Abstract Distributed ledger technology (DLT) is one of the emerging technologies adopted in organizations. Unlike traditional databases, the integrity of the DLT is maintained automatically by an algorithmic consensus mechanism and not by any dominant authority. Thus, the consensus mechanism controls the decision-making and governance process. But the adoption of DLT is faced with issues regarding how to ensure that governance decisions in distributed ledger systems in the interest of all actors and stakeholders involved in the operations of organizational operations. Therefore, it is imperative to provides a better understanding of the governance of DLT adoption in organizations. Accordingly, this study conducts an extensive literature review to investigate the governance issues and control of DLT adoption in intra-organizational domain. Findings from this study presents state-of-the-art governance practices to offer a comprehensive understanding on key governance issues in organizations. Additionally, the findings present factors associated with governance of DLT adoption solutions. More importantly, a governance model is developed to enhance the adoption of DLT adoption to accelerate the digitalization of organizational operations.
Andrew Cullen, Lianna Zhao, Luigi Vigneri, Robert Shorten
An outstanding problem in the design of distributed ledgers concerns policies that govern the manner in which users interact with the network. Network usability is crucial to the mainstream adoption of distributed ledgers, particularly for enterprise applications in which most users do not wish to operate full node. For DAG-based ledgers such as IOTA, we propose a user-node interaction mechanism that is designed to ensure the risk of a user experiencing a poor quality of service is low. Our mechanism involves users selecting nodes to issue their transactions to the ledger based on quality of service indicators advertised by the nodes. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the efficacy of the proposed policies.
This study aims to develop a mobile time-banking system on blockchain (MTBB), which can track service transaction records for community elderly care via mutual service exchange. The MTBB was developed to enable organizations, either corporate-social-responsibility organizations or nonprofit organizations to issue proprietary time tokens to members who participate in the organizations' volunteer activities. Database applications with smartphone apps integrated with MultiChain blockchain technology were developed. Metadata with the service transaction information are stored in the MultiChain blocks so that the transaction records are immutable and can be analyzed in the future. Cahn's time-banking guidelines were applied in developing this MTBB with MultiChain blockchain technology integrated for tracking service transaction records. The study also combines one-to-one mutual service exchange with organizations which offer volunteer activities and issue proprietary time tokens. With the blockchain transaction tracking mechanism, all elderly care service records via or within organizations can be tracked and analyzed to show their alignment with some of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
M Sujaritha, S Shunmugapriya, Arun Bharath S, S Hariharan · 5 authors
Crowdfunding is an online cash raising technique which has been started to encourage the ideas of innovative minds of people by investing the required quantity of money on them. Using crowdfunding, people can put resources into spearhead businesses through a platform. The issue faced during the today’s world of crowdfunding technique is that, intermediator doesn't give the assurance to the investor who contributed money for the project and also the investor doesn't have any control over the cash they invested. To overcome this major problem, a blockchain based technique is used to provide a private, secure and decentralized platform for crowdfunding. The main objective is to create a smart contract to let investors contribute to any innovational ideas where the assurance of the money is guaranteed.
Abstract Blockchain technology is generating interest in novel applicative fields such as co-production of public services. Our CommonsHood project is a “wallet app” that uses the Blockchain as a tool to support sustainability of the local economy. Its tokenization mechanism allows everyone to create new types of cryptographic tokens on the Blockchain in order to digitalize assets, augment the availability of local liquidity, and incentivize cooperative socio-economic interactions. This article analyzes a concrete application of CommonsHood for innovating local development policies and service co-production in the tourism sector. We examine this application using Linders’s analytical framework for information and communications technology (ICT)-enabled co-production of services (2012). We show the advantages our project brings for local policies on tourism development, and we discuss the benefits and costs of using the Blockchain in that context. We argue that the observed case study covers different types of digitally enabled co-production of services, and that it can be defined as a case of Governance as a Platform. We also argue that well-established analytical frameworks for ICT-enabled co-production of services need to be expanded in order to account for the new affordances enabled by the Blockchain technology, namely the creation and transaction of digital values, which represent a paradigm change in how we understand the Internet and digital co-production.
