Intellectual Property has been a classic and time-tested pillar of economic growth, an innovation engine, and a generator for creativity, and technological advancement. However, the 21st century marks the dawn of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, one where the physical, digital, and biological worlds come together.This technological revolution, fuelled by breakthroughs in AI, blockchain, and decentralized economies, has spawned revolutionary shifts in the production, monetization, and taxation of intellectual property.In 2025 and beyond, traditional IPR thinking will be disrupted by the advent of a new generation of intangible assets in the form of inventions created by AI and holographic trademarks, virtual property, and non-fungible tokens. Not only do they disrupt the ownership legal regimes, but also exert pressure on the old tax systems built during the industrial age. While these intangible assets become the centre of the global economy, the existing tax systems lack the capability to manage the complexities of the digital era.We examine in this paper the challenges posed in the taxing intellectual property regime in India and the possible solutions. As the internet and metaverse grow, there is an urgent need to reexamine Indian taxation laws in taxing intangibleproperty like taxation in IPR.
This article examines how the blockchain technology reshapes the traditional contract-property divide in private law, leveraging on the peculiar features of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation. <br/>Building on foundational doctrinesâin rem rights, the numerus clausus principle, and third-party noticeâwe show that blockchain enables the creation of de facto property entitlements, including exclusivity and enforceability <br/>against subsequent transferees, without State involvement or adherence to traditional publicity requirements. We label this phenomenon âtokenising property.â Through illustrative examples, such as NFT royalties, we show how <br/>on-chain entitlements may override or bypass the allocation of rights under existing property regimes, raising coordination and enforcement challenges. Using a transaction cost framework, we assess the conditions under which <br/>tokenizing property can deliver efficiency gains and when it generates new frictions. Finally, we argue that blockchain regulation rather than private law reforms can reassert control over this new form of property by intervening directly in the technical layer of blockchain systems. This may help in ensuring consistency between tokenised entitlements and the broader legal order, as illustrated by the EU Data Act and the Liechtenstein Blockchain Act.
Ioannis Tzannetos, Danai Balla, Aris Pagourtzis, Vassilios Vescoukis
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have created vibrant digital marketplaces where unique assets are exchanged across domains such as art, gaming, and music. While current infrastructures are optimized for pairwise, currency-backed trades, they provide limited support for multi-party swaps of indivisible assets based on user preferences. In practice, liquidity is not always desirableâparticipants may wish to exchange directly for assets they deem equally valuable, bypassing auctions or currency markets. In this paper, we propose BarterSwap, a protocol to address this gap by leveraging the Top Trading Cycles (TTC) algorithm to enable efficient multi-party NFT exchanges on Ethereum. Our protocol identifies preference-based dependencies among users and executes swaps without requiring external liquidity. We implement and deploy our solution on the Ethereum blockchain, demonstrating that it remains practical for a reasonably large number of participants. Finally, we release our implementation publicly and provide a detailed cost analysis, offering a concrete path toward fair and efficient preference-based NFT exchanges.
The growth of decentralized data ecosystems has increased the need for transparent and traceable contract agreements between organizations. Although the Eclipse Dataspace Components offer a flexible, open-source framework for sovereign data exchange, they present limitations in terms of end-to-end transparency and traceability of these agreements. This thesis explores how blockchain technologies, specifically smart contracts and tokenized assets, can enhance the Eclipse Dataspace Components to address these limitations. We introduce a model in which contract agreements are represented as non-fungible tokens. These tokens represent uniquely identifiable off-chain contracts whose state changes are immutably recorded on the blockchain. This allows for contract life-cycle monitoring and tamper-proof traceability across dataspace participants. The implementation includes a custom ERC-721 smart contract deployed on the Sepolia Testnet, as well as a decentralized application that connects its functionality to the Eclipse Dataspace Components. The evaluation is conducted using a Minimum Viable Dataspace hosted on two separate servers, representing one data provider and one data consumer. The evaluation demonstrates that agreements based on smart contracts significantly improve transparency and traceability while maintaining data sovereignty. Overall, the results show that blockchain-based contract agreements build trust without modifying the existing workflows of the Eclipse Dataspace Components. This provides a viable path toward the management of trustworthy and sovereign contracts in future dataspaces.
