Blockchain Applications Research Articles

An analysis of Strategies for Adopting Blockchain Technology in Fresh Product Supply Chain Under Freshness Misreporting

The application of blockchain technology can inhibit producers' freshness misrepresentation in fresh produce supply chains. In this paper, we consider consumers with fresh produce freshness information traceability preference. In a fresh produce supply chain with a single producer and a single seller, the seller's blockchain application decision is studied, the Stackelberg game models of the supply chain members in the two scenarios of the producer misrepresenting freshness and the seller applying blockchain are constructed, and the changes of the equilibrium solutions before and after the application of blockchain technology are analysed. The theoretical proofs and numerical simulation studies show that when the transaction cost is at a certain level, the sellers should choose to apply blockchain technology to improve their own revenue, and the level of applying blockchain technology is affected by the consumer's retrospective preference and the cost coefficient of blockchain technology.

Healthcare 5.0: A secure and distributed network for system informatics in medical surgery

IntroductionHealth records serve not only as a database of a patient's health history and treatment process but also as a crucial tool for doctors to diagnose and treat patients. However, the storage and sharing of these records are sensitive issues as they involve maintaining patient privacy and ensuring data transparency, security, and interoperability between different parties. Challenges to achieving these goals in the current surgical process can impact the allocation of medical resources and surgical outcomes. MethodsThis article proposes a healthcare 5.0 framework for medical surgery that deploys a secure and distributed network using Blockchain to demonstrate transactions between different parties in the orthopedic surgery process. The proposed network uses the Hyperledger Composer platform for deployment, and a patient-doctor-supplier orthopedic surgery network is designed and implemented to enable the safe sharing of medical records. ResultsA benchmarking tool was implemented for analyzing different scenarios of applying blockchain technology to orthopedic surgery. The application of blockchain technology to orthopedic surgery presents a promising solution for data sharing and supply chain management in the field. The integration of blockchain with cloud storage and hybrid encryption ensures secure and efficient storage of Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Personal Health Record (PHR) data. By leveraging the tamper-proof nature of blockchain and addressing concerns regarding centralized data storage, this scenario demonstrates enhanced security, improved access efficiency, and privacy protection in medical data sharing. ConclusionsThe article demonstrates the feasibility of using an IoT-based blockchain network in orthopedic surgery, which can reduce medical errors and improve data interoperability among different parties. This unique application of blockchain enables secure sharing of medical records, ensuring transparency, security, and interoperability. The network design may also be applicable to other surgeries and medical applications in the future.

Blockchain Technology in Higher Education

Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize the education sector by providing a secure, transparent, and tamperproof platform for storing and sharing academic records. As blockchain adoption continues to grow. In this paper we have discussed about the applications of blockchain in higher education such as Credit Transfer in Education System. Purpose of this paper is to explore the applications of Blockchain in Higher Education.

A game-theoretical approach for the adoption of government-supported blockchain application in the IoT-enabled agricultural supply chain

Establishing a reliable, cost-effective, and data-accessible supply chain is a requirement for all administrations. The significance of such a supply chain lies in its ability to strengthen national resiliency, ensure economic security, and foster sustainable growth. Governments know financial investments and subsidies in infrastructure, logistics, and technology are necessary for a robust supply chain. This paper proposes an IoT-enabled agricultural supply chain that integrates with a cooperative Nash game between two parties: telecommunications operators and agricultural enterprises. The aim is to establish cooperative decision-making procedures in advance of the integration of blockchain technology into the supply chain, which is regulated by the subsidy policy of the government. The Nash game yields a unique Nash equilibrium, indicating that both parties can engage in cooperative negotiations regarding their participation in the blockchain application to maximize their financial profits. To illustrate the efficacy of Nash collaboration in blockchain adoption, this study presents two scenarios where non-cooperative behavior is explored to analyze stakeholder responses in competitive contexts. Numerical results justify the theoretical findings and suggest Nash cooperation among stakeholders instead of competition in the blockchain-based agri-food market, which leads to a more accessible market environment that ultimately benefits consumers. Moreover, the positive and negative aspects of the deployment of the government-supported blockchain application are derived through sensitivity analyses conducted on subsidy rate, agricultural market price, subsidy amount, and blockchain market. Practical managerial implications are derived from the findings and observations to help policymakers formulate blockchain policies in agricultural supply chains supported by governments.

