This thesis introduces blockchain, the underlying technology of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, and discusses how best to conceptualize it relative to other technologies. Following an explanation of the fundamentals of blockchain, also known as the distributed ledger, I identify the characteristics of the technology. Building upon blockchain’s inherent strengths and limitations, I explore potential business applications of blockchain. Finally, I recommend that leaders continue to track the development and adoption of blockchain technology, even if they decide that implementing it does not align with their organization’s strategy at present.
Cecilia Anthony Das, Krishna Prasad, Shibley Sadique
This paper seeks to review the current regulatory regime governing cryptocurrencies, namely Bitcoin, in United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Singapore, and traces the regulatory trend in those identified countries. These developments are compared to the Australian context. From the comparative analysis conducted be-tween regimes available in other jurisdictions and those in Australia, the authors conclude that the Australian regulatory regime in relation to cryptocurrency, in particular Bitcoin, are comparable in some respects and in others are much progressive. This is specifically in light of the 2017 amendments relating to anti-money laundering legislation which places Australia as a strong forerunner to legislate on Bitcoin and anti-money laundering legislation. However, to successfully achieve this, Australia must address its lag in relation to the classification of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency respectively. As such, it is concluded that the regulatory regime of cryptocurrency both internationally and at the Australian level is far from satisfactory.
The use of Internet of Things devices is an integral part of our modern society. Communication with internet of things devices is secured with asymmetric key encryption that is handled by the centralized certificate authority infrastructure. The emerging Blockchain technology now provides a safe way to change ownership of digital resources through a decentralized system that challenges the traditional centralized view of trust in digital systems. This project studies the security of building public key infrastructures and access communication protocols on Blockchain technology for IoT devices. An informal cryptographic analysis that used proof by contradiction showed that it is cryptographically safe to build Blockchain based Public Key Infrastructures. The analysed Blockchain based public key infrastructure was implemented with smart contracts and tested on the Ethereum platform along with a dynamic access control protocol ensuring dynamic authentication and distributed logging. The project also concluded that advancements in the software clients of nodes are required before Blockchain can be used in Internet of Things devices. This is due to the high storage demands required by currently available nodes.
The recent surge in renewable energy in the distribution grid could transform the generation side to be more variable, which potentially reduces power quality. This technical local challenge could be compensated by introducing a market solution, which could be realised in the form of a local energy market. Such markets requires a comprehensive infrastructure, where a centralised database solution traditionally have been used. However, blockchain technology have lately been presented as a possible preferable alternative. Blockchain is a decentralised communication platform, which logs all information in a structured and tamper-proof manner. This design makes it potentially suitable for operating a local energy market. However, there have not been performed a lot of research on the feasibility of developing local energy markets using blockchain technology. This will be therefore be the focus of this thesis, where a technical, economic and regulatory analysis are performed.\n\nThis thesis address this feasibility by developing a complex local energy market, deploying this on a test blockchain and analyse the results. The market consists of three unique trading mechanisms, where all explores the benefits of flexible loads. These trading mechanisms are then represented as blockchain applications, and simulated over a range of scenarios. The results illustrate a proof of concept, in addition to measure the usage of computational resources of operating blockchain applications.\n\nThe market simulation proved the technical feasibility of running several complex mechanisms in a blockchain environment, with an integrated payment solution. The observed computational resource consumption of the market revealed that a complex real time trading with 600 nodes and a trading frequency of 5 minutes requires a blockchain that can process 10.2 standard Ethereum transactions per second. This is considered to be possible for a modern blockchain protocol to process. The blockchain application design is also analysed, where it is identified how applications should be designed in order to lower the resulting computational consumption. In result, this thesis identifies blockchain technology as suited to operate a local energy market, without significant negative computational consequences. \n\nRegarding the economical feasibility, such a solution is considered to be more expensive than a database solution when it comes to development costs. However, a blockchain solution presents new market possibilities, which could result in a more efficient market, and hence be more economically beneficial. Regarding a regulatory analysis, the Norwegian energy market regulations presents several challenges towards decentralised local energy markets. However, the technology behind blockchain could provide arguments for changing these regulations, and hence make it possible for end users to participate actively in an energy market.
