Blockchain Papers

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44 papersLast indexed Aug 31, 2026
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Aug 25, 2026·International Journal of Research in Economics and Finance
0 cites
La transformation digitale des chaînes logistiques en Afrique : déterminants, freins et effets

Yassin Selouani, Ikram El Hachimi, Driss Ouslimane

Le management de la chaîne logistique connaît aujourd'hui de profondes mutations, dans lesquelles la transformation digitale s'impose comme un levier essentiel pour améliorer la traçabilité, renforcer la résilience et accroître la compétitivité des organisations. Si cette évolution est largement documentée dans les économies développées, les connaissances restent encore limitées en Afrique, où les contextes infrastructurels, institutionnels et socio-économiques présentent des spécificités importantes. Cette étude propose une revue systématique de la littérature afin de dresser un état des lieux des recherches consacrées à la transformation digitale des chaînes logistiques sur le continent. En suivant le protocole PRISMA, une recherche menée dans sept sources de recherche documentaire a permis de retenir 56 études parmi 742 références initialement recensées. Les résultats montrent un champ de recherche encore émergent, principalement centré sur l'Afrique du Sud, le Nigeria, le Ghana et le Kenya, ainsi que sur les secteurs agricole et pharmaceutique. La blockchain et l'Internet des objets dominent les travaux, tandis que l'intelligence artificielle et le big data demeurent encore peu mobilisés. Malgré une accélération de l'adoption sous l'effet de la pression concurrentielle et de la COVID-19, des obstacles persistants, telles que l’insuffisance des infrastructures, les coûts élevés, le déficit de compétences et la faiblesse des cadres réglementaires, limitent les bénéfices attendus. Cette étude fournit ainsi une synthèse structurée en langue française d’un corpus principalement anglophone et met en évidence plusieurs pistes pour la recherche et les politiques de digitalisation des chaînes logistiques africaines.

Open access
Urban and Freight Transport Logistics
Supply Chain Resilience and Risk Management
Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
Original source
Apr 8, 2026·Figshare
0 cites
MIGRAÇÃO DE LÓGICA DE NEGÓCIO PARA LAYER‑2: DESAFIOS DE COMPATIBILIDADE

Tiago Ferreira Cavazin

Este artigo apresenta um esboço estruturado sobre “Migração de Lógica de Negócio para Layer‑2: Desafios de Compatibilidade.”. O objetivo é analisar os fundamentos técnicos e econômicos relacionados à migração de contratos e aplicações da camada base (L1) para soluções de escalabilidade em Layer‑2, discutindo implicações para o ecossistema Web3 e tendências de mercado. A metodologia baseia‑se em revisão bibliográfica e análise de casos práticos, com foco em diferenças entre soluções L2 EVM‑equivalentes e apenas EVM‑compatíveis, modelos de segurança de bridges, padrões de liquidez multi‑chain e impactos em tooling, UX e governança. Argumenta‑se que a migração não é apenas um “lift‑and‑shift” de bytecode, mas um processo que envolve reavaliação de suposições de segurança, dependências de infraestrutura (oráculos, indexadores, sequencers) e design de incentivos em ambientes com finalização e custos distintos da L1. Casos práticos de migração de protocolos de DeFi e indexação evidenciam trade‑offs entre custo por transação, fragmentação de liquidez e complexidade operacional, bem como a importância de padrões de bridging, mensageria cross‑chain e governança multi‑domínio para manter coerência de lógica e de risco entre instâncias L1/L2. Conclui‑se que migrar lógica de negócio para Layer‑2 exige abordagem incremental e consciente de compatibilidade, com atenção especial à equivalência de EVM, à segurança de rollups e bridges, e à coordenação de liquidez e governança em um ecossistema crescentemente modular e multi‑chain.<br>

Open access
2 source records
Collaboration in agile enterprises
Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
Auction Theory and Applications
Original source
Jan 1, 2026·Technology in Society
0 cites
How NFT transaction networks structure digital market participation: Ecosystem-level evidence from Ethereum and Polygon

