Blockchain Technology and Smart Contracts in Decentralized Governance Systems

PurposeCross border trade, involving different business environments between the sellers’ and buyers’ countries, may result in conflicts because of asymmetry in the information structure across the borders. The International Chambers of Commerce (ICC) has laid down ground rules on terms of shipment and payment, enabling harmonization and standardization of business process, and fixing of responsibilities for international trade. The international commercial (INCO) terms by ICC define the duties, obligations and cost borne by the exporter and the importer. An exporter’s uncertainty looms once the goods cross his/her border. Therefore, there is a need for a smart contract that is secured, transparent, legitimate and trustworthy. The authors propose a blockchain technology-based smart global contract (BTGC) framework for international trade.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, the authors develop the framework based on value chain analysis (VCA) of international trade and an ontology-driven-blockchain-design approach. The paper analyzes the sequence of activities in the value chain of global trade, the terms of the contract, the data structure templates, the validation rules and the points-of-failure, and proposes the smart contract blockchain structure.FindingsThis paper proposes the BTGC framework considering the INCO terms 2020; it provides the validation rules and the probability of failures; and identifies the elements that cause the halting of contracts and conditions of creation of side blockchains. The framework also includes the governance of the BTGC system.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed framework not only has implications at the firm level as it automates and secures a global sale contract but also is expected to harmonize the global-trade process as well. The developers may use the attributes, data structure templates and the rules identified in this paper for developing the GC software. Future research may consider using case analysis, class diagrams and the related steps for developing the blockchain software.Originality/valueThis paper proposes a complete value chain of global contract (GC) concerning exports, an ontology of GC and a blockchain-based smart-contract framework based on global standards. Besides, it specifies the elements of fraud (such as the non-integration of side chains) and uncertainty, i.e. the probability of failures. Such a framework will harmonize the global-trade process and build an international standards for smart GC based on blockchain technology (ISSGCBT), which is not yet done.

The world today has realized the vast technological evolution that has greatly shaped the production and management functions of business enterprises. Traditional contracts can take weeks or even months to initiate, and there have been numerous instances of breaches and lack of trust for contracts in both the private and public sector. A smart contract can be defined as a self-executing contract that utilizes blockchain technology to digitally enforce, verify, or facilitate the performance or negotiation of a contract. Owing to the security and decentralized system exhibited by blockchain technology, smart contracts can foster transaction credibility between contracting parties without the necessity of third parties as exhibited in traditional contracts. Any business organization that aims at achieving greater heights in management and production dimensions must consider utilizing robust technologies that are aimed at bolstering its competitive edge. Owing to the newness of smart contracts, characterized by very few studies on the same, this research reviews how smart contracts through blockchain technology can be implemented in an organization to enhance performance and outlines the applications, benefits, and limitations associated with such contracts. Keywords: Blockchain technology; smart contracts; smart contract applications; smart contract benefits; smart contract implementation; cryptography; cryptocurrency DOI : 10.7176/JIEA/9-5-07 Publication date :September 30 th 2019

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the way in which blockchain technology is likely to influence future supply chain practices and policies.Design/methodology/approachA systematic review of both academic and practitioner literature was conducted. Multiple accounts of blockchain adoption within industry were also consulted to gain further insight.FindingsWhile blockchain technologies remain in their infancy, they are gaining momentum within supply chains, trust being the predominant factor driving their adoption. The value of such technologies for supply chain management lies in four areas: extended visibility and traceability, supply chain digitalisation and disintermediation, improved data security and smart contracts. Several challenges and gaps in understanding and opportunities for further research are identified by this research. How a blockchain-enabled supply chain should be configured has also been explored from a design perspective.Research limitations/implicationsThis systematic review focuses on the diffusion of blockchain technology within supply chains, and great care was taken in selecting search terms. However, the authors acknowledge that their choice of terms may have excluded certain blockchain articles from this review.Practical implicationsThis paper offers valuable insight for supply chain practitioners into how blockchain technology has the potential to disrupt existing supply chain provisions as well as a number of challenges to its successful diffusion.Social implicationsThe paper debates the poential social and economic impact brought by blockchain.Originality/valueThis paper is one of the first studies to examine the current state of blockchain diffusion within supply chains. It lays a firm foundation for future research.