Abstract Blockchain is a pioneering technology that allows the creation of innovative information exchange ecosystems thanks to unique properties, such as immutability, distribution and transparency. By combining this technology with the emergent internet of things (IoT), many innovative business models can be created. The main objective of this work is to present the design and an initial implementation of a decentralized rental system that takes advantage of smart contracts developed on a public blockchain, combined with the potential of the IoT and its intimate relationship with cyber-physical systems. The logic to be implemented in the blockchain is applied in this paper by using the Ethereum programming language, so that the developed application covers the entire car rental process offered in traditional web applications, but adding more autonomy, functionalities and ease of use for both lessees and lessors. Following Ethereum application development guidelines, all business logic is located in the smart contracts implemented in the network, where they can be used to control the car rental system. While this is a work in progress, the results obtained in the first proof of concept have been very promising.
L. Grassi, Davide Lanfranchi, Alessandro Faes, Filippo Renga
Purpose Decentralized finance (DeFi), enabled by blockchain, could bring about a new financial system, where peers will interact directly, with little or no place for traditional intermediation. However, some crucial tasks cannot be left solely to an algorithm and, consequently, most DeFi applications still require human decisions. The aim of this research is to assess the role of intermediation in the light of DeFi, analysing how humans and algorithms will interact. Design/methodology/approach The authors based their work on a twofold qualitative methodology, first analysing publicly available secondary data, particularly from white papers and DeFi Pulse (a website providing data on DeFi solutions) and then running two focus group discussions. Findings DeFi does not eliminate financial intermediation, but enables it to be performed in new ways, where decentralization means that no single entity can hold too much power or monopoly. DeFi has, however, inherited risks from the underlying technologies that unintentionally facilitate illegal behaviour and can hamper the authorities’ supervision. The complex duality algorithm- vs human-based actions will not be solved indisputably in favour of the former, as DeFi solutions can range from requiring algorithms to play a dominant role, to enabling greater human interaction by actively involving more people. Originality/value This research contributes to the emerging debate between algorithm- and human-based intermediation, especially in relation to the standing literature on financial intermediation, where considerations made in the light of the newest theories on blockchain and DeFi are still scarce.
Nikhil, Santu Panday, Arushi Gahlot Saini, Neha Gupta
Blockchain is regarded as a game-changing core technology. Blockchain is a popular technology these days, and all of the large internet businesses, such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon, are seeking for blockchain developers. Despite the fact that many researchers have achieved the benefits of blockchain, blockchain research is still in its infancy. This paper examines the current state of blockchain in India, particularly in the domain of Decentralize Applications (Dapps). The paper will discuss the importance of blockchain in digital currency and its use in development of decentralized apps across the world. The paper also discusses the concept of smart contracts which allows us to communicate with blockchain. The paper has also identified the reason of scarcity of blockchain developers in India and how it can digitally transform the future. Finally the paper will present a single-page web application using JavaScript to demonstrate the concept of decentralized apps using blockchain technology.
Luona Song, Yiqing Luo, Zixi Chang, Chunhua Jin · 5 authors
Within the context of the rise of the Internet of Things, blockchain, and other new technologies, telecommunications operators are committed to applying technologies to promote business transformation and upgrading. The government also actively applies technologies to traditional fields to promote social progress. In agriculture, the agricultural supply chain has a low information level and low degree of digitization. The application of blockchain technology in agriculture offers exceptional advantages because of its decentralization, openness, and transparency. Based on the application of blockchain in an agricultural scenario, an evolutionary game model made up of governments, telecom operators, and agricultural enterprises was established to analyze the model’s equilibrium stability and evolutionary stable strategy. Then, numerical simulation was carried out to study the influence of the initial green level, equipment deployment cost, technology operation cost, and other core factors on the tripartite evolution behaviour. The results show that each factor influences the behaviour of a third party in different ways. Finally, according to the simulation results, this paper puts forward practical suggestions, explores the long-term impact of the application cost and sustainable income of blockchain technology on cooperation, and provides new ideas for the governance of China’s traditional fields from the perspective of new technology application.