Stefano Balbo, Guido Boella, Alex Cordero, Diego Di · 8 authors
We present Co-City, an Urban Innovative Action project funded by the European Commission.Co-City proposes a collaborative management of urban commons to counteract poverty and socio-spatial polarization through the combined use of different actions.In particular, we are developing a Proof of Concept based on distributed ledger technology that enables the development of local economy models.
DI-fusion, le Dépôt institutionnel numérique de l'ULB, est l'outil de référencementde la production scientifique de l'ULB.L'interface de recherche DI-fusion permet de consulter les publications des chercheurs de l'ULB et les thèses qui y ont été défendues.
Economy Informatics Vol 18 No. 1/2018 CONTENTS Goalkeeper Analytics Using a Wearable Embedded System Bogdan IANCU 5 The aim of this research is to identify the main metrics linked to soccer goalkeeping that can be computed by using a small embedded device. Based on the identified KPIs, a prototype is created by using an old Android phone in order to compute them based on the values of the three sensors related to positioning: accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer. In the final part of this paper, the obtained results are validated in a real case scenario by comparing the values of computed KPIs against some baseline values. The baseline values are extracted from the video recording of the trainings where the goalkeepers used our wearable embedded system. By constructing a cheap and small version of our prototype, we can help small soccer teams to understand and use data to better train their goalkeepers. Keywords: Sport Analytics, Embedded System, IoT, Wearables A scalable architecture for automated monitoring of microservices Radu BONCEA, Alin ZAMFIROIU, Ioan BACIVAROV 13 In this paper we propose an architecture for monitoring microservices by logging key performance metrics at both system and application levels. By using advanced analytics algorithms we can then classify the events in microservice's behaviour and automate the decision processes, thus improving the overall reliability and security. We will be using Prometheus for storing short-live metrics, OpenTSDB for long term retention and RabbitMQ for passing structured messages between various IT components which orchestrate the collection of our microservices. Keywords: Microservice, Distributed Arhitecture, Monitoring, Complexity IT Agile Transformation Cristian Gabriel OLTEANU 23 The paper presents a case study on knowledge management for IT Agile adaptation, based on organizational changes. It includes discussions about future knowledge management challenges and favorable circumstances within Agile transformation process in terms of its pre-requisites. As shown in the research results, the entire organization was impacted by adopting Agile as a project management approach. The conclusions point out some of the most important pre-requisites for Agile transformation, such as: training and workshops, implication of Agile experts, support and effectiveness, establishment of community practice and learning organizational culture. Nevertheless, the endless learning process as a part of the learning organizational culture, was the biggest Agile challenge within companies transformation, which is like a journey without a final destination, always having to adapt to changes. Keywords: Agile implementation, project management, IT organizational change, Agile methods The Way of Cryptocurrency Mircea Constantin ȘCHEAU, Pop Ștefan ZAHARIE 32 Cryptocurrency market is estimated at several hundred billion dollars. The number of digital coins has exceeded the threshold of one thousand, each day appearing or disappearing some of them. Volatility, the difficulty in practical operation, high cost, associated risk and particular complexity make it quite difficult to choose one of the products without adequate counseling. Proponents of new technologies presents relevant arguments, while the appellants their call attention to the potential hazards/dangers to which expose themselves the investors. Reality offers us a spectrum that combines measures to limit the phenomenon development with the recognition and support from national and international organisms from which, however, is expected to adopt a joint position on the approach. Born at the end of the first decade of the second millennium, cryptocurrency has begun and continues to raise the interest of financial markets in general and specialized institutions in particular.