Andry Alamsyah, Nurdiana Safitri, Dian Puteri Ramadhani

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have emerged as a new organizational layer of digital exchange, raising questions about how participation, concentration, and community formation are structured within on-chain markets. Understanding whether these structures differ systematically across blockchain ecosystems with distinct asset orientations requires examining ecosystem-level interaction patterns. Most studies focus on specific collections or single platforms, offering limited insight into how connectivity, concentration, and community structure vary across markets with different NFT use cases. This study compares Ethereum and Polygon, two major NFT platforms with distinct dominant asset orientations (investment-oriented vs utility-oriented), to examine how their transaction networks differ at the ecosystem level. Using 3.9 million NFT transactions from May 2022 to May 2024, we apply network analysis to assess connectivity, centralization, community structure, and temporal dynamics. The findings show highly skewed interaction patterns in both ecosystems, with a small subset of addresses accounting for a disproportionate share of activity. Polygon networks exhibit higher modular segmentation and sharper upper-tail dominance, with communities aligning near-perfectly with application-specific boundaries, whereas Ethereum networks display comparatively more integrated, crosscollection interaction structure. These contrasts are interpreted as ecosystem-level structural patterns conditional on each chain's market composition and dominant NFT use cases, offering socio-technical insights into how participation concentrates and communities form across blockchain-based digital markets.

Open access
3 source records
Digital Platforms and Economics
Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Original source
Aug 23, 2025·Problems of Informatization and Management
0 cites
Alternative approaches for smart contract upgradeability

Roman Serebriakov, Iryna Klymenkо

Smart contracts upgradeability is a critical requirement for modern decentralized applications based on blockchain technology, but its implementation remains a technical challenge due to the immutable nature of smart contracts. The Proxy Pattern has become the most widely used solution for implementing upgradability into smart contracts, but it comes with some limitations such as implementation complexity and strict memory layout inheritance. This paper introduces an alternative approach based on dynamic routing with Router Contract, which enables modular upgradeability through centralized address management, offering greater flexibility at the cost of requiring external state persistence. Furthermore, a hybrid architecture is proposed, combining both Proxy Pattern and Router Contract approaches to achieve dual-layer upgradeability – supporting both state-preserving updates and full module replacements. The paper offers a comprehensive evaluation of upgradeability strategies and proposes a versatile solution for evolving smart contract systems.

Open access
Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
Financial Reporting and Valuation Research
Original source
Jul 16, 2025·Frontiers in Built Environment
3 cites
Smart contract in construction procurement: insights and recommendations from South Africa

Love Opeyemi David, Marumo Kgomo, Clinton Aigbavboa

Introduction The traditional procurement system in the construction industry has been plagued by inefficiencies, often serving as a significant obstacle to project delivery. Thus, this study examines the dynamics of adopting smart contracts for project procurement for optimal project success and delivery, with insights and recommendations from the South African Construction Industry. Method The study employed a quantitative research approach utilizing descriptive and inferential statistics of Mean Item Score (MIS) and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) for data analysis, based on a purposive sampling technique. Results The MIS results for the benefit, legal &amp;amp; regulatory constraints, and best practices of smart contracts range between 3.73 - 4.41 values, while the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) values were higher than the recommended 0.6 value for the EFA and Cronbach's Alpha value of 0.969 across the indicators. Discussion The study's findings revealed two categorized benefits of adopting smart contracts: administrative and operational efficiency of project procurement and procurement optimization; two components of legal and regulatory constraints: Transactional and legal encumbrance to smart contract implementation and legal gaps and ambiguity and two best practices: smart contract reliability practices for project procurement and consistent stakeholders’ engagement for smart contract protocol standardization. The study concludes that Smart contracts can transform global project procurement within the construction industry. The study recommends the development of a green paper on smart contract adoption and integrating smart contracts into standard forms of construction contracts.

