A Systematic Review of Blockchain Applications

For this study, the researchers conducted a systematic literature review to answer complex questions about the field of blockchain technology. We used an unbiased systematic review process to find works on blockchain-based applications and developed a Python code that searched various online databases. This paper provides an overview of the characteristics, mode of operation, and applications of blockchains in various domains such as transportation, commerce and industry, privacy and security, the financial sector, government, education, healthcare, and the Internet of Things (IoT). The aim was to identify the key research themes addressed in existing articles within each application domain and suggest future research directions for these domains. We analyzed a set of 750 articles published between 2015 and 2021 that dealt with blockchain applications. We found that financial management and security issues have been the main research focus since 2015. However, the use of blockchain in education has become a central research theme in 2021. Healthcare, IoT, and government applications have also grown in popularity. We furthermore analyzed some of the implementations of privacy mechanisms, as well as the challenges and future directions that need to be addressed for effective blockchain deployment. This study contributes to existing research by providing a comprehensive overview of blockchain application themes and their emerging areas for stakeholders in diverse sectors.V rámci této studie provedli výzkumníci systematický přehled literatury, aby zodpověděli komplexní otázky týkající se technologie blockchain. K vyhledání prací o aplikacích založených na blockchainu jsme použili nezaujatý proces systematického přehledu a vyvinuli jsme kód v jazyce Python, který prohledával různé online databáze. Tento článek poskytuje přehled charakteristik, způsobu fungování a aplikací blockchainů v různých oblastech, jako je doprava, obchod a průmysl, ochrana soukromí a bezpečnost, finanční sektor, státní správa, vzdělávání, zdravotnictví a internet věcí (IoT). Cílem bylo identifikovat klíčová témata výzkumu, kterými se zabývají existující články v rámci jednotlivých aplikačních domén, a navrhnout budoucí směry výzkumu pro tyto domény. Analyzovali jsme soubor 750 článků publikovaných v letech 2015 až 2021, které se zabývaly aplikacemi blockchainu. Zjistili jsme, že od roku 2015 se výzkum zaměřuje především na otázky finanční správy a bezpečnosti. V roce 2021 se však ústředním tématem výzkumu stalo využití blockchainu ve vzdělávání. Rostla také popularita aplikací ve zdravotnictví, internetu věcí a státní správě. Dále jsme analyzovali některé z implementací mechanismů ochrany soukromí a také výzvy a budoucí směry, které je třeba řešit pro efektivní nasazení blockchainu. Tato studie přispívá ke stávajícímu výzkumu tím, že poskytuje ucelený přehled témat aplikací blockchainu a jejich nově vznikajících oblastí pro zúčastněné strany v různých odvětvích

Distributed Ledger Technologies in Supply Chain Security Management: A Comprehensive Survey

Supply chains (SC) present performance bottlenecks that contribute to a high level of costs, infiltration of product quality, and impact productivity. Examples of such inhibitors include the bullwhip effect, new product lines, high inventory, and restrictive data flows. These bottlenecks can force manufacturers to source more raw materials and increase production significantly. Also, restrictive data flow in a complex global SC network generally slows down the movement of goods and services. The use of distributed ledger technologies (DLT) in SC management (SCM) demonstrates the potentials to reduce these bottlenecks through transparency, decentralization, and optimizations in data management. These technologies promise to enhance the trustworthiness of entities within the SC, ensure the accuracy of data-driven operations, and enable existing SCM processes to migrate from a linear to a fully circular economy. This article presents a comprehensive review of 111 articles published in the public domain in the use and efficacy of DLT in SC. It acts as a roadmap for current and future researchers who focus on SC security management to better understand the integration of digital technologies such as DLT. We clustered these articles using standard descriptors linked to trustworthiness, namely, immutability, transparency, traceability, and integrity

Distributed Ledger Technologies in Supply Chain Security Management: A Comprehensive Survey

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by IEEE in IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, available online at: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9366288 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published versionSupply-chains (SC) present performance bottlenecks that contribute to a high level of costs, infltration of product quality, and impact productivity. Examples of such inhibitors include the bullwhip effect, new product lines, high inventory, and restrictive data fows. These bottlenecks can force manufacturers to source more raw materials and increase production signifcantly. Also, restrictive data fow in a complex global SC network generally slows down the movement of goods and services. The use of Distributed LedgerTechnologies (DLT) in supply chain management (SCM) demonstrates the potentials to to reduce these bottlenecks through transparency, decentralization, and optimizations in data management. These technologies promise to enhance the trustworthiness of entities within the supply chain, ensure the accuracy of data-driven operations, and enable existing SCM processes to migrate from a linear to a fully circular economy. This paper presents a comprehensive review of 111 articles published in the public domain in the use and effcacyofDLTin SC.It acts asaroadmapfor current and futureresearchers whofocus onSC Security Management to better understand the integration of digital technologies such as DLT. We clustered these articles using standard descriptors linked to trustworthiness, namely, immutability, transparency, traceability, and integrity

Peer-to-peer energy trading system using IoT and a low-computation blockchain network

The use of renewable energy is increasing every year as it is seen as a viable and sustain- able long-term alternative to fossil-based sources of power. Emerging technologies are being merged with existing renewable energy systems to address some of the challenges associated with renewable energy, such as reliability and limited storage facilities for the generated energy. The Internet of Things (IoT) has made it possible for consumers to make money by selling off excess energy back to the utility company through smart grids that allow bi-directional communication between the consumer and the utility company. The major drawback of this is that the utility company still plays a central role in this setup as they are the only buyer of this excess energy generated from renewable energy sources. This research intends to use blockchain technology by leveraging its decentralized architecture to enable other individuals to be able to purchase this excess energy. Blockchain technology is first explained in detail, and its main features, such as consensus mechanisms, are examined. This evaluation of blockchain technology gives rise to some design questions that are taken into consideration to create a low-energy, low-computation Ethereum-based blockchain network that is the foundation for a peer-to-peer energy trading system. The peer-to-peer energy trading system makes use of smart meters to collect data about energy usage and gives users a web-based interface where they can transact with each other. A smart contract is also designed to facilitate payments for transactions. Lastly, the system is tested by carrying out transactions and transferring energy from one node in the system to another.Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Computer Science, 202