Search results

This chapter provides a discussion on some issues in blockchain finance that regulators are concerned about – an area which bitcoin promoters have remained silent about. Blockchain technology in finance has several benefits for financial intermediation in the financial system; notwithstanding, several issues persist which if addressed can make the adoption of blockchain technology in finance easier and accepted by regulators. The blockchain issues discussed in this chapter are relevant for recent debates in blockchain finance.

As information providers, libraries select, acquire, process, store, preserve and distribute information resources to customers. Innovative technologies like the blockchain have posed major challenges to education and library services. The main goal of the application of blockchain technology (BT) in libraries and information centers is to give all possible users in participating library systems unrestricted access to digital content and print collections while minimizing risk to protect each user’s privacy and identification. A fresh and dependable technology called blockchain aids in the security, reliability and preservation of information. The 21st century’s change agents’ libraries are implementing new technologies to deliver the most knowledge possible in the shortest amount of time. It cannot be overstated how this technology has the potential to transform library services, operations and functions.

An extensive review of literature on “smart libraries” was carried to ascertain the emerging technologies in the smart library domain. Literature was searched against various keywords like smart libraries, smart technologies, Internet of Things, electronic resource management, data mining, artificial intelligence, ambient intelligence, BT and augmented reality. Later on, the works citing the literature on smart libraries were also explored to visualize a broad spectrum of emerging concepts about this growing trend in libraries.

Blockchain is one of the rapidly expanding and evolving technology. Librarians and library need to understand the opportunities, benefits and risks of blockchain. Perhaps in libraries, BT will become a useful tool for storing, storing and sharing information. This technology also aids in the acquisition of library materials that can improve collection maintenance. Blockchain can protect user and patron records and enhance the privacy of user and research data. This technology also improves collaboration among library patrons and staff. BT is increasingly being adopted by libraries in various ways. It creates an improved metadata system to protect digital-first selling rights, peer-to-peer sharing and more. Apart from what have been already discussed, this technology is perfect for academia and perfect for achieving potential pace in libraries. It can be used to safeguard library user records, retrieve libraries document and improve collection management. A special bulk request enables identification and discovery of unique holdings. Scientific writing is another good use case for blockchain, where researchers can record and time-stamp ideas and spread information. BT presents a significant opportunity for libraries to enhance user privacy, enhance collaboration and transform the manner in which libraries and communities collaborate. The University of San Jose in Toronto, the Reference Library, the Suffolk Collaborative Library System and many other libraries are exploring this technology, and various other libraries are set to follow suit.

The paper tries to highlight the usage of blockchain technologies in the libraries and information center setups for the efficient working of library setups. Blockchain is one of the emerging technologies that have the potential to bring the technology revolution.

Blockchain is a distributed ledger, in which the blocks containing transaction details are connected chronologically to form a series of chains, thus raising the possibility of improving the process and innovating business model for the financial institutions. The purpose of this paper is to study the actual cases of Blockchain applied in Korea in 2017, so that a vision of business model innovation of financial institutions can be drawn.

The financial institutions in Korea are in the technology verification stage to introduce Blockchain technology. Since there is an insufficient amount of actual measurement data, case study method was adopted. The authors interviewed ICT officers of major banks in Korea. The purpose of the interview was to understand the relationship between Blockchain and business models of financial institutions, and the effects and challenges that Blockchain has on the business model of financial institutions.

From the perspective of financial institutions, the emergence of Blockchain does not just have technical significance – emergence of highly efficient database system – but has the possibility that if the business model of existing financial intermediaries disappears or get reduced, the financial services relying on them can disappear altogether, or some of them can be replaced, and financial transaction patterns of consumers can be changed. As a case studies researched for this paper, it was discovered that the distributed characteristic of Blockchain cannot be applied when actually developing financial services.

To introduce blockchain in simple terms for business lawyers to be able to spot the right issues and ask the right questions.

This article provides an overview of blockchain, identifies two example use cases, and highlights some of the most pressing legal issues, including issues to address in on-chain programming, off-chain agreements and other issues when determining whether to implement a blockchain solution.