Blockchain Opportunities for Water Resources Management: A Comprehensive Review

Blockchain technology has been used for the digitalization of physical asset management and data management processes in many areas in the industry and academia, including the water domain. Its potential as an immutable data storage system and smart contract integration has provided a plethora of use cases and utility in the domain of hydrology and water resources. This systematic review critically examines the application of blockchain technology in the field of water resources and hydrology. By analyzing 104 academic publications and 37 non-academic studies from 2017 to 15 October 2022, this paper identifies the current state of blockchain applications in water management, delineates their potential use cases, and assesses their practical utility and scalability. Despite the theoretical promise of blockchain for enhancing water governance, data security, and stakeholder trust, the review reveals a noticeable gap between theoretical potential and the existence of workable, real-time applications specifically in water resources management. The findings indicate that while blockchain technology has been effectively implemented in various sectors, its adoption in hydrological domain is still emerging, with limited empirical evidence to support full-scale deployment. The paper concludes with a call for more empirical research to validate theoretical benefits, address scalability and interoperability challenges, and integrate blockchain technology with real-time data networks for sustainable water management practices.

A Comprehensive Survey on Blockchain Technology and Its Applications

This survey paper provides a comprehensive and in-depth overview of blockchain technology and its wide-ranging applications. It begins by introducing the fundamental characteristics and structure of blockchain, with a particular focus on the five major consensus mechanisms and their unique features. The article emphasizes the crucial role of smart contracts and cryptography in the construction and operation of blockchain networks. Furthermore, the paper explores the specific applications of blockchain in three key areas: cryptocurrencies, supply chains, and healthcare security. It highlights the numerous advantages that blockchain brings to these domains, including enhanced security, transparency, and efficiency. The paper also offers valuable insights into the future potential of blockchain technology in these areas, providing a glimpse into the possibilities that lie ahead. Additionally, the article addresses the challenges posed by the "impossible triangle" of decentralization, security, and high performance in blockchain. It discusses the emerging research trends aimed at tackling these challenges, such as cross-chain protocols, privacy protection mechanisms, blockchain expansion strategies, and advanced data storage solutions. The paper presents recent advancements and breakthroughs in each of these research directions, showcasing the ongoing efforts to overcome the limitations of blockchain technology.

EMERGING TRENDS IN CYBERSECURITY FOR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW

As critical infrastructure becomes increasingly interconnected and digitized, the need for robust cybersecurity measures to safeguard essential systems is more pressing than ever. This review article explores the dynamic landscape of cybersecurity for critical infrastructure, focusing on emerging trends, current challenges, and future prospects. The historical overview delves into the evolution of cyber threats, emphasizing the need for adaptive security measures. Key components of critical infrastructure are examined, elucidating the specific challenges each sector faces. The current state of critical infrastructure cybersecurity is analyzed, with a spotlight on frameworks that guide organizations in bolstering their defenses. The heart of the review explores emerging trends in cybersecurity, covering artificial intelligence and machine learning for threat detection, IoT security, blockchain applications, and advancements in cloud computing security. Challenges and threats on the horizon, including advanced persistent threats and quantum computing implications, are scrutinized to provide insights into potential vulnerabilities.
 Keywords: Cybersecurity; Critical Infrastructure; Artificial Intelligence; Internet-of-Things; Blockchain.

Access authentication via blockchain in space information network.