Open access
Public Procurement and Policy
Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
Insurance and Financial Risk Management
Original source
Jun 10, 2025·Intelligent Industry Ecosystems and Manufacturing Renaissance: Designing Autonomous Production, Supply Orchestration, and Connected Retail Infrastructure
0 cites
Transforming procurement through automated sourcing and smart contract negotiations

Raviteja Meda

Drastic liquidity shortages dovetailing with geopolitical uncertainties have led many organizations to expedite their digital transformation initiatives, making the reinvention of the pivot of business activities — supply chains — a priority. The use of modern IT tools to automate, augment, and reinvent procurement, coupled with the trend to outsource more and more ancillary activities to third parties has led to increased interest in the automation of enablers of procurement activities. However, the answer to the question of how far this automation will go remains uncertain, leading to diverging opinions, from the expected complete commoditization of “spend categories” to the carry-over of the entirely bookable unavailability of procurement professionals. In this chapter we concentrate on the first side of the automation debate, using a specific enabler — sourcing — and a generalization of its application to show the promise of more advanced automation techniques, where the sourcing procedure takes place inside a smart contract negotiating automatically on behalf of a business participant using a variety of available agent negotiating engines.

Open access
Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Original source
Apr 10, 2025·arXiv (Cornell University)
0 cites
Copy-and-Paste? Identifying EVM-Inequivalent Code Smells in Multi-chain Reuse Contracts

Zexu Wang, Jiachi Chen, Tao Zhang, Yu Zhang · 7 authors

As the development of Solidity contracts on Ethereum , more developers are reusing them on other compatible blockchains. However, developers may overlook the differences between the designs of the blockchain system, such as the Gas Mechanism and Consensus Protocol , leading to the same contracts on different blockchains not being able to achieve consistent execution as on Ethereum . This inconsistency reveals design flaws in reused contracts, exposing code smells that hinder code reusability, and we define this inconsistency as EVM-Inequivalent Code Smells . In this paper, we conducted the first empirical study to reveal the causes and characteristics of EVM-Inequivalent Code Smells . To ensure the identified smells reflect real developer concerns, we collected and analyzed 1,379 security audit reports and 326 Stack Overflow posts related to reused contracts on EVM-compatible blockchains, such as Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and Polygon . Using the open card sorting method, we defined six types of EVM-Inequivalent Code Smells . For automated detection, we developed a tool named EquivGuard . It employs static taint analysis to identify key paths from different patterns and uses symbolic execution to verify path reachability. Our analysis of 905,948 contracts across six major blockchains shows that EVM-Inequivalent Code Smells are widespread, with an average prevalence of 17.70%. While contracts with code smells do not necessarily lead to financial loss and attacks, their high prevalence and significant asset management underscore the potential threats of reusing these smelly Ethereum contracts. Thus, developers are advised to abandon Copy-and-Paste programming practices and detect EVM-Inequivalent Code Smells before reusing Ethereum contracts.

Open access
3 source records
cs.SE
Law, Economics, and Judicial Systems
Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
Original source
Feb 21, 2025·Buildings
3 cites
Conceptual Advancements in Infrastructure Maintenance and Management Using Smart Contracts: Reducing Costs and Improving Resilience

Valentina Villa, Luca Gioberti, Marco Domaneschi, F. Necati Çatbaş

The civil engineering sector operates within a complex ecosystem of stakeholders, requiring efficient management and maintenance of structural and infrastructural assets. In this context, there is an increasing need for robust tools to track critical events (e.g., alerts, unusual behaviors) and support decision-making processes related to maintenance and interventions. At the same time, ensuring secure and prompt payments is essential for timely and effective responses. This paper investigated the potential of smart contracts, integrated with blockchain technology, to automate and optimize asset management and maintenance processes. The proposed framework examines how these technologies can enhance operational efficiency, security, and event traceability, providing a structured approach for both routine operations and emergency interventions. Although smart contracts have been widely applied in the construction phase of infrastructure projects, their use in long-term asset management remains largely unexplored. As a conceptual study, this work does not present a quantitative analysis but instead lays the groundwork for future research and real-world applications of blockchain-based smart contracts in infrastructure management and safety procedures.

