Demystifying blockchain: A critical analysis of challenges,applications and opportunities

The blockchain is considered to be the potential driver of the digital economy. The Blockchain technology outweighs the challenges associated with the traditional transaction business governed and regulated by the third trusted party. There is a growth in the interest among the researchers, the industry, and the academia to study and leverage the potential of Blockchain. Blockchain provides a decentralized and distributed public ledger for all the participating parties. Though it seems that blockchain is a viable choice and solution for all the centralized governed and regulated transactions (in digital online space), it has potential challenges that need to be resolved; opportunities to be explored, and applications to be studied. This paper utilizes a systematic literature review to study several research endeavors made in the domain of blockchain. To further research on blockchain adoption, the paper theoretically constructs an integrated framework of the blockchain innovation adoption process in an organization considering organizational and user acceptance perspectives. This would facilitate its widespread adoption, thereby achieving sustained leadership solutions. The paper offers 23 propositions to information systems (IS)/information management (IM) scholars with respect to innovation characteristics, organizational characteristics, environmental characteristics, and user acceptance characteristics. Further, the paper explores several areas of future research and directions that can provide deep insights for overcoming challenges and for the adoption of blockchain technology.     

利用区块链提高产品生态设计的透明度和可追溯性

透明度和可追溯性是产品生态设计的关键。承诺—信任理论为理解生态设计透明度的有关实践内容提供了重要途径。区块链技术通过促进利益相关者之间的信任和承诺为产品生态设计做出贡献。为了实现产品生态设计的完全可追溯,本文提出了一个集成区块链特征及其生态系统的架构。在该架构中,区块链从以下五个方面促进生态设计的透明度：材料验证、合规审计、生命周期分析(LCA)、碳排放和回收利用。本文通过耐克案例研究,阐述了区块链集成架构如何促进信任和承诺。本文建立了独立的问责流程,为企业提高产品生态设计的透明度提供了有价值的见解。     

Analysing the impact of blockchain-technology for operations and supply chain management: An explanatory model drawn from multiple case studies

Blockchain technology is said to have a high disruptive potential and can do without an intermediary. Numerous contributions deal with its impact on and possibilities for logistics and supply chains. In this article, we use a multiple case analysis to develop an explanatory model for the interaction of actors in an operational supply chain involving blockchain technology. In addition, we show which intermediary tasks the blockchain could replace and what impact this would have on the industry logic. For this purpose, we analyze the status quo in practice based on a multiple case study with real use cases and find answers to our research questions. The findings of the paper include (1) insights into the impact of blockchain technology on the logistics industry, and (2) the implications and research questions related to blockchain technology and the impact of blockchain technology on business models.     

Contextualizing the impact of blockchain technology on the performance of new firms: The role of corporate governance as an intermediate outcome

The modern digitalization trends have totally transformed business practices and business models. Blockchain as a distributed technology makes possible the basic structure of a database with a combination of data blocks and hash chains. Using distributed software architecture and advanced computation, blockchain might change the method of data exchange among chain actors. Blockchain causes administration of a network in peer-to-peer and decentralized form; and influences the way of data exchange and interactions in organizations; hence, this study looks for evaluation of the impact of blockchain technology on corporate performance and governance of new firms. In the first section of the study, the research conceptual model was extracted by means of the previous studies and the hypotheses were formulated. In the second section, the relationships between the variables of the model among newly-established active business were assessed. The statistical population of the study was managers of SMEs in Iran and 397 completed questionnaires were received. Structural equation model and Smart PLS software have been used for data analysis. The research findings showed that the more the blockchain adoption in a new firm; the more direct effect it would have on the firm's performance. Similarly, corporate governance has an effect on the relationship of blockchain technology on corporate performance. Thus, managers of new firms by means of blockchain, can prepare the grounds for good corporate governance as well as the achievement of better performance.     

Blockchain technology: development and prospects

It has been more than 10 years since Satoshi Nakamoto published his famous paper entitled ‘Bitcoin: a peer-to-peer electronic cash system’, which set the foundation of blockchain technology. Accompanied by the price volatility of bitcoins from 2017 to 2018, blockchain has been a hot word on the internet, and particularly hot in China. Blockchain offers a distributed and secure system for data storage and value transactions. Its applications are springing up in multiple fields.The Chinese government is considering these trends with great caution. Initial coin offering has been banned in China since September 2017. By contrast, an official white paper on China''s blockchain technology, which was released in May 2018, said that blockchain technology will be widely applied in the real economy of China within 3 years. In a recent panel discussion held by National Science Review, experts talked about related topics. Their opinions may provide a quick view of the future development of blockchain in China and abroad. Jing Chen Assistant Professor of Computer Science Department, Stony Brook University and Chief Scientist at Algorand LLC, USA Xiaotie Deng Professor of School of Electronics Engineering and Computer Science, Peking University, China Guohua Gan Vice President of Beijing Tai Cloud Technology Corp., China Xiaoyun Wang Professor of Institute of Advanced Study, Tsinghua University, China Zhiming Zheng Professor of School of Mathematics and Systems Science, Beihang University, China Lei Guo (Chair) Professor of Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China     

