Miquel Oliver, Joan Arnedo-Moreno, Gerson Prieto, David BenÃtez
While the number of universities, tertiary education students and number of graduates per year constantly increase, the need to easily verify degree certificates generates new business opportunities. The irruption of blockchain, and its implementation based in the blockcerts software, provides a straightforward solution that demands to explore plausible business models. In this paper we project two financial models balancing where the price for the service is balanced between the graduate and the employer as the main stakeholders of that service. Students demand a proof-of-certification at low cost and easy to check, employers also demand quick and trustable verification of degrees when recruiting. Both models are projected for several geographic markets and shares to explore plausible ways to develop that business in the European Union.
Currently, the promise of the Blockchain technology is hyped: to enable organizations to become more decentralized, more transparent, more open to the sharing community, more secure, and therefore, more efficient. According to media coverage, Blockchain w
Every year the World Economic Forum publishes a list of the top ten emerging technologies. This list of breakthrough technologies has included 3-D printing, self-healing biomimicry materials, and human microbiome therapeutics. In 2016, the financial technology Blockchain dominated the list. Over $1 billion was invested into Blockchain technology and major financial firms are actively exploring Blockchain innovation. As innovators enter the Blockchain space, they have pushed for patent protection. This Note examines whether Blockchain is patent eligible. Patent eligibility for business methods and software patents is determined under the Supreme Court’s holding in Alice v. CLS Bank. The first section of this note discusses the technological aspects of Bitcoin and Blockchain. Blockchain was originally developed for the decentralized digital cryptocurrency Bitcoin: however, Blockchain is not tied to Bitcoin and possesses a variety of uses that could potentially revolutionize our financial system. The second section of this note discusses patent eligibility. The third section applies patent eligibility to Blockchain, discusses why Blockchain should be patent-eligible, and discusses how patent attorneys should draft Blockchain patents. The fourth section discusses the regulatory implications granting Blockchain patent-eligibility and this Note concludes by summarizing my overall thesis that Blockchain is patent-eligible.
The current legal analysis on the blockchain technology focuses on the financial regulation of the cryptocurrencies and little investigation is done in the area of privacy regulation of this technology.
This research shows that the blockchains are much more nuanced than could be served by a one-size fits all approach from regulatory perspective. The GDPR implications for the types of blockchains differ. It is possible to achieve compliance with the GDPR if the authorities adopt a nuanced approach and make reliable advance assessments on specific features are afforded by this technology. In that regard, innovators ought to be assisted by the European Data Protection Supervisor, Article 29 Working Party and local Data Protection Authorities, in particular, on the question of recognition of the data subject as her own controller by way of implementing specific, electronic identity management techniques on top of blockchains. The utility of the blockchains depend on the GDPR regulators to understand and accept that this technological architecture is best regulated by other technological tools which establish the data subject’s agency on her personal data.
Blockchain technology can effectively solve the problems of intermediaries' trust risk, reduce transaction costs and improve synergy efficiency in a multi-agent environment. This paper discusses the feasibility of applying blockchain technology to electronic invoices, and designs the overall structure of the electronic invoice blockchain. Moreover, in the paper, it is proposed to establish an electronic invoice alliance chain, and realize the research ideas of various transactions within the alliance through intelligent contracts.
This exploratory paper examines the relationship between CSCW and emerging blockchain technologies. Although the blockchain technology is at first sight not directly related to CSCW, this paper will identify a number of CSCW research areas that are relevant and that can either profit or contribute to blockchain research. To open CSCW research to new areas and to stipulate a discussion between the disciplines, the paper will start with a brief introduction to basic blockchain concepts followed by an exploration of the relationships between the two research areas. It concludes with an initial proposal on how CSCW research results and concepts can inform blockchain design.
LEO constellation has received intensive research attention in the field of satellite communication. The existing centralized authentication protocols traditionally used for MEO/GEO satellite networks cannot accommodate LEO satellites with frequent user connection switching. This paper proposes a fast and efficient access verification protocol named BAVP by combining identity-based encryption and blockchain technology. Two different key management schemes with IBE and blockchain, respectively, are investigated, which further enhance the authentication reliability and efficiency in LEO constellation. Experiments on OPNET simulation platform evaluate and demonstrate the effectiveness, reliability, and fast-switching efficiency of the proposed protocol. For LEO networks, BAVP surpasses the well-known existing solutions with significant advantages in both performance and scalability which are supported by theoretical analysis and simulation results.
The work conducted for this thesis is meant to benefit both industry and the scientific community. Creating an assessment for blockchain technology in a specific industrial (supply chain) setting and later expand to a more general setting might prove useful for companies planning to use blockchain in the future or wanting to understand blockchain technology better. There is scarce academic research on blockchain technology in fields besides computer science and finance. Expanding the research territory is key to understand this new technological trend and in the case of supply chain management, blockchain technology might prove to be a key technological development in the years to come. This thesis is formed as an assessment of the strategic fit of blockchain technology in Norwegian fish supply chains. Further, the key findings from this specific strategic fit is used to find indicators for which types of supply chains blockchain technology could bring positive strategic implications. The thesis is structured so that relevant scientific theory and data is presented before making an assessment of the strategic fit and discussing the implications. Using the theory on supply chain management Fisher (1997) and Lee (2002) and key supply chain management objectives together with theory on innovation, through Rogers (1962), the following research questions were answered.\n\nRQ1: Why is blockchain technology beneficial for fish supply chains?\nRQ1.1: How is it beneficial?\nRQ1.2: Does the findings indicate benefits for other supply chains?\n\nThe research arrived at the conclusion that Norwegian fish supply chains might benefit from blockchain technology. This is mainly a conclusion drawn by the fact that Norwegian aquaculture producers were viewed to have lean supply chains and have functional products in the material flows as found through the models of Fisher (1997) and Lee (2002), and that the supply chain management objectives cost, quality and sustainability, with the cost and quality being integral to lean supply chain practices, were found to get the highest advantages. In addition, blockchain technology was found to benefit lean supply chains in general, especially food supply chains.