Open access
Construction Project Management and Performance
Public Procurement and Policy
Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
Original source
Nov 29, 2024·Indonesian Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
3 cites
Navigating the smart contract threat landscape: a systematic review

Unyime Ufok Ibekwe, Uche M. Mbanaso, Nwojo Agwu Nnanna, Umar Adam Ibrahim

Smart contracts have emerged as a transformative technology within the blockchain ecosystem, facilitating the automated and trustless execution of agreements. Their adoption spans diverse sectors such as education, agriculture, healthcare, government, real estate, transportation, supply chain, and global initiatives like Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). However, the security of smart contracts has become a significant concern, as vulnerabilities in their design and implementation can lead to severe consequences such as financial losses and system failures. This systematic review consolidates findings from 78 selected research articles, identifying key vulnerabilities affecting smart contracts and categorizing them into a taxonomy encompassing code-level, environment-dependent, and user-related vulnerabilities. It also examines the threats that exploit these vulnerabilities and the most effective detection techniques. The domain-based classification presented in this review aims to assist researchers, software engineers, and developers in identifying and mitigating significant security flaws related to the design, implementation, and deployment of smart contracts. A comprehensive understanding of these issues is essential for enhancing the security and reliability of the blockchain ecosystem, ultimately fostering the development of more secure and robust decentralized applications for end users.

Open access
Corporate Finance and Governance
Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
Original source
Oct 25, 2024·Uporabna informatika
0 cites
Analiza napadov na pametne pogodbe osnovane na okoljih ethereum virtualnega stroja

Gal Gantar, Matevž Pesek

V zadnjem desetletju je zanimanje za kriptovalute močno naraslo. S tem je prišlo tudi do porasta kapitala, zaklenjenega v pametnih pogodbah, kar pa je hkrati povečalo tveganje za napade. Za preprečevanje napadov na pametne pogodbe je potrebna analiza programerskih vzorcev in okolja, v katerem se pametne pogodbe izvajajo. V prispevku obravnavamo varnost omrežja Ethereum in njegovo vlogo v razvoju decentraliziranih aplikacij (angl. decentralised Applications - dApps). Pregledamo uporabo Ethereumovega Virtualnega stroja (EVM), programskega jezika Solidity in zbirnika pri gradnji pametnih pogodb. Poleg tega opišemo varnostne izzive, s katerimi se sooča Ethereumov ekosistem, in analiziramo tri pretekle napade na decentralizirane platforme. Prispevek prinaša tudi konkreten primer napada na pametno pogodbo, ki izkorišča ranljivost v njeni implementaciji. Rezultat prispevka je prikaz pametne pogodbe, ki ob standardni uporabi deluje pravilno, vendar vsebuje ranljivost, ki jo je mogoče izkoristiti za neavtorizirano spreminjanje njenega stanja.

Open access
Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
Digital Economy and Work Transformation
Original source
Apr 1, 2024·Production Planning & Control
25 cites
From ocean to table: examining the potential of Blockchain for responsible sourcing and sustainable seafood supply chains

S. Vijayakumar Bharathi, Arif Perdana, T. S. Vivekanand, V. G. Venkatesh · 6 authors

This study integrates technology-organisation-environment (TOE) theory with situation-actor-process (SAP) and learning-action-performance (LAP) models to provide a comprehensive evaluation of complex seafood supply chain management (SCM) systems. We present a framework based on Blockchain technology that facilitates the transformation of the seafood supply chain ecosystem from its current state to a more streamlined one in the future. This framework offers the potential for driving transformation and delivering advantages that encompass improved data efficiency, sustainable practices, and streamlined integration across the seafood supply chain. Our research highlights the importance of accurate data management, stakeholder involvement, regulatory compliance, cybersecurity, cost-effectiveness, transparency, and sustainability for the successful integration of Blockchain in seafood SCM systems. This allows stakeholders to make informed decisions and optimise spending. Furthermore, we emphasise the significant value of transparency provided by Blockchain, which enables stakeholders to make well-informed decisions and optimise their spending.