区块链社交网络信息传播特征及规律研究

【目的/意义】社交网络舆情监管关乎社会稳定,区块链作为当前一种重要的应用技术,关于区块链社交网 络的信息传播特征和规律研究将有利于对区块链社交应用的舆情监管提供一定的理论依据。【方法/过程】基于区 块链和信息传播理论,通过爬虫采集区块链社交网络应用数据,采用社会网络分析法,利用Gephi进行数据可视化 并利用统计分析软件进行数据处理。在此基础上,对整体网络下的社群进行对比分析,重点讨论了声誉分与用户 度的关系情况。【结果/结论】区块链社交网络为无标度网络;社群间的平均聚类基本一致并且较低;用户发帖量服 从幂律分布;声誉分高的用户在区块链网络中的影响力较大,其在舆情网络信息传播过程中起着重要的作用。【创 新/局限】基于区块链社交网络应用,本文分析了区块链整体社交网络及区块链社群网络的舆情信息传播特征及规 律,后续将采用动态网络、超网络方法对区块链网络舆情信息传播特征及规律进行分析研究。     

The state of play of blockchain technology in the financial services sector: A systematic literature review

The modern trends of digitalization have completely transformed and reshaped business practices, whole businesses, and even a number of industries. Blockchain technology is believed to be the latest advancement in industries such as the financial sector, where trust is of prime significance. Blockchain technology is a decentralized and coded security system which provides the capability for new digital services and platforms to be created through this emerging technology. This research presents a systematic review of scholarly articles on blockchain technology in the financial sector. We commenced by considering 227 articles and subsequently filtered this list down to 87 articles. From this, we present a classification framework that has three dimensions: blockchain-enabled financial benefits, challenges, and functionality. This research identifies implications for future research and practice within the blockchain paradigm.     

区块链视角下区域经济信息共享研究

【目的/意义】互联网信息技术的兴起带动了区域经济的发展,由此也产生了大量的经济信息。区块链作为 变革互联网的新力量,将对信息资源共享活动和信息服务机构带来巨大改变。【方法/过程】区块链技术是一种新兴 科技,通过去中心化的方式建设系统信任机制,具有开放、透明和不可篡改等技术特点,将该技术作为实现系统数 据存储安全、使用安全的关键,本文针对基于区块链技术的区域经济信息共享进行了框架设计。【结果/结论】利用 区块链技术设置区域经济信息双链式存储方式,并利用P2P实现了区域经济信息共享。【创新/局限】在接下来的研 究中将从理论研究转向实践应用。区块链及其技术还存在一些问题,实现基于区块链的区域经济信息共享仍需克 服诸多困难。     

区块链技术在智慧图书馆中的应用研究

[目的]智慧图书馆建设是一项综合性系统工程，融合了诸多学科和各类先进技术。区块链技术作为当今最具颠覆性的新技术，图书馆必须努力学习掌握，积极构建"区块链+"图书馆应用系统，从而加快推动图书馆智慧化建设。[内容]文章介绍了区块链技术及其核心价值，详细分析了区块链技术在智慧图书馆建设中的应用优势，最后设计了4个基于区块链技术的智慧图书馆应用系统。[方法]采用了文献调研法和比较分析法对区块链技术在图书馆智慧服务中的应用可行性进行了研究，并对新老应用系统进行了比较分析。[成果/结论]区块链技术具有数据稳定、共识机制、去中心化的3大主要特征，能够有效解决传统图书馆在信息收集、存储安全和信息传播等方面的难题，是构建智慧图书馆的一项关键性技术。区块链技术在我国图书馆的实际应用中还存在许多不足，需要我国图书馆界持续不断的学习与改革，以期与其他区块链产业的快速发展相同步。     

基于区块链的电子档案信任保障机制

【目的/意义】随着信息技术以及网络技术的发展,电子档案成为档案的重要存在形式,网络环境中的电子档案的信任保障机制构建则成为电子档案价值实现的基础,区块链是近几年发展起来的解决可追溯问题的技术体系,因此本文的研究具有理论和实践意义。【方法/过程】对区块链的结构及其特点进行介绍,对区块链的应用研究发展进行分析,构建了基于区块链的电子档案信任保障体系,对这一保障体系的特点及其运行过程进行描述,构建了基于区块链的电子档案运行的共识认证机制。【结果/结论】本文的研究为电子档案信任保障体系的构建提供了基于区块链的架构和思想方法,在不改变电子档案运行基本流程的基础上提出了基于区块链的电子档案信任保障的实现过程。     