Creating standardized infrastructures for new technologies has become a frequent event in recent years, forcing competing firms to together collaborate in order to develop and mutually agree on a common standard. This is due to technologies such as blockchain (distributed ledger) technology that need interoperability to reach its full potential, making the collaboration aspect crucial for organizations that want to adapt to the technology. Therefore, this study’s purpose is to identify and analyze the challenges of creating such a standardized infrastructure. A case study was used to analyze these challenges, which involved experts of blockchain technology and three Nordic banks connected to the blockchain consortium R3. First, a pre-study took place with the help of blockchain experts, who helped identify potential problems regarding blockchain (distributed ledger) technology. Secondly, a main study was conducted consisting of four interviews with key persons representing the banks, in addition to collecting secondary data via news articles, and press releases. With the help of co-opetition theory and a technical description of blockchain (distributed ledger) technology, an analytical model was developed to support the analysis of the data collection. The analysis focus on aspects of co-opetition drivers, co-opetition capabilities, co-opetition dynamics and blockchain aspects, which were used to showcase the challenges of collaborating on creating a standardized infrastructure. The result of this study highlights the importance of learning and educational aspects, the size of a cooperation and threats from other competing solutions, which generates challenges. In addition to the identified challenges, this study has also contributed to an understanding of how these aspects can come to affect a collaboration.
Foteini Baldimtsi, Stefan Katzenbeisser, Volkmar Lotz, Edgar Weippl
This report documents the Dagstuhl seminar 18152 "Blockchains, Smart Contracts & Future Applications". While Bitcoin currently works well in practice, there are many open questions regarding the long-term perspective of blockchain technologies, for both public and private/permissioned blockchains. It is yet unclear how processes can be designed to work in predictive ways and how to embed security in the lifecycle of smart contract development and deployment. Furthermore, the distributed nature of the system needs to be considered when thinking about which groups or individuals can influence future developments. Similar to 'real-world' societies, blockchains are based on mutual recognition of conventions. Diverse academic disciplines as well as industry can and need to collaborate to advance research in blockchain and to fully understand how the technology might impact our future lives.
The purpose of this thesis was to investigate and study the various issues faced by educational and technological researchers while raising the funds for their respective projects and the issues faced by the fund’s providers. Multiple existing traditional fundraising platforms were identified, and their advantages and disadvantages were studied to check if it was suitable for educational and technological researchers to carry on their funding campaign using the existing platforms. Finally, the goal was to develop a decentralized research funding application which would replace the existing traditional methods of raising funds by providing the researchers the ability to create a fundraising campaign on Ethereum blockchain while ensuring the transparent and auditable usage of the funds provided for the development of the project by the stakeholders.\n\nThe research funding application was developed and deployed to Ethereum blockchain. During the development process, the technologies used were Solidity, HTML, CSS, Javascript and React. The requirements for the Minimum Viable Product of the research funding application were finalized and the project was implemented by following the Waterfall software development model. \n\nAs a result, the requirements set for the research funding application were accomplished and the application was deployed to the blockchain and can be accessed by the general public. Furthermore, additional features such as the ability to create and manage multiple funding campaigns by a single entity were also developed successfully.
Internet of Things (IoT) means that physical objects will be able to interact and communicate via embedded systems. This will lead to a distributed network of devices that can communicate with both humans and each other. One application area is in improving supply chain management. The goal in supply chains is to move a product or a service from the producer to the customer as efficient as possible. Implementation of IoT will have many benefits but it also raises security issues that can affect integrity, security and privacy for both individuals and companies. In 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto created bitcoin and more importantly, blockchain. Blockchain is a ledger of facts, data is not stored in only one network with a common processor, but it is distributed among all the clients on the network. This technology may be a solution to some problems that IoT are facing. This paper looks into up to date research of blockchain and IoT with the purpose to study blockchain as a potential solution to secure IoT data management within supply chains. Both blockchain and IoT are relatively new research areas with little existing research, which support our use of a qualitative inductive method. Semi-structured interviews, which will be further explained in the methodology section, have been conducted with people working within the fields of blockchain, IoT and supply chain. The result indicates that blockchain can be used to secure data management within any given supply chain that uses IoT technology, but blockchain should be seen as a tool, and not as a complete solution. Many of the security issues within IoT are related to the devices and blockchain will not be able to provide a solution to these problems. Blockchain can however be used for handling information, securing identities, traceability of goods, transactions being made without human interaction, automated storage management and time stamped actions to name some examples. There are still barriers to make these benefits work in reality but there is a lot of research currently on-going, trying to make it happen.