Open access
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Supply Chain Resilience and Risk Management
Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
Original source
Jan 10, 2024·Journal of Information Technology Case and Application Research
18 cites
Digital transformation at Maersk: the never-ending pace of change

Manoj Dagar, Mary Tate, David Johnstone

This teaching case describes, based on publicly available material, the transition of the A. P. Moller Maersk shipping company from a logistics-based organization to an information and technology-based organization. Multiple digital technologies, including distributed ledger, robotic automation, digital platforms, and big-data analytics offered opportunities for Maersk. Although the company was a relatively late starter in digital transformation, its journey so far has been successful. The challenge is how to enact sustained digital transformation in an environment of rapid technology change. Some theoretical lenses are offered to assist with analyzing and framing Maersk’s digital strategy, including business models, organizational ambidexterity, and dynamic capabilities.

Open access
Innovation and Knowledge Management
Collaboration in agile enterprises
Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
Original source
Jan 1, 2024·Tecnologia Cabocla
0 cites
DESENVOLVIMENTO DE SMARTS CONTRACTS E TOKENS NA REDE ETHEREUM

Elton Farias de Oliveira, David Barbosa de Alencar, Jean Mark Lobo de Oliveira

Este artigo explora o desenvolvimento de smart contracts e tokens na rede Ethereum, destacando os benefícios de automação de acordos, eliminação de intermediários, transparência e segurança proporcionados pela tecnologia blockchain. São discutidos desafios como escalabilidade, privacidade e segurança, e são abordadas as possibilidades de construção de aplicativos descentralizados inovadores. A pesquisa adotou uma abordagem de coleta de dados primários e secundários, incluindo entrevistas com especialistas e análise de contratos inteligentes existentes.

Open access
Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
Brazilian Legal Issues
Original source
Dec 1, 2023·Asian Journal of Business Research
8 cites
Unlocking the Secret of NFTs in China: The Role of NFT Characteristics in Purchase Decision Making

Liu Fang Zhang, Ing Grace Phang

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are scarce digital assets, whose limited supply significantly affects consumers’ product perception and purchase behavior. Few studies have examined consumers’ cognitive evaluations and purchase intention towards NFTs in the context of Chinese luxury fashion brands. This paper aims to close this gap by investigating the impact of consumers’ cognitive perceptions (i.e., perceived scarcity, perceived uniqueness, and perceived value) and personality trait (i.e., need for uniqueness) on their purchase intention towards luxury fashion NFTs. The mediating effect of perceived value between perceived uniqueness and purchase intention was also tested. A total of 251 valid questionnaires were collected via purposive sampling and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Drawing on the commodity theory, significant relationships were found between scarcity, need for uniqueness, the resulting cognitive factors (perceived uniqueness and perceived value) and purchase intention. Chinese consumers perceive the NFTs of luxury brands to be scarce and need uniqueness, which enhances their perception of uniqueness and consequently, their perception of value. Perceived value then positively affects purchase intention, which supports the mediating role of perceived value. This study validates the importance of scarcity for NFTs from luxury fashion brands in China, providing valuable references for luxury brand marketers and academicians.

Open access
Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
Original source
Nov 20, 2023·Technological Forecasting and Social Change
136 cites
Digital information in maritime supply chains with blockchain and cloud platforms: Supply chain capabilities, barriers, and research opportunities