Space Information Network (SIN) has significant benefits of providing communication anywhere at any time. This feature offers an innovative way for conventional wireless customers to access enhanced internet services by using SIN. However, SIN's characteristics, such as naked links and maximum signal latency, make it difficult to design efficient security and routing protocols, etc. Similarly, existing SIN authentication techniques can't satisfy all of the essentials for secure communication, such as privacy leaks or rising authentication latency. The article aims to develop a novel blockchain-based access authentication mechanism for SIN. The proposed scheme uses a blockchain application, which has offered anonymity to mobile users while considering the satellites' limited processing capacity. The proposed scheme uses a blockchain application, which offers anonymity to mobile users while considering the satellites' limited processing capacity. The SIN gains the likelihood of far greater computational capacity devices as technology evolves. Since authenticating in SIN, the technique comprises three entities: low Earth orbit, mobile user, and network control centre. The proposed mutual authentication mechanism avoids the requirement of a ground station, resulting in less latency and overhead during mobile user authentication. Finally, the new blockchain-based authentication approach is being evaluated with AVISPA, a formal security tool. The simulation and performance study results illustrate that the proposed technique delivers efficient security characteristics such as low authentication latency, minimal signal overhead and less computational cost with group authentication.

Application of Blockchain Technology in the Management of Legal Documents

Blockchain technology has emerged as a transformative solution for securely managing legal documents, offering unparalleled benefits such as transparency, immutability, and enhanced security. This paper provides a comprehensive exploration of the application of blockchain in the management of legal documents, aiming to revolutionize traditional document management practices. The paper commences with an in-depth overview of blockchain technology, elucidating its decentralized nature, cryptographic security, and consensus mechanisms. It delves into the critical importance of managing legal documents securely, citing examples of the sensitive information encapsulated within legal documents and the vulnerabilities of traditional document management systems. A thorough literature review is conducted to analyse the utilization of blockchain in document management, juxtaposing blockchain-based solutions with conventional methods and underscoring the advantages of employing blockchain for legal document management. The review also scrutinizes the challenges and limitations of integrating blockchain in this context, such as scalability issues and regulatory complexities. The paper further presents illuminating case studies of real-world applications of blockchain in managing legal documents, offering insightful perspectives into the benefits and hurdles encountered in each scenario. Additionally, it outlines potential future developments in blockchain technology for legal document management, advocating for continued research to fully harness the transformative potential of blockchain in revolutionizing legal document management practices

Blockchain applications for Internet of Things (IoT): A review

Nowadays, Blockchain is very popular among industries to solve security issues of information systems. The Internet of Things (IoT) has security issues during multi-organization communication, and any organization approves no such robust framework. The combination of blockchain technology with IoT makes it more secure and solves the problem of multi-organization communication issues. There are many blockchain applications developed for the security of IoT, but these are only suitable for some types of IoT infrastructure. This paper introduces the architecture and case studies of blockchain applications. The application scenarios of the Blockchain combined with the Internet of Things, and finally discussed four common issues of the combination of the Blockchain and the Internet of Things.

State-of-the-Art and New Challenges in 5G Networks with Blockchain Technology

As mobile communications transform, 5G technology can potentially change many industries and businesses. The change will have a great influence across many fields, such as the automotive, healthcare, and manufacturing sectors. This paper aims to review the existing applications of blockchain technology in providing 5G network security and identify new possibilities for such security solutions. We consider different aspects of blockchain in 5G, particularly data transmission, access control, and applications including vertical industry-oriented applications and specific solutions supporting such sectors of economic activity. The paper briefly describes modern technologies in 5G networks and introduces blockchain’s properties and different aspects of using such technology in practical applications. It also presents access control management with blockchain applied in 5G and related problems, reviews other blockchain-enforced network technologies, and shows how blockchain can help in services dedicated to vertical industries. Finally, it presents our vision of new blockchain applications in modern 5G networks and beyond. The new-generation networks use two fundamental technologies, slicing and virtualization, and attackers attempt to execute new types of attacks on them. In the paper, we discuss one of the possible scenarios exhibiting the shortcomings of the slicing technology architecture. We propose using blockchain technology to create new slices and to connect new or existing subscribers to slices in the 5G core network. Blockchain technology should solve these architectural shortcomings.

