An appealing feature of blockchain technology is smart contracts. A smart contract is executable code that runs on top of the blockchain to facilitate, execute and enforce an agreement between untrusted parties without the involvement of a trusted third party. In this paper, we conduct a systematic mapping study to collect all research that is relevant to smart contracts from a technical perspective. The aim of doing so is to identify current research topics and open challenges for future studies in smart contract research. We extract 24 papers from different scientific databases. The results show that about two thirds of the papers focus on identifying and tackling smart contract issues. Four key issues are identified, namely, codifying, security, privacy and performance issues. The rest of the papers focuses on smart contract applications or other smart contract related topics. Research gaps that need to be addressed in future studies are provided.
Abstract Blockchain technology enables distributed, encrypted and secure logging of digital transactions. It is the underlying technology of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Blockchain is expected to revolutionize computing in several areas, particularly where centralization was unnatural and privacy was important. In the paper, we present research on where and how this technology could be useful in the construction industry. The work is based on the study of literature on open issues that exist in construction process management. These are than matched to the capabilities of blockchain. We are motivated by the fact that construction projects involve a dynamic grouping of several companies. We study the degree to which the relationships among them are hierarchical or peer-to-peer and note that particularly in information intensive phases, centralization of information management was necessary because of technology. When using un-constraining technology, communication patterns among participants show a peer-to-peer nature of the relationships. In such environment, blockchain can provide a trustworthy infrastructure for information management during all building life-cycle stages. Even if building information modelling (BIM) is used, which assumes a centralized building information model, there is a role for blockchain to manage information on who did what and when and thus provide a basis for any legal arguments that might occur. On the construction site blockchain can improve the reliability and trustworthiness of construction logbooks, works performed and material quantities recorded. In the facility maintenance phase, blockchain's main potential is the secure storage of sensor data which are sensitive to privacy. We conclude that blockchain provides solutions to many current problems in construction information management. However, it is more likely that it will be built into generic IT infrastructure on top of which construction applications are built, rather than used directly by authors of construction related software. It has a potential to make construction processes less centralized which opens needs for research in that direction.
Hyperledger Fabric is a flexible operating system for permissioned blockchains designed for business applications beyond the basic digital coin addressed by Bitcoin and other existing networks. A key property of this system is its extensibility, and in particular the support for multiple ordering services for building the blockchain. However, version 1 was launched in 2017 without an implementation of a Byzantine fault-tolerant (BFT) ordering service. To overcome this limitation, we designed, implemented, and evaluated a BFT ordering service for this system on top of the BFT-SMART state machine replication/consensus library, with optimizations for wide-area deployment. Our results show that our ordering service can process up to ten thousand transactions per second and write a transaction irrevocably in the blockchain in half a second, even with peers spread across different continents.
Evidence from developed countries has shown that larger banks usually have more financial and technical resources to finance and implement blockchain technology more effectively, compared to smaller banks. Even though interest in blockchain is rising in the Nigerian banking sector, there is little empirical research on how bank size affects blockchain adoption. In view of this gap, this study examines the influence of bank size on the adoption of blockchain technology within Nigerian Deposit Money Banks (DMBs). A longitudinal research design was used, and secondary data were extracted from the published annual reports of the banks from 2015 to 2024. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to present the findings of the study. Findings revealed that the size of banks has a positive and significant effect (coeff = 0.124, p = 0.000) on blockchain technology adoption of banks in Nigeria. This demonstrates that larger banks tend to adopt blockchain technology compared to smaller ones. Similarly, return on assets (ROA) has a positive and significant impact (coeff = 0.133, p = 0.0162) on the extent of blockchain adoption of the examined banks. Because ROA was used to proxy the profitability of the banks, this result suggests that an increase in the profitability of banks is an advantage in terms of blockchain adoption. A negative relationship exists between leverage and blockchain technology adoption (−0.0071) as anticipated, but the impact is not significant (p = 0.5731). Lastly, this study found that age has a positive and significant (coeff = 0.0158, p = 0.016) impact on blockchain technology adoption among Nigerian banks, as older banks are investing in this technology more than younger ones. The study concludes that larger banks demonstrate a higher tendency to adopt blockchain technology due to greater resource availability, enhanced technical capacity, and stronger strategic incentives. This study, therefore, concludes that policymakers and industry players should provide supportive policies and programmes to promote blockchain adoption across all bank sizes. Partnerships between smaller banks and fintech firms can help bridge resource gaps, allowing smaller banks to benefit from fintech expertise and innovations without incurring full development costs.