A blockchain is an open, decentralized ledger that provides a cryptographically secure way of \ntransacting without the need of trusted third parties. The technology has garnered a variety \nof claims and perceptions regarding the future of financial institutions. Originally introduced \nto circumvent the incumbent financial intermediaries, blockchain technology has increasingly \nattracted interest from the very institutions that it was meant to replace. \nIn this exploratory study, we seek to analyze the impact of blockchain technology on the \ncurrent market infrastructure by conducting a literature review and in-depth interviews with \nexperts and stakeholders from the financial industry. Our findings suggest that smart contracts \ncan automate and potentially decentralize a variety of transactions. Moreover, the \nintroduction of initial coin offerings has brought about a new means of peer-to-peer fundraising \nin a space previously dominated by venture capital firms, but financial intermediation \nwill likely remain to support the effective functioning of financial markets by resolving information \nasymmetry. \nFurthermore, we find that the distributed and immutable nature of blockchain technology \nprovides a robust and secure infrastructure by increasing the integrity of data. This will interconnect \ninstitutions across financial markets by streamlining settlement- and verification \nprocesses and potentially expanding global financial services in ways previously neglected. \nThe foundation of the financial system will, however, remain. We have considered various \naspects such as regulatory concerns and market designs to unfold the extent of potential \ngains and limitations provided by blockchain technology. \nWe conclude that there are yet many unknowns with respect to the extent and speed with \nwhich blockchain technology will impact financial services and intermediation. However, \nthe technology will improve efficiency in current infrastructures, as well as facilitate new \ndecentralized ways of transacting.
In our current society both the demand for electricity is increasing and the demand for electrical energy as energy carrier is increasing. Renewable sources will play an important role in future energy generation due to societal developments. These distributed energy resources introduce new challenges to our current electrical power system. One of these challenges imposed on our current electrical power system is the introduction of a new grid user, the prosumer, who consumes and produces electrical energy. Another challenge is the intermittent nature of renewable sources such as solar and wind energy. During the past year Blockchain gained momentum as a technology mainly through the evolving industry of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether. Application of the Blockchain to the electrical power system could oer solutions to some of these challenges that the future electrical power system will face. The main goal of this thesis is to identify the opportunities, advantages and technical challenges of applying the Blockchain to the electrical power system. First, as part of the literature study the Blockchain has been studied and the operation of the Blockchain has been analyzed. The Blockchain has been dened as a collective of technologies that can be described as a database, which is distributed among a peer to peer network, combined with securitization elements relying on multiple cryptographic technologies. Second, the opportunities where the Blockchain could be applied in the current electrical power system were identied. In order to study the application of the Blockchain to the electrical power system four case studies have been introduced. These case studies dierentiate themselves in the level of adoption of the Blockchain and the functionality which could be provided to the electrical power system. Ranging from a local peer to peer trading infrastructure to the entire market being operated via the Blockchain with advanced features such as the control of power ows. Third, the various advantages of applying the Blockchain to the electrical power system have been explored based on the proposed case studies. A distinction has been made between advantages which are inherently linked to the characteristics of the Blockchain and the provided functionality to the electrical power system. Fourth, the challenges of applying the Blockchain to the electrical power system have been analyzed and discussed. Based on the dierent case studies a segregation has been made between challenges attributable to the characteristics of the Blockchain and challenges specically linked to the implementation of the case studies. Last, the practical application of the Blockchain to the electrical power system of the dierent case studies have been discussed. Explanation is given how the dierent case studies could be implemented within the electrical power system and what the role will be of dierent parties currently involved within the electrical power system.<br/>
We develop a dynamic asset-pricing model of cryptocurrencies/tokens that allow users to conduct peer-to-peer transactions on digital platforms. The equilibrium value of tokens is determined by aggregating heterogeneous users' transactional demand rather than discounting cashflows as in standard valuation models. Endogenous platform adoption builds upon user network externality and exhibits an S-curve-it starts slow, becomes volatile, and eventually tapers off. Introducing tokens lowers users' transaction costs on the platform by allowing users to capitalize on platform growth. The resulting intertemporal feedback between user adoption and token price accelerates adoption and dampens user-base volatility.