This article concludes that there has been a significant growth in investment and interest in blockchain. Numerous companies across different sectors have developed blockchain proof-of-concepts, with some heading towards production deployments. At this point, commercial blockchain is largely in the pilot or proof-of-concept stage across a wide range of use cases, with payments and supply chain being two of the most promising use cases. This article also identifies possible legal issues associated with blockchain.

Despite the growing interest in blockchain, it is still a novel topic to many business lawyers. It is very important that lawyers are able to identify the right issues and ask the right questions.

Practical guidance from experienced lawyers in the Technology Transactions and Financial Services Regulatory & Enforcement practices.

The centralized processes of today’s power trading systems are complex and pose a risk of price tampering and hacking. The decentralized and unmodifiable nature of the blockchain technology that has recently been highlighted offers the potential to improve this power trading process. The purpose of this study is to implement a system to apply the blockchain technology to the problem of power trading.

The authors modeled the power trading problem as the interaction between admin, producer and consumer nodes. And a power trading scenario has been created for this model using a blockchain platform called Multichain which is both fast and highly scalable. To verify this scenario, they implemented a trading system using Savoir, a Python-based JsonRPC module.

Experimental results show that all processes, such as blockchain creation, node connectivity, asset issuance and exchange transactions have been correctly handled according to the scenario.

In this study, the authors have proposed and implemented a power trading method that determines price according to the pure market principle and cannot be manipulated or hacked. It is based on the nature of blockchain technology that is decentralized and cannot be tampered.

Blockchain technology can be used to record virtually anything of value – your identity, a will, a deed or almost any type of secure transfer of information. But in many respects, blockchain is lacking some critical capabilities to make it ready for widescale adoption by business. This paper on IBM blockchain attempts to uncover the promise of blockchain for enterprise, which goes beyond its role as an industry disruptor. It also has tremendous potential to improve existing business processes, as well as to improve efficiencies in existing transaction systems, leading to exponential cost saving for the enterprise and the end consumer. Disintermediation and disruption is the investment magnet for blockchain-related ideas, riding on the success of the business and underpinned by peer-to-peer and crowdsourcing models. Blockchain technology promises a similar explosion in trade, ownership and trust, as the tenets of both technologies rely on principles of distributed governance and rules established for a time-tested protocol.

The idea behind defining the path to blockchain enterprise adoption is to ensure that we have a microscopic focus on a singular use case and that we distill the existing business into a blockchain paradigm. This implies both business and technology models. We take a singular use case that has an industry and enterprise impact and apply business and technology acumen to the problem domain.

The result is a well-thought-out business architecture and technology blueprint, along with requirements for compliance, audit and enterprise integration. The point of this exercise is to expend time and energy with the right business domain expertise and blockchain technology expertise to derive an adoption model that enlists and surfaces hurdles, challenges and factors in the costs and economic viability of the blockchain solution.

The resulting artifacts/collateral of the blockchain client led engagement are envisioned to be instrumental in socialization and in providing a blueprint for a business seeking executive sponsorship and the necessary funding for first project.

This paper aims to provide an overview of the application of blockchain to agri-food supply chains, including key issues and trends. It examines the state of the art and conceptual structure of the field and proposes an agenda to guide future research.

This article performs a bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer software on a sample of 205 articles from the WoS database to identify research trend topics.

The number of publications in this area has increased since 2020, which shows a growing research interest. The research hotspots are related to the integration of blockchain technology in the agri-food supply chain for traceability, coordination between all actors involved, transparency of operations and improvement of food safety. Furthermore, this is linked to sustainability and the achievement of the sustainable development gtoals (SDGs), while addressing key challenges in the implementation of blockchain-based technologies in the agri-food supply chain.

The application of blockchain in the agri-food supply chain may consider four key aspects. Firstly, the implementation of blockchain can improve the traceability of food products. Secondly, this technology supports sustainability issues and could avoid disruptions in the agri-food supply chain. Third, blockchain improves food quality and safety control throughout the supply chain. Fourthly, the findings show that regulation is needed to improve trust between stakeholders.