As the mobility of global capital is getting higher, more and more investors tend to invest in overseas real estate. However, the conventional model of investing in real estate possesses several disadvantages including high entry hurdles, low levels of market liquidity, and low transparency, particularly for retail investors. This article will seek to establish how blockchain technology as applied in smart contracts can help in the clarification of unclear fragmented investments in overseas property. First of all, this paper begins with the definition and examples of applying conventional and advanced blockchain technology and then describes the work of smart contracts and the comparison between regular contracts and smart contracts. The paper also evaluates the nature of fragmented investment in overseas property and its associated risks before suggesting the use of blockchain and smart contracts for a new institutional structure of the investment platform. This study demonstrates how the technologies can advance data sec, promote trust in transactions, and how investment can be automated. It can be concluded that blockchain technology, and smart contracts, can enhance Overseas Real Estate Investment by increasing transparency and decreasing the investment threshold as well as the instances of fraud. This study also presents an analysis of the potential difficulties that may be encountered in real-world applications and a recommendation of what may be done in subsequent studies. On one hand, this research offers a new perspective to the theoretical world, on the other hand, it offers practical problems and solutions to the practitioners who are a part of overseas real estate markets and businesses by steadily helping the overseas real estate markets to move in the fairer and more transparent direction.

Blockchain and drone technologies can operate in cooperation with each other. As the number of drones increases, managing them becomes a significant challenge. A swarm of drones, also referred to as swarm drones, must operate reliably and securely. In this study, blockchain technology is utilized through a smart contract to ensure both security and reliability. Swarm drones are deployed for surveillance missions, where each execution corresponds to a single mission. These missions are represented using a simple model. A smart contract maintains the essential mission data in the model. The mission is divided into smaller tasks. Until all the tasks are completed, they are executed by drones in parallel. The smart contract, implemented on the Ethereum platform, securely exchanges information with the drones. The proposed model functions dynamically. It reorganizes when drones leave or new drones join the system. Because blockchain platforms have limited resources, particularly in memory and the number of permissible execution operations, optimizations are applied to both the smart contract and drone programs to accommodate these constraints within the surveillance framework. The proposed surveillance model is implemented and simulated to analyze its dynamic behavior.

The benefits of smart contracts (SCs) for sustainable health care are a relatively recent topic that has gathered attention given its relationship with trust and the advantages of decentralization, immutability, and traceability introduced in health care. Nevertheless, more studies need to explore the role of SCs in this sector based on the frameworks propounded in the literature that reflect business logic that has been customized, automatized, and prioritized, as well as system trust. This study addressed this lacuna. This study aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding of SCs in health care based on reviewing the frameworks propounded in the literature. A structured literature review was performed based on the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) principles. One database-Web of Science (WoS)-was selected to avoid bias generated by database differences and data wrangling. A quantitative assessment of the studies based on machine learning and data reduction methodologies was complemented with a qualitative, in-depth, detailed review of the frameworks propounded in the literature. A total of 70 studies, which constituted 18.7% (70/374) of the studies on this subject, met the selection criteria and were analyzed. A multiple correspondence analysis-with 74.44% of the inertia-produced 3 factors describing the advances in the topic. Two of them referred to the leading roles of SCs: (1) health care process enhancement and (2) assurance of patients' privacy protection. The first role included 6 themes, and the second one included 3 themes. The third factor encompassed the technical features that improve system efficiency. The in-depth review of these 3 factors and the identification of stakeholders allowed us to characterize the system trust in health care SCs. We assessed the risk of coverage bias, and good percentages of overlap were obtained-66% (49/74) of PubMed articles were also in WoS, and 88.3% (181/205) of WoS articles also appeared in Scopus. This comprehensive review allows us to understand the relevance of SCs and the potentiality of their use in patient-centric health care that considers more than technical aspects. It also provides insights for further research based on specific stakeholders, locations, and behaviors.