This paper examines three paradigms of cooperative intelligence in computing: parallel processing, distributed computing, and multi-agent orchestration. Each paradigm has a distinct architectural logic, a distinct set of tradeoffs, and a distinct counterpart in the collective behavior of biological systems. The hive mind concept, understood not as a single model but as a spectrum of collective organization, provides the organizing framework for comparing all three. Parallel processing, characterized by its tightly coupled, shared-memory architecture, is the computational equivalent of a unified hive: a system that achieves emergent intelligence through massive, synchronized coordination, prioritizing raw speed and coherent state. Distributed computing, with its loosely coupled, distributed-memory model, reflects a decentralized swarm in which autonomous units operating under local rules produce scalable, fault-tolerant collective behavior without centralized control. Multi-agent orchestration corresponds to a third biological archetype, the coordinated superorganism: a system in which role-specialized agents communicate through explicit protocols to accomplish tasks beyond the reach of any individual unit or undifferentiated collective. These three paradigms are not sequential stages of development. They are distinct architectural choices, each optimized for a different class of problem, and each present in current production AI systems. The most capable systems in deployment today combine all three, using tightly coupled GPU infrastructure for model training, federated or distributed networks for privacy-preserving inference, and orchestrated agent teams for complex multi-step workflows. Understanding where each paradigm excels, where it fails, and how the biological analogy that illuminates its structure eventually reaches its limits is the central focus of this analysis. The final section addresses those limits directly, arguing that the hive mind framework is a productive lens for architectural design but must not be extended to prescribe how machine cognition operates at the execution layer.
The Hamiltonian cycle problem is a well-known NP-complete problem in graph theory. This problem relates to lots of practical problems such as designing very large scale integration (VLSI) and travel-ling salesman problem (TSP). Since it is NP-complete, there is no efficient algorithm to solve the Hamiltonian cycle problem, and hence, its solution is valuable. In this paper, we propose new physical zero-knowledge proof protocols for the Hamiltonian cycle problem, whereby an entity can prove its knowledge of a solution to another entity without leaking any information about the valuable solution. Our protocols are more efficient than the previous protocols. We also propose a physical zero-knowledge proof protocol for TSP, one of whose building blocks is a new representation of an integer commitment with a secure addition protocol.
Barbara Bigliardi, Virginia Dolci, Alberto Petroni, Benedetta Pini
How are digital technologies transforming public sector supply chains, and what factors condition their effectiveness? Despite the growing interest in this domain, the literature remains fragmented, with a lack of longitudinal studies, citizen-centered evaluations, and cross-country comparisons. This study addresses these gaps through a systematic review of 71 Scopus-indexed articles, combining descriptive mapping with a keyword-based bibliometric analysis. The approach identifies consolidated and emerging themes, particularly within the âBusiness, Management and Accountingâ subject area, where methodological heterogeneity and limited generalizability persist. Findings reveal increasing scholarly attention to technologies such as blockchain, AI, and e-procurement, highlighting both operational modernization and newer concerns such as sustainability, digital governance, and decentralized finance. The paper contributes by structuring dispersed knowledge into a coherent framework, offering a roadmap for research and practical guidance for public administrators seeking value-driven digital transformation.
This technical report presents the reference implementation of Ternary Moral Logic (TML) within the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) ecosystem. It addresses the limitations of traditional "Code is Law" architectures by introducing a finite state machine that enforces a mandatory third stateâthe "Sacred Zero" or Epistemic Holdâallowing smart contracts to pause execution when pre-defined ethical conditions are unmet. The report moves beyond theoretical ethics to specify the Solidity design patterns, storage layouts, and cryptographic verification methods required to make TML enforcement non-bypassable and auditable. Key Technical Contributions: Finite State Machine (FSM): Implements a mandatory "Sacred Zero" state (State 0) that acts as an "Epistemic Hold," distinguishing between valid (1), invalid (-1), and uncertain (0) transaction states. Dual-Lane Latency Architecture: Defines a "Fast Lane" for synchronous, clear-cut transactions and a "Slow Lane" for ambiguous cases requiring governance or oracle resolution, preventing head-of-line blocking. Cryptographic Provenance: Utilizes EIP-712 typed data signing to bind off-chain AI/Oracle verdicts to on-chain execution, preventing replay attacks and ensuring distinct domain separation. Privacy Preservation: Integrates Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZK-SNARKS) to verify the execution of moral logic models without revealing sensitive input data or proprietary model weights ("Glass Box" architecture). Immutable Core Pattern: Rejects standard upgradeable proxy patterns in favor of an "Immutable Core" architecture to eliminate administrative "God Mode" and ensure constitutional constraints cannot be bypassed by key holders. Formal Verification: Demonstrates safety and liveness properties (e.g., "No Silent Pause," "Eventual Resolution") using TLA+ (Temporal Logic of Actions) to mathematically prove the system's robustness.
