Smart Contract Technology Research Articles

Performance Optimization of a Blockchain-Enabled Information and Data Exchange Platform for Smart Grids

Exchanging information and data within smart grids is crucial to improve interoperability among system users. Traditional cloud-based data exchange schemes are centralized on a single trusted third-party platform. The schemes consequently suffer from single-point failure, a lack of data protection, and uncontrolled access. Blockchain enables data exchange in a decentralised and secure manner. A new platform is proposed in this work for exchanging data within smart grids using blockchain. It allows users to securely exchange data without losing ownership. This platform provides solutions to three critical problems: privacy, scalability, and user ownership. Particularly, the blockchain-based smart contract technology gives participants the programmability to access data. All interactions are authenticated and recorded by the other participants in the tamper-resistant blockchain network. Furthermore, the performance of the proposed blockchain platform is enhanced by integrating it with an artificial neural network (ANN). The proposed method is used to predict the network’s throughput and latency, and the network administrator uses these predicted values to change the network’s settings for a high throughput and low latency. Throughout the results, the proposed model achieves performance improvements in blockchain-enabled information and data exchange and adapts well to the dynamics of smart grids.

A Privacy-Enhanced Multiarea Task Allocation Strategy for Healthcare 4.0

The continuous development of Healthcare 4.0 has brought great convenience to people. Through the Internet of Things technology, doctors can analyze patients’ health data and make timely diagnosis. However, behind the high efficiency, the mobile crowdsensing technology used for data transmission still has the risk of leaking the privacy of task and patient information. To this end, this article proposes a privacy-enhanced multi-area task assignment strategy, named PMTA. Specifically, we use deep differential privacy to add noise to patient data, and then put the noise-added dataset into a deep Q-network for training, combined with a spectral clustering algorithm, to obtain an optimal classification strategy. Further, in order to address the problem of data silos, we adopt federated learning to jointly train the classification models of different hospitals to obtain a global model and realize data sharing among different hospitals. Finally, we use the optimal classification of patients for task deployment on the blockchain, and limit patients to only apply for tasks of the corresponding level through the smart contract technology, so as to protect task privacy. Experimental results show that our strategy can not only effectively protect task and patient privacy, but also achieve better system performance.

Securing Deployed Smart Contracts and DeFi With Distributed TEE Cluster

Smart contract technologies can be used to implement almost arbitrary business logic. They can revolutionize many businesses such as payments, insurance, and crowdfunding. The resulting birth of decentralized finance (DeFi) has gained significant momentum. Smart contracts and DeFi are now attractive targets for attacks. An important research question is how to protect deployed smart contracts and DeFi. Smart contracts cannot be modified once deployed, namely vulnerabilities cannot be fixed by patching. In this case, vulnerabilities in deployed contracts and DeFi might cause devastating consequences. In this paper, we put forward SolSaviour, a framework for protecting deployed smart contracts and DeFi. The core of SolSaviour is to build a smart contract protection mechanism based on democratic voting using a distributed trusted execution environment (TEE) cluster. Once a vulnerability in deployed contracts or DeFi is found, SolSaviour can destroy the defective contract and redeploy a patched contract via the distributed TEE cluster. Moreover, SolSaviour can migrate funds and state variables from the destroyed contract to the patched one. Compared with previous work, our approach can protect smart contracts and DeFi in a distributed manner, avoiding reliance on privileged users or trusted third parties. Our experiment results show that SolSaviour can protect smart contracts and complex DeFi protocols with feasible overhead.

Safety Warning! Decentralised and Automated Incentives for Disqualified Drivers Auditing in Ride-Hailing Services

Since 2011, the private ride-hailing companies Didi (2019), Uber (2019) and Lyft (2021) have expanded into more and more cities. These ride-hailing services (RHS) bring convenience to our life; however, at the same time they, also raise security concerns for users. For example, several recent news items show that a considerable number of registered drivers whose licenses have been revoked are still taking RHS orders on the respective platforms; this phenomenon directly leads to insecurity on part of its users and the bad reputation of the ride-hailing service provider (SP). The traditional solution to solve this problem is to periodically check the validity of the drivers’ licenses; however, it is a considerably time-consuming and costly process since the SPs have to manually interact with the governing authorities. Therefore, in this paper, we have presented an auditable self-sovereign identity system (named AudiSSI), which provides an efficient approach for the SPs to manage their registered drivers’ qualifications in a decentralized and automatic manner. Further, using smart contract technology, we propose a safety guarantee insurance in the form of an auditing contract to enable the RHS rider to check their driver's qualifications before the trip starts and get incentives once they detect a disqualified driver. We designed an incentive mechanism and have provided a game theoretical analysis. Finally, we implemented a prototype of AudiSSI and deployed it on Hyperledger Indy and Fabric to show that self-sovereign identity system for RHS driver with qualification auditing is efficient and technically feasible.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Traffic Management Solution Using Crowd-Sensing and Blockchain

