Blockchain For Food: Making Sense of Technology and the Impact on Biofortified Seeds

The global food system is under pressure and is in the early stages of a major transition towards more transparency, circularity, and personalisation. In the coming decades, there is an increasing need for more food production with fewer resources. Thus, increasing crop yields and nutritional value per crop is arguably an important factor in this global food transition. Biofortification can play an important role in feeding the world. Biofortified seeds create produce with increased nutritional values, mainly minerals and vitamins, while using the same or less resources as non-biofortified variants. However, a farmer cannot distinguish a biofortified seed from a regular seed. Due to the invisible nature of the enhanced seeds, counterfeit products are common, limiting wide-scale adoption of biofortified crops. Fraudulent seeds pose a major obstacle in the adoption of biofortified crops. A system that could guarantee the origin of the biofortified seeds is therefore required to ensure widespread adoption. This trust-ensuring immutable proof for the biofortified seeds, can be provided via blockchain technology

Blockchain Architecture Based on Decentralised PoW Algorithm

Blockchain has gained increasing popularity across various industries due to its decentralized, stable, and secure nature. Consensus algorithms play a crucial role in maintaining the security and efficiency of Blockchain systems and selecting the right algorithm can lead to significant performance improvements. This article aims to provide a comparative review of the most used Blockchain consensus algorithms, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, we propose a dissociated architecture for an efficient Blockchain system that doesn't compromise on security. A comparison is made between this architecture and the reviewed algorithms, considering aspects such as algorithm performance, energy consumption, mining, decentralization level, and vulnerability to security threats. The research findings demonstrate that the proposed architecture can support complex algorithms with high security while addressing issues related to efficiency, processing performance, and energy consumption

Blockchain Research in Information Systems: Current Trends and an Inclusive Future Research Agenda

The potential of blockchain has been extensively discussed in practitioner literature, yet rigorous empirical and theory-driven information systems (IS) research on blockchain remains scarce. This special issue addresses the need for innovative research that offers a fresh look at the opportunities and challenges of blockchain. This editorial integrates and goes beyond the papers included in this special issue by providing a framework for blockchain research in IS that emphasizes two important issues. First, we direct the attention of IS research toward the blockchain protocol level, which is characterized by recursive interactions between human agents and the blockchain protocol. Second, we highlight the need for IS research to consider how the protocol level constrains and affords blockchain applications, and how these constraints and other concerns at the application level lead to changes at the protocol level. Rooted in a socio-material view of IS, we offer a multi-paradigmatic IS research agenda that underscores the need for behavioral (individual, group, and organizational), design science, and IS economics research on blockchain. Our research agenda emphasizes issues of blockchain governance, human and material agency, blockchain affordances and constraints, as well as the consequences of its use

Consensus Algorithms of Distributed Ledger Technology -- A Comprehensive Analysis

The most essential component of every Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) is the Consensus Algorithm (CA), which enables users to reach a consensus in a decentralized and distributed manner. Numerous CA exist, but their viability for particular applications varies, making their trade-offs a crucial factor to consider when implementing DLT in a specific field. This article provided a comprehensive analysis of the various consensus algorithms used in distributed ledger technologies (DLT) and blockchain networks. We cover an extensive array of thirty consensus algorithms. Eleven attributes including hardware requirements, pre-trust level, tolerance level, and more, were used to generate a series of comparison tables evaluating these consensus algorithms. In addition, we discuss DLT classifications, the categories of certain consensus algorithms, and provide examples of authentication-focused and data-storage-focused DLTs. In addition, we analyze the pros and cons of particular consensus algorithms, such as Nominated Proof of Stake (NPoS), Bonded Proof of Stake (BPoS), and Avalanche. In conclusion, we discuss the applicability of these consensus algorithms to various Cyber Physical System (CPS) use cases, including supply chain management, intelligent transportation systems, and smart healthcare.Comment: 50 pages, 20 figure

A scoping review of distributed ledger technology in genomics: thematic analysis and directions for future research

Objective Rising interests in distributed ledger technology (DLT) and genomics have sparked various interdisciplinary research streams with a proliferating number of scattered publications investigating the application of DLT in genomics. This review aims to uncover the current state of research on DLT in genomics, in terms of focal research themes and directions for future research. Materials and Methods We conducted a scoping review and thematic analysis. To identify the 60 relevant papers, we queried Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore, arXiv, and BiorXiv. Results Our analysis resulted in 7 focal themes on DLT in genomics discussed in literature, namely: (1) Data economy and sharing; (2) Data management; (3) Data protection; (4) Data storage; (5) Decentralized data analysis; (6) Proof of useful work; and (7) Ethical, legal, and social implications. Discussion Based on the identified themes, we present 7 future research directions: (1) Investigate opportunities for the application of DLT concepts other than Blockchain; (2) Explore people’s attitudes and behaviors regarding the commodification of genetic data through DLT-based genetic data markets; (3) Examine opportunities for joint consent management via DLT; (4) Investigate and evaluate data storage models appropriate for DLT; (5) Research the regulation-compliant use of DLT in healthcare information systems; (6) Investigate alternative consensus mechanisms based on Proof of Useful Work; and (7) Explore DLT-enabled approaches for the protection of genetic data ensuring user privacy. Conclusion While research on DLT in genomics is currently growing, there are many unresolved problems. This literature review outlines extant research and provides future directions for researchers and practitioners