This paper challenges the conventional divide between productive and non-productive assets by proposing that scarcity, rather than internal cash flow generation, is the fundamental source of value across all asset classes. Interim payments such as dividends, rents, or coupons, represent one modality of monetizing scarcity, but terminal resale and other mechanisms serve equivalent roles. We develop a valuation framework in which scarcity is modeled as a latent, time-varying state variable shaped by economic pressures on demand and supply. A class of monetization functions, characterized by monotonicity and curvature, maps scarcity states into observable or forecast cash flows. This formulation allows discounted cash flow (DCF) logic to be reinterpreted as a general pricing mechanism for intertemporal scarcity. The framework accommodates both terminal-value assets, such as Bitcoin or gold, and income-generating assets, such as equities or bonds. We formally demonstrate the equivalence between terminal and periodic payoff structures and introduce a classification of assets according to their scarcity mechanism, whether physical, contractual, algorithmic, or reputational. By embedding scarcity at the core of valuation, this approach dissolves artificial distinctions in asset classification and establishes a unified foundation for pricing financial claims across diverse contexts.
Fricson Vinicio George Tenorio, Dalys Roxana Castro Bustamante, Mario Alfredo FernĂĄndez SolĂs
Local government administrative management faces increasing pressures in fiscal crisis scenarios, particularly in territories where reduced national transfers limit operational capacity and public service delivery. This study analyzes the administrative management models and local governance practices of the Municipal Decentralized Autonomous Government (GAD) of Arenillas, Ecuador, during the 2023â2024 period. Its purpose is to identify the main constraints, assess citizen perceptions of service quality, and propose institutional optimization strategies. A mixed-methods, descriptive, and cross-sectional design was used, integrating citizen surveys, semi-structured interviews with municipal officials, and documentary analysis of regulations, budgets, and institutional processes. Results show intermediate satisfaction levels regarding transparency, citizen participation, and administrative efficiency, alongside persistent bureaucratic practices, weaknesses in institutional communication, and limitations derived from fiscal reductions. Qualitative findings highlight gaps in technological modernization, limited process systematization, and weak alignment between planning and execution. These outcomes are contrasted with contemporary frameworks of New Public Management, digital government, and collaborative governance. The study concludes that strengthening organizational culture, expanding participatory mechanisms, digitalizing procedures, and improving inter-institutional coordination are key to consolidating efficient municipal management. The research provides contextualized evidence to guide local policy actions in settings characterized by fiscal constraints.
Fausto Daniel Santos Tapia, Luis Felipe TrĂĄvez GarcĂa
This article presents a comprehensive methodological proposal aimed at brand design and strategic brand management, using as a case study the academic outreach project between the University and the agricultural associations registered under the Decentralized Autonomous Government of Pichincha, distributed across its eight cantons. The proposed methodological approach is based on the active participation of graphic designers in collaborative processes with local communities, generating spaces for knowledge exchange, co-creation, and capacity building. This process seeks to develop a graphic system composed of visual identity, packaging, and a distinctive visual style that enhances the positioning of agricultural products in local and regional markets, integrating productive, cultural, and territorial attributes. This interaction not only promotes the recognition of ancestral knowledge and community practices but also enables social innovation processes driven by design. Thanks to its adaptable structure, the proposal is replicable in rural contexts. Its methodology, based on participatory design, contextual diagnosis, and the integration of local cultural narratives, can be adjusted to diverse productive and sociocultural dynamics. This flexibility enables its implementation by local governments and non-governmental organizations, aligning brand management with sustainable development goals and fostering a design culture committed to social transformation and communicational equity.
