Model of Reconfigurable Steganographic System Using Blockchain Technology

Рассмотрен эффективный способ решения проблемы безопасности передачи данных. Предложен новый подход к проектированию стеганографической системы, основывающейся на трёх основных методах – внедрение частей разделенного секрета в изображения с возможным, в дальнейшем, извлечением секретной информации, проверка подлинности частей секрета, самовосстановление данной системы безопасности. Такая система обеспечивает большую степень защищенности и безопасного хранения данных. Windows-приложение, которое реализует предложенную стеганографическую модель, не имеет аналогов и отвечает всем требованиям, поставленным к стеганографическому программному обеспечению

Модель реконфигурируемой стеганографической системы с применением технологии блокчейн

An effective method for solving data security problems is proposed. A new approach to the design of steganographic system based on the three basic methods - the introduction of parts of a shared secret into images with the possibility of further extraction of secret information, authentication of parts of a secret, self-healing of this security system. Such a system provides a greater degree of protection and secure data storage. The Windows application implements the proposed steganographic model, has no analogues and meets all the requirements set for steganographic software.Рассмотрен эффективный способ решения проблемы безопасности передачи данных. Предложен новый подход к проектированию стеганографической системы, основывающейся на трёх основных методах – внедрение частей разделенного секрета в изображения с возможным, в дальнейшем, извлечением секретной информации, проверка подлинности частей секрета, самовосстановление данной системы безопасности. Такая система обеспечивает большую степень защищенности и безопасного хранения данных. Windows-приложение, которое реализует предложенную стеганографическую модель, не имеет аналогов и отвечает всем требованиям, поставленным к стеганографическому программному обеспечению

How technology can advance port operations and address supply chain disruptions

Supply chain disruptions continue to be a significant challenge as the world economy recovers from the pandemic-related shutdowns that have strained global supply chains. Shocks challenge the adaptability and resilience of maritime ports. The reaction of automated container terminals to supply chain disruptions has renewed interest, given the dramatic scenes of ships anchored for weeks. In this dissertation, I provide a vision of how technology can enhance a port’s ability to anticipate and handle shocks by improving coordination, cooperation, and information exchange across port stakeholders. The vision will be helpful for academics and practitioners to perform research that advances theory and practice on the use of advanced technologies to improve port operations. I use complex adaptive systems theory to develop a qualitative cross-case study of the ports of Los Angeles, Vancouver, and Rotterdam. I examine the effect that automation and other technologies have had on the efficiency of these ports, both in daily operations and during the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Using critical tenets of complexity and with a rigorous application of the case study method, I develop theoretical propositions and practical insights to ground the vision of the port of the future based on current practices. The findings from the cross-case study suggest that automated terminals were more efficient during the pandemic than non-automated terminals. I propose that transitioning to higher levels of automation, supported by emerging technologies like blockchain and the internet of things, will make ports more resilient to supply chain disruptions when those systems are coordinated through Port Community Systems

Industry 4.0 Technology: A Cross-Industry View of Adoption, Usage and COVID-19 Effects

Industry 4.0 technology (I4.0) is inescapable. It transforms the way businesses and customers interact and revolutionizes how organizations produce goods and services (SAP Insights, 2020). It requires a level of agility that many organizations do not possess. Defending against disruptive business models is no longer enough. Organizations must be nimble to optimize assets and resources in response to adversity. In March 2020, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic ushered a devastating blow to the U.S. economy and job market with pervasive shocks that continue to be a business threat. In response, many organizations are accelerating automation, digitization, and communication capabilities to close the gap and connect with customers. This dissertation examined the cross-industry adoption of the nine most common Industry 4.0 technologies: big data, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, the internet of things, cybersecurity, 3-D printing, autonomous technology, augmented reality, and blockchain. This descriptive study explored factors of I4.0 adoption across industries and organizational sizes during a national pandemic. The study sought to reveal “what” factors contributed to the adoption of Industry 4.0, “what” industry patterns exist, “what” effect COVID-19 had on these concepts. A quantitative method was used to examine the relationship between factors. An online survey was administered to a Qualtrics panel of 520 business owners and executives to capture perceptions, knowledge, and insights. A binary logistic regression analysis was performed. The results of this study inform a cross-industry framework of I4.0 technology adoption, which includes contributing factors. The findings also showed COVID-19 was less an accelerant of adoption but rather, the industry sector was a greater influencer