Unmanned aerial vehicles are gaining immense attention in diverse commercial and civil applications. However, adopting this technology will rely on management services that support safe operation. UAV traffic management systems (UTM) aim to facilitate safe, efficient, and fair access to the low-altitude airspace. However, these systems are centralized and lack protocols for secure interaction between the system agents such as authorities, service providers, and end-users. Another limitation of proposed UTM architectures is the absence of efficient mechanisms to enforce airspace rules and regulations. To address these issues, we present a decentralized UTM protocol that controls access to airspace and ensures the security objectives of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. For this purpose, we exploit features of the blockchain and smart-contract technologies. In addition, we employ a mobile crowdsensing technique to seamlessly enforce airspace rules and regulations that govern UAV operations. The solution is implemented on top of the Ethereum platform and evaluated using four different tools for smart-contract verification. We also provide security and performance analysis of the solution. For reproducibility, we made our implementation publicly available on Github.

A Decentralized Marketplace for Patient-Generated Health Data: Design Science Approach.

Wearable devices have limited ability to store and process such data. Currently, individual users or data aggregators are unable to monetize or contribute such data to wider analytics use cases. When combined with clinical health data, such data can improve the predictive power of data-driven analytics and can proffer many benefits to improve the quality of care. We propose and provide a marketplace mechanism to make these data available while benefiting data providers. We aimed to propose the concept of a decentralized marketplace for patient-generated health data that can improve provenance, data accuracy, security, and privacy. Using a proof-of-concept prototype with an interplanetary file system (IPFS) and Ethereum smart contracts, we aimed to demonstrate decentralized marketplace functionality with the blockchain. We also aimed to illustrate and demonstrate the benefits of such a marketplace. We used a design science research methodology to define and prototype our decentralized marketplace and used the Ethereum blockchain, solidity smart-contract programming language, the web3.js library, and node.js with the MetaMask application to prototype our system. We designed and implemented a prototype of a decentralized health care marketplace catering to health data. We used an IPFS to store data, provide an encryption scheme for the data, and provide smart contracts to communicate with users on the Ethereum blockchain. We met the design goals we set out to accomplish in this study. A decentralized marketplace for trading patient-generated health data can be created using smart-contract technology and IPFS-based data storage. Such a marketplace can improve quality, availability, and provenance and satisfy data privacy, access, auditability, and security needs for such data when compared with centralized systems.

Designing Halal Product Traceability System using UML and Integration of Blockchain with ERP

Consuming halal food is mandatory for Muslims, but meeting the growing demand for halal products has been a challenge for Muslim producers. Importing halal products from non-Muslim countries can raise doubts about their halal status. Therefore, a traceability system is needed to ensure the halalness of products. This research proposes a new traceability system by utilizing ERP, Blockchain, and smart contract technologies based on HAS 23000. This study is the first to combine these technologies. Using the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) method, the design diagram has been successfully developed into an application system prototype. The use of ERP can help companies reduce operational costs, while the combination with blockchain technology ensures more transparent information, data protection, and system security. The system also uses smart contracts to make automated decisions. By managing the procurement of halal products, companies can ensure that products with halal assurance reach consumers.

New Framework for Complex Assembly Digitalization and Traceability Using Bill of Assembly and Smart Contracts

This paper proposes a framework to automate the generation of traceable and protected documentation of complex assembly processes. The final assembly in aviation, automotive, and appliances industries is a rigorous process that has limited capabilities of full traceability associated with: (1) the parts installed, (2) their fabrication processes, and (3) the assembly work. This is also the case for each of its sub-assemblies. The thousands of parts forming a hierarchy of sub-assemblies that are dynamically accumulated to compose the final assembly make full traceability a challenging feat that is almost unsurmountable. Such full traceability along the entire supply chain requires considerable cost and effort since it must be based on documentation of most assembled parts, assembly tasks, and inspection tasks that compose the full assembled product. In addition, security measures are needed to prevent hostile hacking and unauthorized approach to the assembly documentation throughout the entire supply chain. The related documentation and repeated verifications require considerable effort and have many chances for human errors. So, automating these processes has great value. This article expounds a framework that harnesses blockchain and smart-contract technology to offer automated traceable and protected documentation of the assembly process. For this purpose, we expand the concept of a Bill-Of-Assembly (BOA) to incorporate data from the bill of materials (BOM), the associated assembly activities, the associated activities’ specification parameters and materials, and the associated assembly resources (machines and/or operators). The paper defines the operation of the BOA with blockchain and smart-contract technology, for attaining full traceability, safety, and security, for the entire assembled product. Future research could extend the proposed approach to facilitate the usage of the BOA data structure in constructing a digital twin of the entire simulated system.