Adah Patrick Eneojo, Olorunmaiye Theophilus, Dr Emmanuel Bola Jonah K, Adah William Arome · 7 authors
Uptake of the Basic Minimum Package of Health Services (BMPHS) in Kogi State has been limited by supplyâside constraints, demandâside barriers, and placeâbased vulnerabilities concentrated in riverine and rural LGAs. The IMPACT rollout (2022â2025) combined Decentralized Facility Financing (DFF) with bundled Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) supports to strengthen facility responsiveness, stabilize commodities, and expand outreach. We used a quasiâexperimental, mixedâmethods design on a facilityâmonth DHIS2 panel (2019â2025; n = 96 PHCs). Quantitative inference triangulated three counterfactual generators: augmented twoâway fixedâeffects DifferenceâinâDifferences (DiD) for average effects, Interrupted Time Series (ITS) segmented regression to decompose immediate (level) and sustained (slope) impacts, and facilityâlevel counterfactuals via synthetic control and matrix completion for robustness. Multilevel mixedâeffects models estimated heterogeneity; causal mediation (bootstrap, 5,000 sims) quantified pathways (coldâchain uptime, outreach frequency, commodity availability). Qualitative interviews and supervision records explained fidelity and contextual moderators. Costing used activityâbased methods with probabilistic sensitivity analysis. DFF plus CQI produced both rapid operational gains and durable system strengthening. Primary policyârelevant estimates: DiD DPT3 +6.2 percentage points, ITS immediate level change αâ = +3.7pp, and ITS slope αâ = +0.12 pp/month. Mediation attributed ~41% of the DPT3 gain to improved coldâchain uptime; outreach and commodity availability explained large shares of ANC1 and IPTp3 gains. Results are robust across laggedâoutcome DiD, matrix completion, generalized synthetic control, eventâstudy checks, and autocorrelation corrections. Costâeffectiveness benchmarks show programâlevel ICERs consistent with high probability of value for money for composite BMPHS gains. To maximize equitable BMPHS gains, prioritize coldâchain resilience, predictable and timely disbursements, and earmarked outreach financing for highâenvironmentalârisk LGAs. Embed both the ITS level (αâ) and slope (αâ) as complementary KPIs in routine dashboards: αâ signals rapid operational fixes; αâ signals durable system strengthening. Scaleâup should pair DFF with CQI, protected commodity lines, and contextâsensitive outreach modalities to sustain and equitably distribute gains.
Aim: This study examines whether and how the disposition effect shapes Ethereum investorsâ selling decisions. It asks whether investors are more likely to realize gains than losses, whether this asymmetry strengthens during high-volatility periods, and whether it weakens around major protocol upgrades, including the Merge, Shapella, and Dencun. Methodology: The study builds a high-frequency address-day panel for 2020â2024 using public on-chain data and labeled centralized-exchange deposit clusters as conservative proxies for sell decisions. Rolling cost bases are reconstructed under FIFO and value-weighted rules, and unrealized gains and losses are linked to realized sales through discrete-time logit and Cox hazard models. The design also includes event windows and robustness checks. Findings: The framework is designed to identify three mechanisms: asymmetric realization of gains over losses, stronger gain realization under high volatility, and attenuation around major protocol-upgrade events. Implications: The study offers a transparent design for analyzing behavioral bias in crypto-asset markets with verifiable blockchain data. It is relevant to exchanges, regulators, and market designers concerned with investor behavior and risk management. Originality/value: The article extends behavioral finance to Ethereum by using public ledger data rather than brokerage records and by integrating behavioral bias, volatility regimes, and protocol events in one framework.
The advent of sufficiently powerful quantum computers poses an existential cryptographic threat to elliptic-curve-based public key infrastructure, upon which major blockchain networks depend for transaction security and identity. This paper conducts a rigorous comparative analysis of quantum risk exposure for Bitcoin and Ethereum, examining the structural, governance, and economic dimensions of post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) transition for each protocol. We analyze the mathematical incompatibility of leading NIST standardized PQC signature schemes with current blockchain scalability constraints, with particular attention to signature size inflation (30-100Ă current schemes), the loss of algebraic linearity preventing signature aggregation, and the resulting implications for block space, fee markets, node economics, and validator infrastructure. We subsequently contrast Ethereum's upgrade-oriented, stake-weighted governance model and its modular cryptographic architecture against Bitcoin's deliberately ossified, consensus-driven governance structure. Our findings indicate that while Ethereum possesses the structural and institutional prerequisites for a credible, phased transition to post-quantum cryptography, Bitcoin's governance model and architectural constraints render such a transition highly contested and potentially irresolvable without chain fragmentation. We conclude that Bitcoin's structural limitations, compounded by deep ideological fractures and the irreversible nature of PQC deployment, place it at significant risk of prolonged governance stagnation or chain split, undermining its position as a reliable store of value and 'digital gold' standard in the medium term.
