# Blockchain for Doping Control Applications in Sports: A Conceptual Approach
## 3 Blockchain-Based Approach for the AD Domain
### Design of a Decentralized Anti-Doping Ecosystem
#### 3.3.1 Semi-Decentralized Platform Governance  
The platform governance is mainly defined in terms of the governance model, the organizations' roles, and the operational policies [78; 80]. In the AD case, a consortium-led model is assumed, in which the leading organizations (e.g., WADA, major ADOs, and major Sports Authorities) in the domain come together and define the platform's policies and the participants' roles. A recommended procedure is to move the blockchain network ownership and operation under a single legal entity, which can be a joint venture (JV), maintained and controlled by the co-founding members. The JV equity holders can appoint a board of directors, representing the interests of each member organization. Then, the board itself can appoint an executive management team in charge of the JV operations. Board meetings can occur regularly to deliberate governance decisions, which then can be implemented at system level. Two distinct roles are defined for the JV [78]: Network Service Provider (NSP) and Business Service Provider (BSP). The NSP role includes managing and enforcing the agreed platform policies. The BSP role includes the development and deployment of the platform's business logic (applications, smart contracts, and integration). With this model, one entity is accountable for harmonizing the interests of its various shareholders and community members in general. This setup avoids legal, regulatory, and intellectual property issues [78]. At first, the platform would gather a few key members of the domain, with non-profit goals, being primarily focused on better harmonizing the AD standards. At later stages, other organizations can be allowed to join the ecosystem. Reviews of the JV ownership and economic and management models could occur as a natural progress of the relationships within the AD domain, and the technology is flexible to reflect such changes [14; 78]. The governing members decide which organizations are allowed to participate in the platform's decisions, enabling a democratic governance. Thepolicies contain, among other things, the lists of organizations with access to a specific resource or how many organizations must digitally vote for updating a resource, such as a SC or a channel [14; 78]. Apart from the role played by the governing JV, the other organizational roles needed to achieve the desired results are [78]:  
**Ordering Organizations (OOs):** Organizations hosting ordering nodes can vote for certain policies, such as the consensus model and consortium membership. These organizations form the so-called Ordering Service, which distributes blocks to the network. **Network Service Consumers (NSCs):** Organizations that host Peers (with smart contracts and copies of the ledger) and Certificate Authorities (CAs). These organizations have the capability to vote for business logic (e.g., SCs and channel membership) and endorse transactions. **Business Service Consumers (BSCs):** Organizations that host client-side applications and manage blockchain identities of users. **End Users (user level):** These are the individuals who will connect to the platform with different access privileges set by the organizations and respecting the governance policies. The idea behind the different organizational roles is to create a decentralized hierarchy, where the more roles an organization assumes, the more committed it is with harmonization of the WADC and AD standards, and the more active is its participation in the governance of the blockchain. Figure 3 is divided in two parts: Figure 3 depicts the key types of organizations with governance status composing the AD consortium and Figure 3 details the proposed governance hierarchy with four levels, their roles, and the types of users managed by each hierarchical level. The highest level is the Governing JV, and as previously explained, this is the organization that takes the responsibility for the blockchain's operation.