Blockchain applications and supply chain performance: evidence from Chinese firms

ABSTRACT As blockchain technology becomes increasingly prevalent in firms, it is worth exploring its impact on firms’ supply chain performance (SCP). Based on 13,230 research samples from 1,761 A-share listed firms collected from CNRDS between 2012 and 2019, this paper conducts an empirical study on how blockchain technology would affect the performance of supply chains. We divide our sample into two groups based on whether firms apply blockchain and conduct an empirical study using the difference-in-difference (DID) model. This study contributes to the literature by utilising quantitative methods and integrating blockchain with SCP. The results indicate that the application of blockchain technology can increase the performance of the supply chain represented by the cash-to-cash cycle. A series of robustness tests and the placebo test also support this conclusion. The improving effect of blockchain on the performance of firm supply chains is only significant in non-state-owned enterprises (NSOEs), smaller firms, and non-manufacturing firms. Our study contributes to the continual development of theories about SCP, guiding firms to implement measures that unlock the full potential of blockchain to improve their SCP.

Blockchain for Big Data: Approaches, Opportunities and Future Directions

Abstract: The last several years have seen a significant increase in interest in big data across a range of scientific and engineering fields. Despite having several benefits and applications, big data still has some difficulties that must be overcome for a higher level of service, such as big data analytics, big data management, and big data privacy and security. Big data services and apps stand to greatly benefit from blockchain decentralisation and security features. In this article, we present an overview of blockchain for big data with an emphasis on current methods, possibilities, and upcoming trends. We begin by providing a succinct explanation of big data, blockchain, and the purpose of their integration. After that, we look at different types of blockchain assistance for big data, such as blockchain for security in big data collection, data privacy protection, storage, and collection. Next, we examine the latest work on the utilization of blockchain applications for big data across different industries, including smart grid apps and applications, smart city applications, and smart healthcare applications. A few illustrative blockchain-big data initiatives are given and discussed for a good understanding. Finally, difficulties and potential directions are examined to advance research in an exciting field.

Leveraging Blockchain Interoperability for Interdependent Networks

With the rapid emergence of technologies, coupling interdependent consumer electronics networks have become imperative to enable information exchange, holistic data analysis, and effective decision-making techniques. While interdependent networks can discover crucial information through intuitive understanding and efficient data-driven algorithms, it is crucial to leverage secure and effective data exchange among the underlying networks of consumer electronics. Blockchain comes into play when it requires ensuring trustless communication and data exchange amongst multiple interdependent networks. Blockchain interoperability is evolving and gaining widespread popularity in industry and research due to its ability to exchange data among multiple blockchains. This paper presents Divide-LeapChain, a next-generation efficient and effective interoperable blockchain framework for interdependent networks of heterogeneous consumer electronics devices. The Divide-LeapChain addresses the critical issues of intra- and inter-blockchain communication, including spatial and temporal uncertainties in data traversal, exchange, validation, and cross-chain swaps. It promises significant drops-off in verification steps without weakening blockchain integrity, which extends the possibilities to apply blockchain applications on heterogeneous embedded consumer Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices.

A Review of Blockchain Applications and Healthcare Informatics

A Review of Blockchain Applications and Healthcare Informatics

Applications of Blockchain in Tourism Industry

Tourism is a rapidly growing industry, even after seeing some drop back during the last few years due to COVID-19. The latest trend shows that it is gaining its position again to become a booming industry of the century, but as the industry gains pace, it faces several challenges that require modern solutions. With the coming up of new technologies, blockchain technology has gained rapid attention not only since it maintains a secure and decentralized record of transactions across the world but also due to its safe access to identifying data while enhancing accessibility for individuals in need in sectors like banking, travel, healthcare, and education. The current tourism industry fails the tourist by not providing a decentralized payment system for advance booking of hotels and vehicles, and the foreign tax required for such transactions increases the further cost for a tourist. With no real-time luggage tracking available, tourists are always on the lookout for their luggage. Blockchain technology improves the accuracy and reliability of baggage mishandling coding by providing a decentralized, tamper-proof record of all baggage handling events. If blockchain technology is incorporated into the tourism industry, many issues in the industry get solved, and it can grow more rapidly, helping economies all over the world by providing smart solutions to difficult problems and thus improving the experience of tourists by providing safety, a decentralized payment system, preventing fraud, and enhancing security by securing the data from unauthorized access. This research helps in further identifying the problem in the tourism industry and solving it by implementing blockchain technology, thus improving economies relying on the tourism industry.