Agile Storyboard and Software Development Leveraging Smart Contract Technology in Order to Increase Stakeholder Confidence

We present a solution based on blockchain technology and smart contracts for agile project management in light of the continuing transition in the software development industry. Due to the fact that these technologies are self-executing, customized, and impervious to tampering, they are considered to be crucial for the transition to a more efficient, transparent, and transactive payment gateway between major stakeholders. These major stakeholders will be able to communicate through smart contracts, which will act as a bridge between them. As part of their responsibility, they will make sure that all of the terms of the contract are met and acknowledged by all members of the team. As a result of our research, we propose a model in which payouts could be automatically enabled and penalties or grants could be introduced based on performance. If any changes were to be made to the contract in the future, all parties involved would be automatically notified. To maintain the development cycle, they should accept these changes as soon as possible. Because of this, the product owner and client are able to concentrate their resources on more profitable and productive tasks, without the need to monitor this aspect of agile project management. Our proposed model brings together different partners with the objective of successfully developing different IT projects by leveraging software engineering solutions such as smart contracts.

Peer-to-peer energy trading and smart contracting platform of community-based virtual power plant

Traditional centralized transactions require a control center for user demand matching, settlement and other processes. However, with the increase in the penetration rate of distributed energy in the community, the explosive increase in the number of transactions leads to a decrease in efficiency and it is difficult to guarantee user privacy and information security. The smart contract technology based on blockchain technology has the characteristics of decentralization, traceability and tamper resistance, and these key factors show unique advantages in distributed energy transactions. This paper explores Ethereum and smart contract technology, designs a peer-to-peer energy sharing mechanism with reward and punishment incentives and establishes a smart contract trading platform for smart community-based virtual power plant (CVPP). This paper verifies the functionality and effectiveness of smart contract. The results show that when the supply and demand ratio changes, the user can conduct energy transactions according to the contract without a third-party organization, which solves the problem of trust between the two parties and achieves the expected effect and runs successfully. In addition, the simulation results show that the peer-to-peer transaction based on smart contracts reduces the energy cost per household and increases the total benefit of CVPP.

Blockchain diploma authenticity verification system using smart contract technology

Blockchain diploma authenticity verification system using smart contract technology

Digitization of government contract

The digital development in the Russian Federation is to a large extent reflected in the specific relationship that emerges in the procurement procedure for State and municipal institutions as a result of the contractual system in the area of procurement. The term «procurement» refers to the acquisition of goods, construction or services; it is the process of determining the need of a solvent audience, identifying the supplier (its search and choice), as well as concluding and executing the terms of the contract, whether delivery of the goods, Performance of the work or services required by the terms of the contract. The article provides a brief overview of the process of digitization of the contract system in the procurement section and details the features of the digitization of the public contract, identifies the specific nature of the contract in the context of digitization and identifies its shortcomings, opportunities for the use of smart contract technologies in the conclusion and execution of government contract were considered.

Digitization of government contract

The digital development in the Russian Federation is to a large extent reflected in the specific relationship that emerges in the procurement procedure for State and municipal institutions as a result of the contractual system in the area of procurement. The term «procurement» refers to the acquisition of goods, construction or services; it is the process of determining the need of a solvent audience, identifying the supplier (its search and choice), as well as concluding and executing the terms of the contract, whether delivery of the goods, Performance of the work or services required by the terms of the contract. The article provides a brief overview of the process of digitization of the contract system in the procurement section and details the features of the digitization of the public contract, identifies the specific nature of the contract in the context of digitization and identifies its shortcomings, opportunities for the use of smart contract technologies in the conclusion and execution of government contract were considered. Keywords: digital, contract, government contract, smart contract, blockchain, Smart contract, contract system, automation, EIS (also a single information system), electronic information platform, electronic document management system, electronic signature, EPC, electronic document, portal, procurement of goods and services, procurement.