Ebru Surucu-Balci, Çağatay Iris, Gökçay Balcı

Digital transformation plays a key role in improving information sharing and information processing in supply chains. Specifically, maritime supply chains require numerous data and document exchanges and can significantly benefit from digital information sharing (DIS). This notable potential has attracted attention and has resulted in a growing number of studies on blockchain platforms, cloud-based platforms, and other digital technology platforms. However, DIS adoption and execution is a complex process as it depends on various success factors and barriers and affects numerous capabilities and performance outcomes. Moreover, various information systems and management theories can be utilised to underpin these relationships. Our study aims to conduct a systematic literature review that uncovers dynamic capabilities, barriers, enablers and outcomes of DIS with blockchain and cloud-based platforms, illustrates the relationship between them, and discloses methods and theories applied in supply chains. We discuss different use cases of blockchain and cloud-based platforms for DIS in various business functions in supply chains. Particularly, we reveal six DIS-powered capabilities, five performance outcomes improved by the DIS, eight main barriers, and nine enablers of DIS implementation. The lack of theoretical underpinning and causal empirical studies is identified as an important gap in the literature. This study also presents precise future research directions that can help address these gaps.

Open access
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Organizational and Employee Performance
Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
Original source
Aug 17, 2023·Buildings
16 cites
Assessment of Barriers to the Implementation of Smart Contracts in Construction Projects—Evidence from Turkey

Cenk Budayan, Ozan Okudan

Despite their promising potential, the level of implementation of smart contracts is not at the desired level. To expedite the acceptance and deployment of smart contracts, the barriers to the implementation of smart contracts should be revealed. Past studies, however, do not provide a comprehensive theoretical basis due to several methodological drawbacks. Thus, this study aims to identify and assess the barriers to the implementation of smart contracts by considering the inherent characteristics of the construction industry. An in-depth literature review was initially conducted to extract all barriers proposed in the literature. Then, focus group discussion (FGD) sessions were conducted with the participation of the construction practitioners. In the FGD session, the results of the literature review were validated, and nine additional barriers were proposed. Finally, a total of 20 barriers under five categories was proposed for the smart contract adoption in the construction industry. Then, a questionnaire survey was conducted with the participation of 15 construction practitioners. Lastly, fuzzy VIKOR analysis was performed to assess the criticality of the implementation barriers. This study indicates that the construction companies should overcome not only technical barriers but also managerial barriers. Changes in the processes arisen due to smart contract implementation prevent the construction from implementing a smart contract, since the employees show resistance to these changes. Furthermore, the companies believe that they can lose their bargaining power with smart contracts, and they do not want to lose their power. Bottlenecks are considered the most critical barrier from a technological perspective, and companies are concerned about the problems resulting from them. Although this study provides insights into the barriers to smart contracts in the construction industry, all the respondents are from Turkey. Therefore, some of the findings of this study can be specific to the Turkish construction industry.

Open access
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
Public Procurement and Policy
Original source
Jun 26, 2023·Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction
4 cites
Promoting the IPD Delivery Method in Construction Projects: A BIM-Based Smart Contract Approach

Mohamed Assaf, Lena Salami, Diana Salhab, Ahmed Hammad

The adoption of integrated project delivery (IPD) provides several advantages over traditional delivery methods, such as shorter schedules, efficient communication, and higher performance quality.However, its implementation is constantly hindered by many barriers.Existing studies on IPD barriers are limited to quantifying and addressing such obstacles.Additionally, hardly any studies have addressed the potential of advanced technologies in exploiting the adoption of IPD projects.Thus, this study presents an automated system that integrates blockchain, smart contracts, and BIM technologies to facilitate the implementation of IPD projects.Hyperledger Fabric and chaincodes are used to develop the blockchain network in accordance with 4D and 5D BIM models.The developed system simplifies various financial transactions throughout different phases of the IPD project implementation.The system allows non-owner participants to submit requests and review transaction records with the aim of minimizing possible conflicts.The methodology is evaluated by testing it on a real-life case study.The case study is modeled using BIM tools, and the corresponding blockchain network and smart contracts are developed.The findings prove the capability of the developed system to provide a secure and trustworthy platform for managing IPD transactions without the need for third-party involvement.