Against the backdrop of debates and rising public sentiments against “Big Tech,” this paper takes a conceptual approach to explore the possibilities for blockchain technologies to disrupt the governance of the sharing economy value chains. Unlike centralized trust systems employed by multisided digital platforms, blockchains employ a decentralized, open-source system. Data can be shared, verified, and monitored using a consensus mechanism across multiple nodes. We bring insights and discussions from the extant literature to elucidate two guiding principles of the sharing economy value chains: resource optimization and data monetization. Against this backdrop, we propose a conceptual framework that compares traditional digital platforms' governance mechanisms and value drivers with block-chained enabled platforms, where resource optimization and data monetization are driven by decentralized platform co-owners rather than single platform owners. We offer case illustrations to explicate this framework and how it signposts a new, disruptive model for the governance of the collaborative economy, especially in developing countries.
Mohammad Hossein Chinaei, Taha Hossein Rashidi, S. Travis Waller
Mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) has promised to integrate multiple service providers to deliver a multimodal mobility service to commuters through a seamless digital platform. An efficient digital network architecture is imperative to achieve secure and reliable interactions among the involved parties. From the service provider’s perspective, by defining the mobility ownership for customers, MaaScan bring a personalized transport system to complement or even fully replace the concept of private vehicle ownership. This paper paves the initial steps to develop a distributed architecture to realize a MaaS digital network using blockchain technology. Therefore, a comprehensive blockchain-enabled MaaS platform with related industries is illustrated in this paper. To do so, first, we define crypto-tickets as means of ownership of the service and devise a straightforward smart contract to be executed in the blockchain network, which allows the customers to exchange the service ownership in a privacy-preserved manner. Then, we evaluate our blockchain-based ownership scheme’s efficacy against the traditional membership plans using a simplified simulation instance in MATLAB. Finally, we discuss the blockchain potentials in personalizing the ownership of the service, congestion management, and data trading between various stakeholder of a comprehensive MaaS platform.
The shared mobility concept is seen as disruptive and transformative for the automotive industry. Shared mobility is changing the way we choose our travel mode, from just owning a car to e-hailing, car-sharing, and other relevant mobility solutions. There is a growing interest of car manufacturers (original equipment manufacturers or OEMs) in car-sharing as an expansion strategy. Similarly, blockchain technology is seen as another disruptive technology, which can potentially change how the data is stored and accessible via its immutable, transparent, and trustworthy features. Motivated by these two current trends, this paper aims to explore how blockchain and IoT technologies together can drive shared mobility forward. We have presented a high-level architecture for a blockchain-IoT-based platform for promoting shared mobility combining car-sharing and car-leasing. We also demonstrated a prototype implemented from the OEM’s point of view by developing a blockchain-IoT-based platform streamlining car-sharing and leasing processes by taking into consideration of primary stakeholders (such as OEMs, a peer-to-peer car-sharing provider, leasing company and insurance provider as well as public authorities). This work also demonstrates that the design of such an integrated platform depends on the right balance between the key design principles (such as security and privacy, authenticity, traceability and reliability, scalability, and interoperability) in the context of car-sharing platforms.
The first‐sale doctrine, which protects consumers’ rights to resell purchased products, has been recognized by the US Supreme Court since 1908. In recent years, consumers have begun to purchase an increasing amount of virtual goods, which renders the first‐sale doctrine unclear. There are two main challenges leading to the uncertainty of the first‐sale doctrine in the digital age: lack of proper technology, and economic implications for developers and consumers. The advent of the blockchain solves the technology challenge, as it can track provenance and establish the chain of custody. In this study, we construct an analytical model to investigate the economic impact of trading preowned virtual items. Specifically, our model captures the decentralized nature of blockchain technology by allowing consumer‐to‐consumer trading, and considers the possibility that consumers prefer preowned virtual items over new ones because preowned items may be upgraded between purchase and resale. Lawmakers seek to strike a balance between the interests of virtual item developers and individual consumers. We show that, surprisingly, the introduction of a blockchain‐based preowned virtual item transaction can actually benefit both developer and consumer. The main intuition is that the developer can adjust the price when forward‐looking consumers incorporate the expected future transaction into their purchase decision. Our analysis also reveals that developers are more willing to embrace the secondary market when they can take a cut during the transaction. Our results provide important policy implications to the burgeoning debate of the first‐sale doctrine in the new digital world.
