emerging technologies such as Blockchain and Explainable Artificial Intelligence algorithms for deductive reasoning and data analysis. Research focus is placed on solutions that are easy to replicate, based on off- the-shelf devices and on the evolution of currently available frameworks. This will foster technology transfer results already in the short/medium term to make the best use of the 5G resources and infrastructures. I. I NTRODUCTION In 2017-2019, the Italian Ministry for Economic Devel- opment (MISE) funded experimentation of fifth-generation (5G) mobile telecommunications infrastructures in several Italian cities. The Information Systems Laboratory (SisIn- fLab) of the Polytechnic University of Bari took part in the Bari-Matera 5G use cases with TIM, Fastweb telcos and Huawei network equipment manufacturer. In 2020 the 2- year BARIUM5G (Blockchain and ARtificial Intelligence for Ubiquitous coMputing via 5G) project has started as an ideal follow-up, involving the study and definition of innovative techniques for unpredictable and opportunistic Smart City scenarios which can fully exploit the advantages introduced by 5G technology in terms of decreased latency and energy consumption as well as increased bandwidth, link stability and device density. The project encompasses four reference use cases in the Bari area, leveraging the 5G network across the board to enhance emerging technologies such as Blockchain and Explainable Artificial Intelligence for data analysis. The BARIUM5G vision is based on an approach seeing automated reasoning in the Internet of Things (IoT) [1]. It is known as Semantic Web of Things (SWoT) and is an innovative paradigm in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector that aims to integrate Semantic Web and IoT. In this context, the experiences and results obtained in recent years by the SisInfLab research group, lead partner of the project, will be used as a starting point. Other partners are the Physics Department of the University of Bari, TIM and Idea75 innovative small-medium enterprise. The project pays attention to the analysis and testing of innovative application methods and protocols for mobile sce- narios based on the 5G infrastructure, in which smart devices connected to the network are able to communicate, share information and interact autonomously. The main objective is the definition of novel applications and services based on algorithms for automated reasoning, equipped with explicit and formal explanation capabilities of results, which allow to achieve high efficiency, reliability and quality of service in the reference scenarios. The remainder of the paper is as follows: Section II outlines the four reference use cases of the BARIUM5G project, while conclusion sketches the prospected impact of the project. II. REFERENCE USE CASES This section explores the four reference use cases which represent the pillars of the scientific and technical activity of the BARIUM5G project. A. Efficient management of public lighting systems. The advantages introduced by the 5G network infrastructure, in terms of increased bandwidth and lower latency, are exploited to define a management system for public lighting which improves the quality of services offered to citizens. In par- ticular, through the use of an urban sensor network of Smart Lighting devices, it will be possible to control the operation of the individual elements of the public lighting system as well as to identify and prevent outages. Semantic-enhanced device/resource discovery [2] [3] will be adapted to reduce maintenance costs through predictive maintenance. This will make it possible to minimize the inconvenience to citizens when there is a disservice on the system or even on the single light spot. By applying appropriate energy policies, the control system must be able to: (i) reduce energy consumption and management costs of the public lighting system; (ii) modulate light output based on vehicular and pedestrian traffic; (iii) partition the system at different levels of granularity for selective programming and switch off in case of need. B. Blockchain-based analysis and certification of vehicle fleet data. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technolo- gies are increasingly widespread for traffic flow detection and forecasting, vehicle fleet monitoring and real-time infor- mation visualization, in order to optimize transport network capacity and provide innovative services for users. Starting from research proposed in [4], this scenario aims to monitor