Combining Feedback and Trust Scope Parameter: A New Model for Assessing Information Source Trust

Reliable information is incredibly essential for policy and decision makers, especially when the decision to be made is related to a crucial interest. There are various ways used to get a reliable information. One of them is by looking at the trust level of the information source. This trust level can be determined by assessing the source of information's reputation. There are some parameters used in determining the value of the source of information reputation: such as feedback, trust scope, and trust level. Generally, these parameters are used separately in accordance to the purpose of the trust assessment conducted. Feedback, for example, is usually used to get a direct trust value. It is conducted to determine reputation value by accumulating the direct trust value with the previous reputation value. Meanwhile, trust scope is usually used to assess the trust of the information source based upon the context. However, implementing trust scope or feedback method alternately will not allow combined external and internal representations. In brief, separate implementation does not provide optimum result. Therefore, this paper proposes to combine two parameters: feedback and trust scope, considering each advantages and disadvantages. The underlying reason of combining both parameters is to get a stronger and more balanced trust assessment, as the trust value will be obtained both from feedback and the source of information trust in the context.