This article explores the potential of blockchain technology to enhance podcast content marketing. In the post-pandemic era, more and more enterprises are using podcasts for content marketing. However, the rapid growth of the podcast industry has also raised concerns. This study looks at current podcast advertising methods and uses a 10-step process to examine the need for a blockchain platform. With the decentralization, transparency and traceability of the blockchain and five smart contracts, the new distributed podcast platform improves content marketing metrics and reduces transaction costs. It provides enterprises with a more robust podcast platform, as well as more opportunities for niche creators to showcase and optimize the podcast platform as a useful advertising and marketing tool.
Abstract Trust is a key resource in financial transactions. Traditional financial institutions, and novel blockchain‐based decentralized financial (DeFi) services rely on fundamentally different sources of trust and confidence. The former relies on heavy regulation, trusted intermediaries, clear rules (and restrictions) on market competition, and long‐standing informal expectations on what banks and other financial intermediaries are supposed to do or not to do. The latter rely on blockchain technology to provide confidence in the outcome of rules encoded in protocols and smart contracts. Their main promise is to create confidence in the way the blockchain architecture enforces rules, rather than to trust banks, regulators, and markets. In this article, we compare the trust architectures surrounding these two financial systems. We provide a deeper analysis of how proposed regulation in the blockchain space affects the code‐ and confidence‐based architectures which so far have underwrote DeFi. We argue that despite the solid safeguards and guarantees which code can offer, the confidence in DeFi is still very much dependent on more traditional trust‐enhancing mechanisms, such as code governance, and antifraud regulation to address some of the issues which currently plague this domain, and which have no immediate, purely software‐based solutions. What is more, given the risks of bugs or scams in the DeFi space, regulation and trusted intermediaries may need to play a more active role, in order for DeFi to gain the trust of the next generation of users.
Blockchain is an emerging technology that is used to address ownership, centrality, and security issues in different fields. The blockchain technology has converted centralized applications into decentralized and distributed ones. In existing sharing economy applications, there are issues related to low efficiency and high complexity of services. However, blockchain technology can be adopted to overcome these issues by effectively opening up secure information channels of the sharing economy industry and other related parties, encouraging industry integration and improving the ability of sharing economy organizations to readily gain required information. This paper discusses blockchain technology to enhance the development of insurance services by proposing a five-layer decentralized model using Ethereum platform. The Najm for Insurance Services Company in Saudi Arabia was employed in a case study for applying the proposed model to effectively solve the issue of online underwriting, and to securely and efficiently enhance the verification and validation of transactions. The paper concludes with a review of the lessons learned and provides suggestions for blockchain application development process.
Ridesharing entails the sharing of journeys in order to make optimal use of fuel by allowing people to go along the same route to share rides. It allows regular passengers to share trips with others, having the additive benefit of lowering travel costs and reducing traffic congestion. Most current ride choices rely on a centralized authority to enable the system, leaving it vulnerable to faults at a specific point in the system and raising concerns about privacy disclosure to attackers acting both within and outside. Furthermore, they are vulnerable to external threats and fraud, and the payment made by the current ride-sharing service provider is rather costly. As a result, we have proposed the system named EtherRider, based on the Ethereum blockchain technology. EtherRider enables drivers to provide transportation services without the need for a central system. Both the passenger and the driver will know about sharing ride details, secure their travel details, such as pick-up and drop-off locations, arrival/departure times, and secure payment through the ethereum blockchain.With a distributed ledger, drivers and riders could create a more user-driven,value-oriented marketplace.In the context of car-sharing systems, our work also indicates that the design of such an integrated platform is dependent on striking the correct balance between important design concepts (such as security and privacy, authenticity, traceability and reliability, scalability, and interoperability).
Solidity is an object-oriented, high-level programming language that is used to construct smart contracts that automate blockchain transactions. The language was proposed in 2014 by Gavin Wood and developed by participants of the Ethereum project. Solidity was influenced by C++, Python, and JavaScript, so you will find similar language structures as in those languages. The language is primarily used to build smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain, but it can also be used to create smart contracts on other blockchains.