This thesis introduces Nexa, a blockchain architecture designed to balance the critical trade-offs between security, scalability, and decentralization in Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems. To address the blockchain trilemma (RQ1), Nexa strategically combines Avalanche's high-performance public blockchain with decentralized IPFS storage, optimizing for the high throughput and low finality required in healthcare. To mitigate risks from centralized key management (RQ2), Nexa implements a distributed threshold cryptography scheme using Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH), ChaCha20-Poly1305, and Shamir’s Secret Sharing (SSS). This design leverages smart contract-based access control and oracle-assisted decryption to enhance security without a central point of failure. Performance benchmarks on the Avalanche testnet, using synthetic datasets, validate this balanced approach, demonstrating efficient operation latencies and minimal costs suitable for clinical workflows while ensuring patient control.
Abstract A blockchain is a decentralised linked data structure that is characterised by its inherent resistance to data modification, but it is deficient in search queries primarily due to its inferior data formatting. A distributed database is also a decentralised data structure which features quick query processing and well-designed data formatting but suffers from data reliability. In this work, we showcase ChainSQL , an open-source system developed by integrating the blockchain with the database, i.e. we present a blockchain database application platform that has the decentralised, distributed and audibility features of the blockchain and quick query processing and well-designed data structure of the distributed databases. ChainSQL features a tamper-resistant and consistent multi-active database, a reliable and cost effective data-level disaster recovery backup and an auditable transaction log mechanism. The system is presented as an operational multi-active database along with the data-level disaster recovery backup and audibility features. A comprehensive experimental evaluation is performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the system.
Introduction This systematic review comprehensively examines the application of blockchain in health insurance, highlighting the current state of research, inherent challenges, and future trends. Blockchains have demonstrated excellent potential in health insurance, especially in fraud prevention, claims processing, and data security. Moreover, this study also aims to identify several critical challenges that hinder their broader adoption and effectiveness, including data heterogeneity, individual task requirements, scalability and regulatory alignment. Methods System Review Results and Discussion Through comprehensive analysis, this study discusses some actionable solutions and strategies. Conclusively, this review underscores blockchain’s transformative impact on building a secure, efficient, and patient-centric health insurance system.
IntroductionThis study investigates how enterprise departments influence blockchain adoption.MethodsIt applies Isomorphism Theory and AHP using data from 156 professionals across 10 countries.ResultsFinance had the most influence, followed by Marketing, Production, HRM, and Purchasing.DiscussionInternal hierarchies and institutional pressures shape strategic adoption of blockchain.
Blockchain technology has emerged as one of the most transformative digital innovations of the 21st century. This paper presents a comprehensive review of blockchain's fundamental architecture, tracing its development from Bitcoin's initial implementation to current enterprise applications. We examine the core technical components including distributed consensus algorithms, cryptographic principles, and smart contract functionality that enable blockchain's unique properties. The historical progression from cryptocurrency-focused systems to robust platforms for decentralized applications is analyzed, highlighting pivotal developments in scalability, privacy, and interoperability. Additionally, we identify critical challenges facing widespread blockchain adoption, including technical limitations, regulatory hurdles, and integration complexities with existing systems. By providing this foundational understanding of blockchain technology, this paper contributes to ongoing research efforts addressing blockchain's potential to revolutionize data management across industries.