Problems and Prospects of Legal Regulation of the Federal State Information System for Accounting and Control of Waste Management of Hazard classes I and II

The need to preserve the population, the health and well-being of people, to ensure a comfortable and safe environment for life determines the importance of a scientifically based transformation of the waste management system, including waste of hazard classes I and II. In the conditions of digital transformation, the Federal State Information System for Accounting and Control of Waste Management of hazard classes I and II has become a factor in streamlining state management of waste management. The system in question was created for the purpose of information support of waste management activities. At the same time, its creation began in 2019 and included a set of legal, organizational and informational measures. The author has determined that the implementation of this system ensures the implementation at a more advanced level of some economic and legal principles of waste management, including the principle of "polluter pays", the principle of economic incentives and the principle of proximity. At the same time, taking into account the identified problems at the present stage of development, directions for improving this system are seen, including: increasing its openness to ensure the possibility of civil control over the sphere of waste management, as well as the use of up-to-date digital technologies, including smart contract technologies that provide automatic transmission of information to the system. The author's ideas can be used to improve the legal regulation of this system and subsequent scientific research.

Явище maximal extractable value (mev) в мережах блокчейн та його вплив на блокчейн екосистему

The advent of smart contract technology in blockchain networks has ushered in a new era of possibilities for implementing complex decentralized finance protocols. Over time, these protocols have gained significant traction, reaching a Total Value Locked (TVL) of over 150 billion US dollars. While blockchain networks offer inherent benefits such as immutability, transparency, decentralization, and security, they still grapple with a critical challenge – the inability to ensure a predictable order of transactions within produced blocks. This limitation has given rise to the Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) phenomenon. MEV represents the maximum potential benefit that certain network participants, primarily miners and validators, can extract by wielding their exclusive capability to influence transaction order. In this work, we embark on an exhaustive exploration of the MEV phenomenon and delve deep into its impact on the broader blockchain ecosystem. We shed light on the pressing issue of transaction ordering in blockchain networks and provide an in-depth survey of the vast body of scholarly publications focused on MEV extraction. This comprehensive review allowed us to conduct a retrospective analysis of the MEV phenomenon, categorize its most common manifestations, and uncover current development trends. Intriguingly, during this analysis, parallels were drawn with similar manipulations witnessed in the realm of high-frequency algorithmic trading within traditional financial markets. A vital conclusion that emerged from our study pertains to possible strategies for addressing the MEV problem within decentralized finance protocols. We systematically outline the current research directions concerning MEV, explore the methodologies and tools employed in these studies, and present concrete examples of MEV extraction within the Ethereum network, accompanied by quantitative estimations. In summary, the MEV phenomenon has cast an overwhelming negative impact on blockchain networks and decentralized finance. Our analysis of existing publications within a specific subcategory reveals the current absence of an effective solution to the MEV extraction problem. This underscores the importance of further research aimed at mitigating the adverse effects of MEV on blockchain networks and decentralized finance protocols.

Распределенный реестр истории эксплуатации транспортного средства на основе блокчейн-платформы Hyperledger Fabric

Due to the rapid development of various transport platforms, including those using unmanned technologies, systems that provide storage of vehicle operating history throughout its lifecycle are becoming increasingly relevant. Purpose: the purpose and functionality of the developed system for storing such information are defined. The main purpose of the system is to maintain a single source of reliable and unchangeable information about the operating history of the vehicle. Such a system can increase the transparency of business processes that arise between participants in the automotive industry: manufacturers and owners of vehicles, service stations, insurance companies and other industry participants. Methods: Blockchain technology, smart contracts and various methods of transaction processing were used. Results: the system was designed based on a distributed platform, based on the criteria defined in the work, Hyperledger Fabric was chosen as the platform. Communication network and information system architecture were designed and developed based on the distributed registry technology. The paper describes the process of creating the Hyperledger Fabric network, which is supported by the member organizations of the automotive industry. A description of the basic elements of the system is presented, as well as the mechanisms that maintain and harmonize the distributed registry, transaction processing, execution of smart contracts and interaction of the connected system participants. The hardware was designed in the form of a plug-in unit, which implements the functions of collection and pre-preparation of data collected from the nodes, units, sensors of the vehicle, as well as additional sensors built into the hardware unit. The collected data are transmitted from the block to the storages, the maintenance of which is carried out by the system participants interested in such data. The fact of data transfer and data source identifier is recorded in a distributed registry in the form of a transaction, placed in the block. Practical relevance: On the basis of smart contract technology the issues of forming reports on the history of vehicle operation are considered. The system is scalable and allows the deployment of new smart contracts, which provides the ability to create new scenarios for its use. Discussion Possible variants of further development and use of the system are considered: the solution of scaling the system by local zones is proposed, and a brief overview of the approach of dynamic channel definition Hyperledger Fabric using dedicated near-field data communication is presented.

