Adoption Metrics for 

Proximity Technologies

A presentation to NIST Workshop entitled:

Challenges for Digital Proximity Detection in Pandemics: Privacy, Accuracy, and Impact

(Primarily responsive to “commercialization” and “test beds” prompt)

January 26, 2021

By

Scott L. David

Director of Information Risk Research Initiative (IRRI)

University of Washington – Applied Physics Laboratory
The Need:

We need metrics to help promote and steer adoption of 

Exponential, Socio-Technical Systems (ESTS)

(such as proximity technologies)
Exponential Socio-Technical Systems

(defined)

• Proximity Systems ARE Exponential Systems (ES)

• Power from higher-order effects of Moore’s Law (exponential growth)

• Value depends on achieving “network effects” in deployment

• Proximity Systems ARE Exponential Socio-Technical Systems – (ESTS)

• ESTS have all characteristics of ES 

• Plus

• Include humans/institutions as users AND as “calibrated system 

elements”

• Humans/institutions supply input data flows (for 

training/calibration, for processing)

• Humans/institutions administer/animate nodes in system (formally 

and informally)

• ALL networked information technologies are ESTS
Our Approach –

Develop Adoption Metrics for ESTS

• IRRI programs and materials support distributed testbeds (testing ”ecosystems”) 

• Test “Technically Feasible” systems for “BOLTS reasonableness”

• BOLTS Metrics are drawn from domains of:

• Business

• Operating

• Legal

• Technical

• Social

• Failure of any one of the BOLTS performance criteria potentially vetoes adoption. 

Period.

• “BOLTS Engineering” brings together requirements for adopted technology

• Collect and curate B-O-L-T-S patterns of practice directly from 

stakeholders

• Present additional and alternative B-O-L-T-S practices for stakeholder 

consideration

• Curate multi-stakeholder process of solution discovery among BOLTS 

practices

• enables compensating controls within and across BOLTS categories 

• Commercialization depends on presence of BOLTS risk metrics to evaluate 

adoption pathways and market potential. 

• Insufficient BOLTS risk evidence blocks adoption, including commercial 

adoption
Benefits of 

“BOLTS” 

Engineering 

Metrics

Testing 

Ecosystem

• Better Design and Development:

• Feedback to technical design and development 

teams saves time and cost

• Better Performance: 

• Real-world performance stress test tech before 

deployment

• Socio-Technical Interoperability: 

• Capture BOLTS (aka “policy”) considerations as 

engineering requirements

• Scale:

• Patterns and Practices approach incorporates 

BOLTS elements “localized” for stakeholders

• Isolated adoption/commercialization pathways are 

brought into contact to solve stubborn problems

• High Resilience:

• Anti-fragile because of cross-BOLTS 

interdependencies

• Sustainability:

• Built on stakeholder self interest to “de-risk” in 

ways that each cannot do alone
Align current 

isolated pathways 

from tech lab to 

adoption/markets

So
Applications of 

BOLTS to 

Exponential 

Socio-Technical

Systems

• Technical Standards Setting Generally 

• “Necessary Claims” language references “technically 

feasible” vs. “commercially reasonable” 

• Identity Systems

• Trust Frameworks (NIST, GSA, NISTIC, OIX, OpenID, PCI-DSS)

• Financial Markets

• Integrated BOLTS Risk Models (IIF, SWIFT, WEF)

• Food System Security

• Information Network Risk Maps (KSS, DARPA, NASA, 

Columbia University)

• Data Security and Data Ethics

• Standards/Policy Framings/Curriculum (Accenture, Atlantic 

Council, WEF, NSA, IEEE)

• Data Sharing Standards 

• DSA Questionnaire Tool (UN SDSN, WEF, NYU Gov Lab)

• Contact Tracing 

• Ethical/Privacy requirements (IEEE), Distributed Testbed 

(DHS) 

• AI/ML

• Policies, white papers, governance documents (WEF, IEEE)

• Government 2.0

• Tech policies/Legislative language (Wyoming, EU, OECD, 

UK, WEF, NYU GovLab)

• Information Security for Complex Systems

• Atlas of Risk Maps
Let’s 

work 

together

• IRRI @ UW APL • Scott L. David • sldavid@uw.edu • (m) 206-715-0859 • (Tw) @ScottLDavid