Open access
BIM and Construction Integration
Construction Project Management and Performance
Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
Original source
May 17, 2023·International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science
0 cites
AN END-TO-END ETHEREUM EMPOWERED SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT IN INDUSTRY

Authors unavailable

Manufacturing raw materials to get products to consumers in traditional supply chain systems is a manual process with inadequate data and transaction security.In addition, the entire procedure becomes cumbersome as it is time consuming.Overall, undivided processes are inefficient and unreliable for consumers.When blockchain and smart contract technology are integrated with traditional supply chain management system, data security, reliability, time management and transaction process will be greatly improved.Blockchain is a revolutionary decentralized technology that protects data from unauthorized access.Once smart contracts are implemented, the entire supply chain management (SCM) becomes consumer happy.Involvement of intermediaries thus increases the credibility of the plan.The tags used in his traditional SCM process are expensive and offer limited functionality.Therefore, it is difficult for SCM systems to maintain product confidentiality and accountability.It is also a common target for wireless attacks (reply attacks, eavesdropping, etc.).In SCM, the term product confidentiality is very important.This means that only verified persons can access the information.The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of the use of blockchain technology in the supply chain sector.While this technology is often associated with cryptocurrencies, it also shows promise in non-financial applications such as the supply chain, energy and food industries.Blockchain can provide a permanent, shareable and verifiable record of products across the supply chain, improving product traceability, authenticity and legality in a more cost-effective manner.An example of a micro factory proposal using blockchain technology was introduced.

Open access
Quality and Supply Management
Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
Original source
Feb 7, 2023·Southern African Business Review
9 cites
The Process of Contract Compliance: A Public Procurement Perspective

Hamidah Babirye Nsereko, M. Tait, Nadine Oosthuizen

Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the ideal contract compliance process in Uganda from a state department perspective. Design/Methodology/Approach: In conducting this study, the interpretivist approach using the qualitative methodology was employed. Telephonic interviews and focus group discussions via the Zoom online platform with semi-structured interviews were conducted among 29 procurement officers, heads of finance departments, heads of procurement departments, auditors and accounting officers. The interviews explored matters concerning what is regarded as the ideal contract compliance process. Findings: The findings indicate that the ideal contract compliance involves the following nine stages: understanding the law; procurement planning; requisitioning; establishing funds availability for the items procured; sourcing providers; contract awarding; appointing contract managers; monitoring deliveries; and payment. Practical Implications: Studies such as the current one widen the management scope and suggest that state departments should read the mind of society and continuously engage with them; make SMART plans and budgets; streamline processes; involve technical people; legally assess the contract; and follow the existing laws. Originality/Value: The cost of contract non-compliance is high and could lead to missed deadlines; delays in executing contracts; litigation and even cancellation of contracts. This could result in a lack of transparency and accountability; poor performance; inefficiency; and poor resource usage. To prevent these negative impacts, state departments could add policy recommendations to implement an effective contract compliance process.

Open access
Public Procurement and Policy
Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
Taxation and Compliance Studies
Original source
Jan 1, 2023·Procedia Computer Science
15 cites
Blockchain in the shipping industry: A proposal for the use of blockchain for SMEs in the maritime industry

Friedrich Lorenz-Meyer, Vítor Santos

The main objective of this study is to address one of the significant challenges maritime SMEs, as well as the whole industry, are facing concerning the general necessity to digitize the global supply chain: the lack of transparent information flows between participants and the non-existing documentation standards. This objective includes a proposal of using blockchain technology for data sharing as a solution to counter this challenge. To understand how a blockchain-based data-sharing platform would succeed and tackle this challenge, TradeLens was selected as a case study. The literature review has addressed the shipping industry as a whole, blockchain technology, and its features and current initiatives that facilitate this technology. The case study analysis and discussion focused on the architecture, data sharing model, and standards for documentation as well as challenges associated with the solution TradeLens is offering for maritime enterprises. From this analysis, implications for SMEs have been elaborated. Concluding these implications have been validated through interviews with industry experts and strategic decision-makers in maritime SMEs.