Consensus mechanism for software-defined blockchain in internet of things

This article aims to discuss the consensus mechanism of software-defined blockchain in the Internet of Things, analyze the characteristics of the traditional consensus mechanism algorithms, on the basis of comparing the advantages of each model, the traditional consensus mechanism algorithm is improved. Later, a supervisable consensus scheme based on improved DPOS-PBFT (Delegated proof of stake-Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance) was proposed. In the context of the development of the Internet of Things technology, the decentralized distributed computing paradigm is used to improve the blockchain smart contract technology, and the DPOS blockchain consensus mechanism is optimized based on the DPOS protocol of the credit model. In addition, through the dynamic grouping algorithm of credibility, the research ranks the credit level of the consensus nodes of the blockchain network, thus further realizing the supervision of the Internet of Things system. The results of the case analysis show that the success rate of the mechanism algorithm can still be maintained at about 97% after 3000 user requests, the maximum delay remains below 8s after 3000 user requests, the minimum delay is always around 3s, the average delay is 2.38s, the overall performance of the algorithm is superior. It can ensure the final consistency of data transmission of each node in the Internet of Things, the research on the blockchain consensus mechanism in the Internet of Things has practical reference value.

Educational Applications of Non-Fungible Token (NFT)

With the emergence of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in blockchain technology, educational institutions have been able to use NFTs to reward students. This is done by automatically processing transaction information and the buying and selling process using smart contract technology. The technology enables the establishment of recognition levels and incentivizes students to receive NFT recognition rewards. According to the Taxonomy Learning Pyramid, learning through hands-on experiences plays a crucial role in attracting students’ interest. In this study, we analyzed the potential for using NFTs in education and the current applications of NFTs in society. We conducted a case study and performed a preliminary investigation of the types of NFT applications in the education industry. We then analyzed different education industries using individual analysis combined with SWOT analysis to understand the impact, value, and challenges of NFT applications. The results revealed 10 educational applications of NFT: textbooks; micro-certificates; transcripts and records; scholarships and rights; master classes and content creation; learning experiences; registration and data collection; patents, innovation, and research; art; payment; and deposit. Finally, ways to reduce the negative impact of education NFTs on the sustainable environment are discussed.

State of the Art Blockchain Enabled Smart Contract Applications in the University

A comprehensive analysis is necessary for the implementation and use of smart contracts in companies. This overview clarifies how this technology is now being used and identifies problems that are preventing its usage in contemporary organizations. This paper offers an organized assessment of prior research that includes frameworks, techniques, functional prototypes, and simulations that show how smart contracts are used in businesses. This paper's main goal is to better understand how smart-contract technology is used in organizations today. While there is limited knowledge about how smart contracts are used in companies, there is significant progress being made in the development of the technology that supports them. In this work, we describe the characteristics of smart-contract applications in many current organization fields. We further examine and group issues that hinder the adoption of smart-contract applications.

DIM-DS: Dynamic Incentive Model for Data Sharing in Federated Learning Based on Smart Contracts and Evolutionary Game Theory

With the development of big data, data sharing has become a hot topic. According to the previous research on data sharing, there is a problem with regard to how to design an effective incentive mechanism to make users willing to share data. First, we integrate the incentives based on reputation and payment and introduce “credibility coins” as a cryptocurrency for data-sharing transactions, to encourage users to participate honestly in the data-sharing process based on federated learning. Second, we propose a dynamic incentive model based on the evolutionary game theory to model the game process of users in data sharing and analyze the stability of their strategies. Finally, based on the results of this analysis, we use the blockchain-based smart contract technology to dynamically adjust the participation benefits of users under different conditions in order to promote users to join consortium blockchains more often and steadily to participate in model training for federated learning and obtain better model accuracy. Our work is the first to apply the evolutionary game theory to the study of incentives in federated learning, and plays a leading role in the study of incentives in federated learning. Experimental simulation validation shows that our DIM-DS model can adequately motivate users to participate in the collaborative task of data sharing and maintain stability. The model can maximize the effectiveness of the federated learning model.