Emerging research on blockchain technology in finance; a conveyed evidence of bibliometric-based evaluations

The emergence of blockchain technology is reshaping several aspects of economies, opening a wider spectrum for the research communities, and making it critical to conduct studies that comprehensively analyze this body of knowledge. From the Web of Sciences' database, a bibliometric study using VOS viewer and biblioshiny tool is provided on the evolving research on blockchain technology in finance. Blockchain in finance has provided enabled applications such as tokens, initial coin offerings, crowdfunding, smart contracts, prediction marketplace systems, and digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. In this study, we convey a detailed bibliometric-based evaluation of scientific research publications from 2008 to mid-2020. With 157 articles retrieved, our findings show the global trends, current tendencies, and frontiers. We report that blockchain technology research in finance has evolved and is predominated by studies on crowdfunding/equity crowdfunding, entrepreneurial finance, bitcoin, entrepreneurship, fintech, and venture capital. However, several of these studies are contextually based, with scantily used cases leading to the design of frameworks and architectures. Additionally, the majority of the studies could not afford sufficient details on the practical discharge of the few blockchain-enabled prototypes.     

A Survey on Blockchain for Information Systems Management and Security

Blockchain technologies have grown in prominence in recent years, with many experts citing the potential applications of the technology in regard to different aspects of any industry, market, agency, or governmental organizations. In the brief history of blockchain, an incredible number of achievements have been made regarding how blockchain can be utilized and the impacts it might have on several industries. The sheer number and complexity of these aspects can make it difficult to address blockchain potentials and complexities, especially when trying to address its purpose and fitness for a specific task. In this survey, we provide a comprehensive review of applying blockchain as a service for applications within today’s information systems. The survey gives the reader a deeper perspective on how blockchain helps to secure and manage today information systems. The survey contains a comprehensive reporting on different instances of blockchain studies and applications proposed by the research community and their respective impacts on blockchain and its use across other applications or scenarios. Some of the most important findings this survey highlights include the fact that blockchain’s structure and modern cloud- and edge-computing paradigms are crucial in enabling a widespread adaption and development of blockchain technologies for new players in today unprecedented vibrant global market. Ensuring that blockchain is widely available through public and open-source code libraries and tools will help to ensure that the full potential of the technology is reached and that further developments can be made concerning the long-term goals of blockchain enthusiasts.     

区块链技术与社区知识分享

对区块链技术的相关文献进行综述,通过对区块链技术及其应用展开分析,厘清该领域的研究现状和发展脉络,并讨论区块链技术在社区知识分享场景中的研究进展。进而,基于知识分享的场景特点和质量需求,探讨将区块链技术应用于社区知识分享过程的必要性和可能性,并构建相应概念框架。最后展望未来研究方向。     

基于区块链技术构建高校图书馆智慧阅读平台研究

[目的/意义] 高校图书馆的智慧化服务建设如火如荼,而阅读平台的智慧化建设却遭遇瓶颈。区块链技术作为新兴的颠覆性技术之一,具有去中心化、可信度高、数据不可篡改等特点,为智慧阅读平台建设提供了新的思路和手段。[方法/过程] 采用了文献调研法和比较分析法对区块链技术构建高校图书馆智慧阅读平台的应用可行性进行了研究,并将传统数字阅读平台和区块链智慧阅读平台进行了比较分析。[结果/结论] 文章基于区块链技术构建阅读平台的诸多优势,提出建立一个去中心化、体现原创作品价值、读者个性化定制且便于图书馆与阅读团队监督管理的智慧化阅读平台,以期推动高校的阅读推广工作。     

When good blocks go bad: Managing unwanted blockchain data

Blockchain has been praised for providing the technical infrastructure that enables a group of self-interested entities to share data without relying on intermediaries. Technically, blockchain is a distributed and decentralized append-only database. This latter aspect leads to an important, yet overlooked governance issue, namely what should the network members do when erroneous or malicious data are added to the blockchain ledger? We start by describing three public cases when the above happened. For each case, we elaborate on the adopted solution, which we refer to as the “rollback,” the “do nothing,” and the “overturn” solution. Drawing from these previous cases, discussions with experts, and from our own experience with blockchain research and development, we provide suggestions concerning managerial, technical, and information security policies and practices organizations should follow when contemplating enterprise-level applications of the blockchain technology.     