Purpose This study presents a systematic literature review of halal food (HF) customer behaviour using the Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases. This study aims to identify trends, methodologies, theoretical developments and determinants of HF customer behaviour in Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as potential future research directions. Design/methodology/approach This study extends the bibliometric and systematic literature review covering all variables in customers purchasing HF by extracting the Scopus and WoS databases. We used the SLR method via the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) model. A total of 43 samples related to customer behaviour towards HF articles were identified and reviewed. Findings This study found 43 articles discussing variables or factors that influence consumers’ behaviour towards HF in Indonesia and Malaysia. Quantitative methods and extended TPB theory are most widely used to measure the determinants of customer behaviour towards HFs. Religiosity, attitude, halal awareness and trust are the most dominant factors that significantly influence customer behaviour towards HF. This study suggests several potential future research directions. Research limitations/implications The HF industry, marketers and governments in Indonesia and Malaysia must ensure that their products meet consumer expectations by implementing halalan thayyiban and strengthening HF marketing strategies based on halal-labelled food. Originality/value This study is the first to examine the factors determining customer behaviour towards HF in Indonesia and Malaysia using a systematic literature review method from Scopus and the WoS database.

The purpose of the research is to investigate the implementation of blockchains (BCs) and smart contracts (SCs) in smart tourism. BCs and SCs in the context of tourism are underexplored. Data were collected and analysed from relevant secondary sources in extensive desktop research between January and August 2018. The results highlight some implemented examples of BCs and SCs in tourism and few that are still in probation phase. The findings are interesting for tourism policy-makers, professionals, academics and tourism suppliers who are interested in real value added of BCs and SCs in tourism.

Blockchain technology and its applications are gaining popularity day by day. It is a ground-breaking technology that allows users to communicate without the need of a trusted middleman. A smart contract (self-executable code) is deployed on the blockchain and auto executes due to a triggering condition. In a no-trust contracting environment, smart contracts can establish trust among parties. Terms and conditions embedded in smart contracts will be imposed immediately when specified criteria have been fulfilled. Due to this, the malicious assailants have a special interest in smart contracts. Blockchains are immutable means if some transaction is deployed or recorded on the blockchain, it becomes unalterable. Thus, smart contracts must be analyzed to ensure zero security vulnerabilities or flaws before deploying the same on the blockchain because a single vulnerability can lead to the loss of millions. For analyzing the security vulnerabilities of smart contracts, various analysis tools have been developed to create safe and secure smart contracts. This paper presents a systematic review on Ethereum smart contracts analysis tools. Initially, these tools are categorized into static and dynamic analysis tools. Thereafter, different sources code analysis techniques are studied such as taint analysis, symbolic execution, and fuzzing techniques. In total, 86 security analysis tools developed for Ethereum blockchain smart contract are analyzed regardless of tool type and analysis approach. Finally, the paper highlights some challenges and future recommendations in the field of Ethereum smart contracts.