The paper provides a comprehensive overview of the blockchain phenomenon in the agri-food supply chain by optimising the search criteria. Moreover, it serves to bridge to future research by identifying gaps in the field.

The public distribution system (PDS) is an Indian food security system established to manage the distribution of food grains at affordable prices. As a result of the population explosion, the long-established PDS system finds it challenging to maintain operational efficiency, quality, trust and transparency. This paper explores the possibility of leveraging blockchain technology to overcome these operational hurdles.

Through a literature review and expert interactions, the present research identifies critical success factors in terms of enablers and barriers that influence the adoption of blockchain technology in PDS. Furthermore, we propose two independent interpretive structural models (ISM) and MICMAC to characterize these attributes.

The research identifies 15 distinct enablers and ten barriers that influence the diffusion of the latest technology in the sector at focus. The analyses disclose the interrelationships/dependencies among these enablers and between barriers, along with their individual driving power and dependence power.

The research showcases the importance of automating the system and illustrates how the features of blockchain technology can assist in augmenting stakeholder satisfaction levels. However, poor or nonexistent government regulations and patronage are found to be the major impediments to adoption. The research also delineates the cost implications of this barrier through its interrelationships with other barriers.

Interesting inferences are drawn from the models that offer actionable insights for the industry, government and technologists for improving PDS performance. Such interventions will ensure national food security through enhanced trust and transparency, which can further improve efficiency and effectiveness.

Against the background of the I50 paradigm, this paper queries in what ways blockchain and blockchain-based applications deployed in the smart city context facilitate the integration of the I50 paradigm in smart urban contexts.

A mixed methods approach is applied. First, by means of desk research and thematic literature review, a conceptual model integrating the I50 paradigm, smart city and blockchain-based solutions is built. Second, science mapping bibliometric analysis (SciMat) based on keywords’ co-occurrence is applied to a sample of 491 research articles to identify key domains of blockchain-based applications’ use in smart city. Third, a semi-systematic literature review complements insights gained through SciMat. Fourth, the findings are interpreted through the precepts of the conceptual model devised earlier.

The key blockchain-based applications in smart cities pertain to two domains, i.e. the foundational, service facilitation-oriented domain, including security (and safety), networks, computing, resource management and the service delivery-oriented domain, including mobility, energy and healthcare. Blockchain serves as the key building block for applications developed to deliver functions specific to each of the thus identified domains. A substantial layering of blockchain-based tools and applications is necessary to advance from the less to the more complex functional domains of the smart city.

At the conceptual level, the intricacies of the (making of the) I50 paradigm are discussed and a case for I50 – smart city – blockchain nexus is made. Easton’s input–output model as well as constructivism is referenced. At the empirical level, the key major domains of blockchain-based applications are discussed; those that bear the prospect of integrating the I50 paradigm in the smart city are highlighted. At the methodological level, a strategic move is made aimed at restoring the literature review’s role as subservient to the key line of exploration, to justify and ultimately support it, rather than to showcase the literature review as the ultimate purpose for itself.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a blockchain-based data capture and transmission system that will collect real-time power consumption data from a household electrical appliance and transfer it securely to a local server for energy analytics such as forecasting.

The data capture system is composed of two current transformer (CT) sensors connected to two different electrical appliances. The CT sensors send the power readings to two Arduino microcontrollers which in turn connect to a Raspberry-Pi for aggregating the data. Blockchain is then enabled onto the Raspberry-Pi through a Java API so that the data are transmitted securely to a server. The server provides real-time visualization of the data as well as prediction using the multi-layer perceptron (MLP) and long short term memory (LSTM) algorithms.

The results for the blockchain analysis demonstrate that when the data readings are transmitted in smaller blocks, the security is much greater as compared with blocks of larger size. To assess the accuracy of the prediction algorithms data were collected for a 20 min interval to train the model and the algorithms were evaluated using the sliding window approach. The mean average percentage error (MAPE) was used to assess the accuracy of the algorithms and a MAPE of 1.62% and 1.99% was obtained for the LSTM and MLP algorithms, respectively.

A detailed performance analysis of the blockchain-based transmission model using time complexity, throughput and latency as well as energy forecasting has been performed.