The moderating effect of experience in the adoption of mobile payment tools in Virtual Social Networks: The m-Payment Acceptance Model in Virtual Social Networks (MPAM-VSN)

Although mobile-related technologies are widely accepted in today's society, mobile payment in Virtual Social Networks (VSN) is not among the most widely used mobile services. This paper analyzes users’ acceptance of mobile payment in VSN. In order to analyze the level of acceptance of this technology, as well as the factors that determine its use by consumers, we have introduced a modification of the classical technological acceptance models (TRA and TAM). Thus, the study proposes and tests an integrated theoretical model, which establishes the relative importance of the key factors (external influences, ease of use, usefulness, attitude, trust and risk) in terms of the acceptance of the mobile payment system in VSN. It also analyzes the eventual moderating effect of users’ experience with similar tools. The empirical results show that the proposed behavioral model (named MPAM-VSN) is accordingly adjusted, thus showing that previous experience increases intention of use. Finally, the results obtained in this study reveal interesting implications for the diffusion of mobile payment systems in VSN.     

基于文献计量的我国区块链研究的知识网络与结构分析

区块链是分布式数据存储、点对点传输、共识机制、加密算法等计算机技术在互联网时代的创新应用模式。目前已经引起国内外各界的广泛关注,成为技术创新的热点名词。本文基于客观数据分析了区块链研究的发展态势和阶段、学科分布和结构、研究热点和趋势等,旨在为我国后续的区块链研究和发展提供参考。本文以CNKI中国学术期刊网络出版总库的相关研究论文为依据,运用文献计量方法以及Citespace等可视化软件对区块链研究现状的知识网络和理论结构进行了分析。分析结果表明：区块链研究发文量从2015年开始呈现出突发式的井喷状态,结合当前政策环境显示,目前区块链的发展还处于探索和研究阶段,因此研究论文中科普评论类文献比重较大;从研究的知识网络与结构来看,区块链研究形成了计算机科学、工程学以及电信科学、自动化技术为依托的技术学科群和以金融、能源与动力工程、工业制造、供应链、文化教育、医药卫生等众多应用学科群;这些学科结构要素共同形成了区块链研究中技术基础、技术应用以及社会宏观效应三大层面的研究热点。     

Blockchain adoption challenges in supply chain: An empirical investigation of the main drivers in India and the USA

The digitalization phenomenon is leveraging new relationship models through the entire supply chain network. In this outlook, blockchain is a cutting-edge technology that is already transforming and remodeling the relationships between all members of logistics and supply chain systems. Yet, while studies on blockchain have gained a relative pace over the recent years, the literature on this topic does not report sufficient research cases on blockchain adoption behavior at the individual level. The present study, therefore, aims to bridge this gap, notably by helping understand the individual blockchain adoption behavior in the logistics and supply chain field in India and the USA. Drawing on the emerging literature on blockchain, supply chain and network theory, as well as on technology acceptance models (TAMs), we have developed a model based on a slightly-altered version of the classical unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT). The model being developed was then estimated using the Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). As the model was eventually supported, the results obtained revealed the existence of distinct adoption behaviors between India-based and USA-based professionals. In parallel, the findings appear as a useful contribution to and a sign of progress for the literature on IT adoption, SCM, and blockchain.     

区块链技术在图书馆智慧服务中的应用研究

区块链技术是图书馆在云计算、物联网、大数据、智慧概念后的又一次技术革新。区块链技术在图书馆的应用将改变读者利用图书馆的途径,实现从目前的网络信息服务向价值服务的图书馆智慧服务的变革。图书馆在智慧服务中融合进区块链理念,可以推动优势资源的共建,开拓低成本的资源共享市场。区块链技术去中心化、共识机制、时序稳定、可靠数据关系的4个主要特征,决定了该技术在图书馆智慧服务的可行性。区块链技术在数字货币、金融交易与诚信、人文社科应用领域发展的3个阶段,决定了该技术在图书馆智慧服务的必要性。区块链技术助力图书馆智慧服务在管理体制、机构库建设、知识交易服务模式上的转变,满足读者对馆内设备空间使用与网络学习交流平台的智慧服务需求,是实现图书馆服务以读者阅读需求为中心的捷径。     

A blockchain use case in food distribution: Do you know where your food has been?

This paper aims to explain the implementation of blockchain technology in the production and supply chain delivery system for eggs from farm to consumer by a company based in the Midwestern USA. One of the primary research questions answered is how blockchain can be utilized and applied to more accurately and transparently move goods through global supply chains. This company is at the forefront of developing such systems for use in industry, and a use case for egg distribution is detailed. The goal is to track products from farm to fork using blockchain and internet of things (IoT) enabled technologies. By creating traceable and transparent supply chains for food, consumers can attain the information they need to make informed choices about the food they buy and the companies they support. For stakeholders in the food supply chain, having traceability and transparency builds better relationships with their customers, increases efficiency, and reduces the risk and cost of food recalls, fraud, and product loss. The blockchain technology and this business are creating a case for fixing and transforming the world’s food system.