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis dan membandingkan kinerja investasi Bitcoin, Ethereum, emas, dan Indeks LQ45 selama periode 2020-2024 dilihat dari sisi return, risiko, dan rasio Sharpe. Data yang digunakan merupakan harga penutupan bulanan yang diperoleh dari situs resmi investing.com. Metode analisis yang digunakan yaitu uji ANOVA dilanjutkan dengan uji lanjut post-hoc Tamhaneâs T2 dan Tukey HSD. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa secara agregat terdapat perbedaan return antar instrumen, namun perbedaan tersebut tidak signifikan secara statistik pada uji post-hoc. Risiko merupakan pembeda utama dalam perbandingan keempat instrumen, dengan Ethereum sebagai aset paling berisiko, disusul oleh Bitcoin, Indeks LQ45, dan emas sebagai aset paling stabil. Pada rasio Sharpe, hanya terdapat perbedaan antara aset Bitcoin dan Ethereum dengan Indeks LQ45, di mana Bitcoin dan Ethereum menunjukkan efisiensi kinerja lebih baik dalam menghasilkan return terhadap risiko dibanding Indeks LQ45.
This thesis investigates how GossipSub configuration choices influence data dissemination for a Data-Availability Sampling (DAS) workload under strict consensus time bounds. Using a configurable PeerSim-based simulator, we model a FullDAS-like setting in which a block producer erasure-codes a blob into a 2D extended matrix of share segments, parti- tions row/column segments into topics (custody-style sharding), and executes a two-phase workflow: seeding, where share segments are disseminated over topic meshes, and sampling, where validators must retrieve uniformly random share segments within a T_DAS = 4 s deadline. We systematically vary topic granularity (TOPICS), segmentation (segment amount, SA), replication (K-copies), bandwidth caps, and omission fault rate α, and measure phase success rates, completion-time distributions (with emphasis on tail latency), bandwidth consumption, and duplication overhead. The results show that segmentation and replication dominate performance and overhead: increasing SA from coarse to moderate values reduces duplication with diminishing returns beyond SA â 1-16, while larger K increases redundancy and overhead and mainly provide a robustness margin under adverse conditions. Seeding completes quickly and remains resilient for SAâ„ 4 even at high omission, whereas sampling is tail-latency dominated and degrades more sharply as α increases, leading to widespread deadline misses near α = 0.5. Based on these findings, we adopt TOPICS= 256, SA= 8, K = 4, and a conservative per-node bandwidth cap of 60 Mbit/s for faulted multi-slot experiments to isolate GossipSub dynamics from bandwidth saturation.
The swift expansion of IoT devices in smart cities demands decentralized and open systems of attentive exchange of assets in automotive supply chains. Nevertheless, the majority of the available blockchain-based solutions are focused on traceability and ignore scalability, conditional payment automation, and real-time IoT verification. To overcome those pitfalls, the research proposes a Blockchain-based framework implemented on Hyperledger Fabric, incorporating Non-Fungible Tokens, and escrow-based smart contracts, to facilitate verifiable, automated vehicle transactions. The payment is conditionally released, and the vehicle is represented as a discrete NFT that undergoes authenticated release under Fabric Certificate Authority with escrow verification. Sub-millisecond latency (0.0003 s), constant throughput, and minimal computational cost experimentally verify the effectiveness of the framework in terms of its efficiency, privacy, and scalability in the efficient and autonomous exchange of assets in next-generation smart cities.
The rapid increase in fraudulent reproduction and misuse of digital certificates has become a critical concern for organizations and institutions worldwide. Fake or tampered certificates are often used to obtain employment in domains where individuals lack the required qualifications, thereby compromising organizational credibility and posing significant risks, particularly in sensitive sectors such as healthcare. With the proliferation of online learning platforms, certificates are issued digitally, making them vulnerable to unauthorized access, duplication, and identity forgery. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a secure and sustainable framework for proof of ownership of valuable educational assets using blockchain technology. Leveraging the capabilities of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the proposed system ensures that each certificate is uniquely identifiable, tamper-proof, and verifiable. Unlike fungible digital assets, NFTs represent immutable and distinct records on the blockchain, enabling transparent and decentralized ownership verification. The proposed approach not only enhances trust and authenticity in educational credentials but also demonstrates applicability across multiple domains, including healthcare, supply chain, and digital asset management