Censorship resilience is a fundamental assumption underlying the security of blockchain protocols. Additionally, the analysis of blockchain security from an economic and game theoretic perspective has been growing in popularity in recent years. In this work, we present a surprising rational censorship attack on blockchain censorship resilience when we adopt the analysis of blockchain security from a game theoretic lens and assume all users are rational. In our attack, a colluding group with sufficient voting power censors the remainder nodes such that the group alone can gain all the rewards from maintaining the blockchain. We show that if nodes are rational, coordinating this attack just requires a public read and write blackboard and we formally model the attack using a game theoretic framework. Furthermore, we note that to ensure the success of the attack, nodes need to know the total true voting power held by the colluding group. We prove that the strategy to join the rational censorship attack and also for nodes to honestly declare their power is a subgame perfect equilibrium in the corresponding extensive form game induced by our attack. Finally, we discuss the implications of the attack on blockchain users and protocol designers as well as some potential countermeasures.
Ahmad Ali Eyadat, Amro S. Alamaren, Siwar Lutfi Almomani
This quantitative research investigates the influence of Blockchain technology on reducing cybersecurity risks in financial transactions of commercial banks in Jordan. It aims to determine the extent to which Blockchain technology can reduce cyber risks faced by commercial banks in Jordan. A structured questionnaire consisting of 12 items was designed based on the research question about how Blockchain technology affects and contributes to cybersecurity to check the main objective of this study. This questionnaire has been handed out to respondents who are currently employed in Jordanian commercial banks. Here, stratified sampling was used to ensure that the data collected were representative of different segments of banks, providing a more accurate analysis of the views of the various members of the banking industry. The study used TAM to determine and check the scope of factors that influence the acceptance and adoption of Blockchain technology among banking professionals. Results have been positive, showing that Blockchain technology does cut or minimize the risk of cybersecurity on financial transactions in these institutions. The findings of this study thus warrant that Jordanian commercial banks should, with immediate effect, follow the integration of Blockchain solutions into their respective systems to enhance and ensure cybersecurity. Through this, the banks are able to protect their operations and encourage the clients to trust the digital banking sector.
Traditional industrial robots have long been central to manufacturing automation; however, limitations such as inflexible programming, safety concerns in human-robot interaction, and poor adaptability to dynamic production needs have restricted their widespread application. Collaborative robots (cobots) are reshaping this paradigm by enabling safe, efficient, and intelligent human-robot collaboration. This review examines the evolution and integration of collaborative robots (cobots) with Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning, and smart sensing technologies to enhance safety, adaptability, and human-centric automation. The paper explores how AI-enhanced cobots optimize production efficiency by reducing cycle times, improving product quality, and facilitating adaptive manufacturing in the automotive, healthcare, and logistics sectors. It highlights critical safety innovations like force-limiting systems, speed and separation monitoring, and ergonomic human-robot interaction. Furthermore, emerging concepts such as digital twins, blockchain for cybersecurity, and Internet of Robotic Things (IoRT) are examined for their potential to advance cobot functionality. Challenges including high initial costs, technical complexity, and cybersecurity threats are critically analyzed. Future trends, including cognitive adaptability, personalized interaction, and the shift toward Industry 5.0′s human-centered approach, are also explored. This study identifies key opportunities and challenges in collaborative robotics and proposes strategic pathways for fostering safer, smarter, and more flexible industrial environments.
Lastarida Sinaga, Albert Eddy Husin, Eka Juni Arif
et al.
Blockchain technologies have recently garnered substantial attention in research and industry sectors due to their potential advantages across various industries. Blockchain provides an effective solution to address challenges by offering distributed, secure, and permissioned transactional ledgers. This paper introduces an innovative conceptual framework that integrates blockchain technology with building information modeling, specifically designed for digital transactions and smart contracts in the retrofitting of green buildings within the chemical industry. The core objectives include enhancing cost efficiency, fortifying cybersecurity measures, improving information management and sharing, simplifying payment transactions, and promoting sustainability in this specific context. The research, conducted at a chemical facility in Cilegon, Banten, Indonesia, utilizes Structural Equation Modeling-Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) to analyze questionnaire data and identify influential factors. Results indicate that incorporating Blockchain-BIM leads to cost savings of 4.42%, 4.45%, and 4.40% for low-level, medium-level, and high-level retrofitting categories, respectively, highlighting the significant role of Blockchain-BIM in enhancing cost efficiency throughout the retrofitting process.