Blockchain in healthcare: A comprehensive review of applications and security concerns

Blockchain technology presents a transformative opportunity for the healthcare industry, offering enhanced data security, integrity, transparency, and operational efficiency. This paper comprehensively examines blockchain's applications, advantages, limitations, and challenges in healthcare. Blockchain ensures the privacy of patient data while complying with regulations such as HIPAA and GDPR, and its immutability guarantees data integrity. Moreover, blockchain streamlines operations, reducing fraud and errors in billing and claims processing. Despite its potential, blockchain faces technical complexities, regulatory hurdles, and scalability issues. Interoperability between diverse healthcare systems remains challenging, and energy consumption is a concern in some blockchain implementations. Addressing these challenges and fostering education and adoption are crucial steps toward realizing the full potential of blockchain in revolutionizing healthcare delivery.

Blockchain for social good: A review of applications in humanitarian aid and social initiatives

Blockchain technology has emerged as a revolutionary force with the potential to address pressing social challenges and transform traditional paradigms in humanitarian aid and social initiatives. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the diverse applications of blockchain in fostering social good, particularly in the realms of humanitarian aid and social initiatives. The decentralized and transparent nature of blockchain offers a paradigm shift in the way charitable organizations operate and deliver aid. Smart contracts on blockchain enable transparent and tamper-resistant transactions, ensuring that resources are allocated efficiently and reach intended beneficiaries. The elimination of intermediaries reduces the risk of corruption and ensures a more direct and accountable flow of funds. In the context of humanitarian aid, blockchain facilitates the creation of decentralized identity systems, ensuring secure and verifiable identities for displaced populations. This aids in the efficient delivery of aid, as well as financial inclusion for those without access to traditional banking services. Moreover, blockchain enhances supply chain transparency, enabling the tracking of donations from inception to distribution, reducing fraud and ensuring the authenticity of goods. Social initiatives, too, benefit from blockchain's transformative capabilities. Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) enable communities to collectively make decisions and manage resources. This fosters a sense of ownership and empowerment among participants, promoting sustainable social development. Additionally, blockchain-based token economies incentivize positive behaviors, encouraging individuals to contribute to social causes in meaningful ways. Despite these promising applications, challenges such as scalability, regulatory uncertainties, and technological literacy remain. This paper calls for continued research and collaboration to unlock the full potential of blockchain for social good, emphasizing the need for innovative solutions that can address the unique challenges faced by humanitarian and social initiatives.

Blockchain Applications in Higher Education Based on the NIST Cybersecurity Framework

Blockchain Applications in Higher Education Based on the NIST Cybersecurity Framework

Incentive approaches for cloud computing: challenges and solutions

Cloud computing enables highly configurable and reliable computing resources on a rentable per-use scheme, facilitating quick and cost-effective provisioning of large-scale applications. Thanks to the fast-paced evolution of cutting-edge technologies and the rapid spread of cloud-based solutions, the cloud computing ecosystem is now part of our everyday lives. Nevertheless, cloud computing relies on highly sophisticated data centers comprising energy-consuming servers and equipment that require much energy. Stimulating cloud services for active participation and network contributions presents several challenges. Strategies based on artificial intelligence (AI), game theory, and blockchain have great potential to create an economically sustainable cloud ecosystem. This paper explores strategies grounded in AI, game theory, and blockchain to foster an economically sustainable cloud ecosystem. Informed by a survey study, our research delves into incentive approaches within cloud computing. Theoretical foundations, motivations, and enabling techniques are comprehensively examined to provide valuable insights for a broad audience. The primary contributions of this work lie in elucidating the application of AI, game theory, and blockchain to address challenges in incentivizing cloud services, paving the way for a more sustainable and efficient cloud computing landscape.