<p>Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) has been a key part of evolving communication systems in the last few years. However, the life-cycle management of Virtual Network Functions (VNF) is still a not trivial task. Blockchains (BC), due to their decentralization and immutability characteristics, together with the automation provided by Smart Contracts (SC), can be employed to enable such automated and trustworthy VNF management.Thus, this paper proposes VeNiCE to automate the deployment and life-cycle management of VNFs using events emitted on SCs. VeNiCE provides automation and auditability by relying on a BC to provide a decentralized approach for VNF management, which performs management actions, such as VNF deployment and deletion, and based on events and communicates with an SC to provide immutable logging of the VNF life-cycle. VeNiCE provides (i) a frontend for user interaction, (ii) a backend implementing the communication with the NFV framework, and (iii) an SC that emits events, stores VNF allocations, and authenticates users. A prototype of VeNiCE was developed and deployed in the Ethereum BC using OpenStack Tacker as an NFV platform. Experiments were conducted in a real-world deployment of such a prototype to analyze the economic costs of using SCs and the time required to process requests by each component of VeNiCE and the BC. Those results obtained show VeNiCE’s feasibility, highlight its benefits achieved with the automation and provide insights on reducing costs by exploring additional BC platforms and different deployment types, which introduce centralization and management concerns.</p>

In some liberal democracies, governments allow people to legally own guns to protect their lives and property. However, gun crime has been increasing in recent years. Taking the United States, for example, a report pointed out that Americans are 10 times more likely to be shot than citizens of other countries. Murder using guns in the United States is 25 times more than that in the other 22 high-income countries. Most of these guns came from other cities. These illegally circulating guns are directly linked to deadly street violence. This means that effective firearm management can reduce deadly violence. In the past few years, Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) technology was often used to track the supply chain. However, in the traditional supply chain, only the participants of the supply chain can query information. Furthermore, only the participants can verify the correctness of the data. This result causes information to be not transparent. On the other hand, blockchain technology, with a unique combination of features such as distributed notes, decentralized structure, consensus algorithm, storage mechanism, asymmetric encryption, and smart contract, ensures network visibility, transparency, and security. Therefore, we combine blockchain and RFID technology to propose a traceable firearm management system based on blockchain and Internet of Things (IoT) technology. The proposed method achieves several goals. First of all, the characteristic data through the blockchain can be publicly verified and the information will not be modified. The traceability of the data and the application of RFID can effectively manage the production chain. In addition, we used Burrows–Abadi–Needham logic (BAN logic) logic to prove mutual authentication, and the nonrepudiation and integrity method can also be achieved in our proposed scheme.

Introduction: Although blockchain technology and smart contracts are garnering attention in various sectors, their applications and familiarity within the realm of radiology remain largely unexplored. Blockchain, a decentralized digital ledger technology, offers secure, transparent, and resilient data management by distributing the verification process across a network of independent entities. This decentralized technology presents a possible solution for a range of healthcare challenges, from secure data transfer to automated verification processes. To address such challenges in the context of medical imaging, blockchain could provide different approaches, including smart contracts, machine learning algorithms, and the secure dissemination of large files among key stakeholders such as patients, healthcare providers, and institutions. This manuscript aims to explore the current attitudes and perspectives of trainees and radiologists to the utilization of blockchain technology and smart contracts in clinical radiology. Additionally, the study provides an in-depth analysis of the potential applications for incorporating blockchain into radiology.Methods: After obtaining The George Washington University Committee on Human Research Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, we conducted a 10-question survey among radiologists and trainees at several institutions and private practices. Surveys were created via the Google Forms application and were emailed to potential participants. Participants were asked about their current academic level (medical student, resident/fellow, academic radiologist, private practice radiologist, others), their knowledge level about the field of imaging informatics and blockchain and smart contract technologies, their level of interest in learning more about blockchain and smart contracts, and their opinion about possible applications of blockchain and smart contract in the future of medical imaging.Results: A total of 118 survey requests were distributed; 83 were returned, reflecting a 70.3% overall response rate. Of these, 19 were sent to private practices with a 15.8% response rate (3/19), and 99 to academic centers, yielding an 80.8% response rate (80/99). The survey respondents demonstrated a strong interest and need to further understand these technologies among radiologists and trainees. This study focuses on key components of this technology as it relates to healthcare and the practice of radiology, including data storage, patient care, secure communication, and automation, as well as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis.Discussion: To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate and establish a baseline for the current perspectives on the application of blockchain technology and smart contracts in clinical radiology amongst trainees and radiologists across academic and private settings. Incorporating blockchain and smart contracts technologies into the field of radiology has the potential to achieve greater efficiency, security, and patient empowerment. However, the adoption of this technology comes with challenges, such as infrastructure, interoperability, scalability, and regulatory compliance. Collaboration between radiologists, hospital administration, policymakers, technology developers, and patient advocacy organizations will help guide and advance our understanding of the potential applications of blockchain and smart contracts in radiology and healthcare.