Open access
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
Organizational and Employee Performance
Original source
Nov 28, 2022·Buildings
39 cites
Smart Contracts in the Construction Industry: A Systematic Review

Ishara Rathnayake, Gayan Wedawatta, Algan Tezel

On-time delivery of documentation and contracts has been recognized as a crucial requirement for the successful delivery of projects. However, the construction industry still depends on time-consuming traditional contract processes, which negatively affect the overall productivity of projects in the industry. The use of Smart Contracts (SCs) is highlighted as a suitable novel technology to expedite the contract processes and establish a reliable payment environment in the construction industry. Whilst there has been an increase in the debate about the use of SCs in construction in recent years, their use in practice still seems to be in its infancy. As such, the topic will benefit from a thorough review of benefits, drivers, barriers and strategies that can enhance the implementation of SCs in construction. This article presents the key findings from a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) on SCs in the construction industry, critically assessing existing studies on the topic. The study initially involved 171 research papers for the SLR process, and out of that 49 research papers were filtered for further analysis after reading their abstracts. A total of 30 papers were finally filtered after the full-text reading for the SLR. Descriptive and content analysis were used to analyse the full-text findings. The study graphically mapped the bibliographic materials by using the Visualization of Similarities (VoS) Viewer software. As per the findings, the topic has mostly been researched in Asia and the Pacific as a region and China as a country. It was noted that there were more empirical articles than theoretical studies related to SCs, evidencing the industry relevance of the issue. A total of 55% of the articles reviewed have been published in journals with a Q1 ranking. All the articles were written by multiple authors, with 30% of the journal articles having international co-authors and benefitting from the collaboration between authors. Key advantages identified in the literature go beyond contract and payment provisions and include aspects such as logistic handling, decentralized applications, business process management, automated payments, etc. Key drivers for adoption are supply chain pressure, competitive pressure, top management support, simple layout, reduction in risks of clients, clarity in responsibility and risk allocation, whereas the key barriers include insecurity, limited observability, incompatibility, inactive government collaboration and limited storage capacity. Key strategies to enhance the application of SC in construction include integrating theorems proving symbolic execution, using the selective transparency method and lock fund system, testing the integration of SCs with other systems at the initial stage, incorporating semi-automated consensus mechanisms for payments, constructing a mechanism to actively engage with government bodies, etc.

Open access
Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
Construction Project Management and Performance
Public Procurement and Policy
Original source
Nov 2, 2022·arXiv (Cornell University)
1 cites
AntFuzzer: A Grey-Box Fuzzing Framework for EOSIO Smart Contracts

Jiahao He, Jianfei Zhou, Peicheng Miao, Yongjie Zhang · 8 authors

In the past few years, several attacks against the vulnerabilities of EOSIO smart contracts have caused severe financial losses to this prevalent blockchain platform. As a lightweight test-generation approach, grey-box fuzzing can open up the possibility of improving the security of EOSIO smart contracts. However, developing a practical grey-box fuzzer for EOSIO smart contracts from scratch is time-consuming and requires a deep understanding of EOSIO internals. In this work, we proposed AntFuzzer, the first highly extensible grey-box fuzzing framework for EOSIO smart contracts. AntFuzzer implements a novel approach that interfaces AFL to conduct AFL-style grey-box fuzzing on EOSIO smart contracts. Compared to black-box fuzzing tools, AntFuzzer can effectively trigger those hard-to-cover branches. It achieved an improvement in code coverage on 37.5% of smart contracts in our benchmark dataset. AntFuzzer provides unified interfaces for users to easily develop new detection plugins for continually emerging vulnerabilities. We have implemented 6 detection plugins on AntFuzzer to detect major vulnerabilities of EOSIO smart contracts. In our large-scale fuzzing experiments on 4,616 real-world smart contracts, AntFuzzer successfully detected 741 vulnerabilities. The results demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of AntFuzzer and our detection pl

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cs.CR
Adversarial Robustness in Machine Learning
Advanced Malware Detection Techniques
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