PurposeThe use of blockchain technology, in addition to technical issues, has always been associated with human and environmental challenges and the implementation of blockchain-based systems should be performed by considering various aspects of this technology. The main goal of this study is to evaluate the adoption of blockchain technology in the field of education and universities, by considering environmental issues.Design/methodology/approachThe extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model was used as a theoretical model. The research population included students and employees of Iranian universities, as a developing country.FindingsThe results of the research showed that environmental attitude, performance expectancy, social influence, effort expectancy and facilitating conditions are effective on the adoption and use of blockchain technology in the university. It was found that the environmental impact of blockchain is an effective factor in the adoption and use of this technology.Practical implicationsThe results of this study are used by academic managers and policymakers in the field of education in the studied society to plan effective factors in the use of blockchain.Originality/valueThe theoretical contribution of this research is the use of the extended UTAUT model, including environmental attitude factors, in the assessment of blockchain adoption.
Although many organizations have adopted blockchain technology (BCT) for efficiency and automation and users' adoption of BCT is becoming crucial for the companies, few studies have focused on the factors affecting the adoption of BCT in real estate sector. This study aims to assess the factors affecting the adoption of BCT in real estate by the lens of an extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Task-technology fit (TTF). This current study uses quantitative survey approach. Data were collected from 311 real sector buyers and sellers in China. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used for data analysis. The study's findings indicate that attitude, perceived usefulness (PU) and data privacy and security (DPS) exerts highest influence in the proposed theoretical model. In addition, the findings also confirmed the significant impact of perceived ease of use (PEOU) on attitude, and TTF impact on PU and PEOU in adoption of BCT. Furthermore, the moderating impact of perceived compatibility (PC) on the relationship between TTF and PEOU was also confirmed. The study has useful practical implications for the real estate buyers and sellers that adoption of BCT improves efficiency, reduce transaction cost incur due to intermediaries, and enhance security system. Furthermore, the study suggests that automation achieved through BCT will facilitate customized agreements and improve process of title transfer.
In the past few years, the implementation of blockchain technology for various applications has been widely discussed in the research community and the industry. There are sufficient number of articles that discuss the possibility of applying blockchain technology in various areas, such as, healthcare, IoT, and business. However, in this article, we present a comparative analysis of core blockchain architecture, its fundamental concepts, and its applications in three major areas: the Internet-of-Things (IoT), healthcare, business and vehicular industry. For each area, we discuss in detail, challenges and solutions that have been proposed from the research community and industry. This research studies also presented the complete ecosystem of blockchain of all the papers we reviewed and summarized. Moreover, analysis is performed of various blockchain platforms, their consensus models, and applications. Finally, we discuss key aspects that are required for the widespread future adoption of blockchain technology in these major areas.
Abstract This work proposes to exploit blockchain technology to define Access Control systems that guarantee the auditability of access control policies evaluation. The key idea of our proposal is to codify attribute-based Access Control policies as smart contracts and deploy them on a blockchain, hence transforming the policy evaluation process into a completely distributed smart contract execution. Not only the policies, but also the attributes required for their evaluation are managed by smart contracts deployed on the blockchain. The auditability property derives from the immutability and transparency properties of blockchain technology. This paper not only presents the proposed Access Control system in general, but also its application to the innovative reference scenario where the resources to be protected are themselves smart contracts. To prove the feasibility of our approach, we present a reference implementation exploiting XACML policies and Solidity written smart contracts deployed on the Ethereum blockchain. Finally, we evaluate the system performances through a set of experimental results, and we discuss the advantages and drawbacks of our proposal.