In recent years, there have been frequent cases of impact on the stable development of supply chain economy caused by uncertain events such as COVID-19 and extreme weather events. The creation, management, and impact coping techniques of the supply chain economy now face wholly novel requirements as a result of the escalating level of global uncertainty. Although a significant literature applies uncertainty analysis and optimization modeling (UAO) to study supply chain management (SCM) under uncertainty, there is a lack of systematic literature review and research classification. Therefore, in this paper, 121 articles published in 44 international academic journals between 2015 and 2022 are extracted from the Web of Science database and reviewed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Bibliometric analysis and CiteSpace software are used to identify current developments in the field and to summarize research characteristics and hot topics. The selected published articles are classified and analyzed by author name, year of publication, application area, country, research purposes, modeling methods, research gaps and contributions, research results, and journals to comprehensively review and evaluate the SCM in the application of UAO. We find that UAO is widely used in SCM under uncertainty, especially in the field of decision-making, where it is common practice to abstractly model the decision problem to obtain scientific decision results. This study hopes to provide an important and valuable reference for future research on SCM under uncertainty. Future research could combine uncertainty theory with supply chain management segments (e.g., emergency management, resilience management, and security management), behavioral factors, big data technologies, artificial intelligence, etc.

Blockchain technology integration alongside artificial intelligence (AI) offers significant potential for advancing supply chain management by addressing long-standing challenges such as data security, transparency and traceability. In accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology, this systematic literature review examines the combined contributions of blockchain and AI to supply chain efficiency. By conducting structured and comprehensive searches in the Scopus and Web of Science databases, 22 relevant studies discussing the intersection of blockchain and AI within supply chain contexts were identified for detailed analysis. The findings indicate that the integration of blockchain technology and AI serves as a key driver in enhancing the transparency and security of real-time data shared and retrieved among stakeholders. The blockchain’s decentralized nature enables immutable, verifiable ledgers that improve traceability and reduce data asymmetry. In parallel, AI has advanced capabilities, allowing for predictive analytics, demand forecasting, and intelligent decision-making. However, challenges such as technical complexity and high implementation costs hinder broader adoption. Despite these advantages, the combined application of blockchain and AI holds considerable promise for transforming supply chains, reducing inefficiencies, and encouraging innovation. This review offers insights for researchers and practitioners seeking to leverage these technologies to increase resilience, security, and operational efficiency in supply chains.

Given the growing increase in the number of blockchain (BC) platforms, cryptocurrencies, and tokens, non-technical individuals face a complex question when selecting a BC that meets their requirements (e.g., performance or security). In addition, current approaches that aid such a selection process present drawbacks (e.g., require specific BC knowledge or are not automated and scalable), which hinders the decision process even further. Fortunately, techniques such as Machine Learning (ML) allow the creation of selection models without human interaction by identifying the BC features that match the requirements provided by the user in an automated and flexible manner. Thus, this work presents the design and implementation of an ML-based BC selection approach that employs five ML models to select the most suitable BC given user requirements (e.g., BC popularity, fast block inclusion, or Smart Contract - SC support). The approach follows an ML-specific data flow and defines a novel equation to quantify the popularity of a BC. Furthermore, it details the models’ accuracy and functionality in two distinct use cases, which shows their good accuracy (>85%). Finally, discussions on (a) the ML usefulness, (b) advantages over rule-based systems, and (c) the most relevant features for the BC selection are presented.