FinBook: literary content as digital commodity

This short essay explains the significance of the FinBook intervention, and invites the reader to participate. We have associated each chapter within this book with a financial robot (FinBot), and created a market whereby book content will be traded with financial securities. As human labour increasingly consists of unstable and uncertain work practices and as algorithms replace people on the virtual trading floors of the worlds markets, we see members of society taking advantage of FinBots to invest and make extra funds. Bots of all kinds are making financial decisions for us, searching online on our behalf to help us invest, to consume products and services. Our contribution to this compilation is to turn the collection of chapters in this book into a dynamic investment portfolio, and thereby play out what might happen to the process of buying and consuming literature in the not-so-distant future. By attaching identities (through QR codes) to each chapter, we create a market in which the chapter can ‘perform’. Our FinBots will trade based on features extracted from the authors’ words in this book: the political, ethical and cultural values embedded in the work, and the extent to which the FinBots share authors’ concerns; and the performance of chapters amongst those human and non-human actors that make up the market, and readership. In short, the FinBook model turns our work and the work of our co-authors into an investment portfolio, mediated by the market and the attention of readers. By creating a digital economy specifically around the content of online texts, our chapter and the FinBook platform aims to challenge the reader to consider how their personal values align them with individual articles, and how these become contested as they perform different value judgements about the financial performance of each chapter and the book as a whole. At the same time, by introducing ‘autonomous’ trading bots, we also explore the different ‘network’ affordances that differ between paper based books that’s scarcity is developed through analogue form, and digital forms of books whose uniqueness is reached through encryption. We thereby speak to wider questions about the conditions of an aggressive market in which algorithms subject cultural and intellectual items – books – to economic parameters, and the increasing ubiquity of data bots as actors in our social, political, economic and cultural lives. We understand that our marketization of literature may be an uncomfortable juxtaposition against the conventionally-imagined way a book is created, enjoyed and shared: it is intended to be

Exploring Blockchain Governance

Blockchain systems continue to attract significant interest from both practitioners and researchers. What is more, blockchain systems come in various types, such as cryptocurrencies or as inter-organizational systems in business networks. As an example of a cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, one of the most prominent blockchain systems to date and born at the time of a major financial crisis, spearheaded the promise of relying on code and computation instead of a central governing entity. Proponents would argue that Bitcoin stood the test of time, as Bitcoin continues to operate to date for over a decade. However, these proponents overlook the never-ending, heated debates “behind the scenes” caused by diverging goals of central actors, which led to numerous alternative systems (forks) of Bitcoin. To accommodate these actors’ interests in the pursuit of their common goal is a tightrope act, and this is where this dissertation commences: blockchain governance. Based on the empirical examples of various types and application domains of blockchain systems, it is the goal of this dissertation to 1) uncover governance patterns by showing, how blockchain systems are governed, 2) derive governance challenges faced or caused by blockchain systems, and, consequently, to 3) contribute to a better understanding to what blockchain governance is. This dissertation includes four parts, each of these covering different thematical areas: In the first part, this dissertation focuses on obtaining a better understanding of blockchain governance’s context of reference by studying blockchain systems from various application domains and system types, for example, led by inter-organizational networks, states, or an independent group of actors. The second part, then, focuses on a blockchain as an inter-organizational system called “cardossier”, a project I was involved in, and its governance as a frame of reference. Hereupon, for one, I report on learnings from my project involvement in the form of managerial guidelines, and, for two, I report on structural problems within cardossier, and problems caused by membership growth and how they can be resolved. The third part focuses on a wider study of blockchains as inter-organizational systems, where I summarize findings of an analysis of 19 blockchain consortia. The findings, for one, answer the question of why blockchain consortia adopt blockchain technology, and, for two, show internal and external challenges these systems faced to derive managerial recommendations. The fourth and last part studies blockchain governance’s evolution and contributes an analysis of blockchain’s governance features and its contrast to established modes of governance. These four parts, altogether, have scientific value as they increase our understanding on blockchain governance. Consequently, this dissertation contributes to the body of knowledge on modes of governance, distributed system governance, and blockchain governance in general. I do so, by grounding the concept of blockchain governance in empirical detail, showing how these systems are governed on various application domains and system types, and by studying empirical challenges faced or caused by these systems. This approach is relevant and necessary, as blockchain systems in general, but particularly outside of cryptocurrencies, mostly still are in pursuit of a sustainable blockchain governance. As blockchains can be expected to continue to mature, the upcoming years offer very fruitful ground for empirical research along the empirical insights and theoretical lines shown in this dissertation

Blockchain-Based Digitalization of Logistics Processes—Innovation, Applications, Best Practices

Blockchain technology is becoming one of the most powerful future technologies in supporting logistics processes and applications. It has the potential to destroy and reorganize traditional logistics structures. Both researchers and practitioners all over the world continuously report on novel blockchain-based projects, possibilities, and innovative solutions with better logistic service levels and lower costs. The idea of this Special Issue is to provide an overview of the status quo in research and possibilities to effectively implement blockchain-based solutions in business practice. This Special Issue reprint contained well-prepared research reports regarding recent advances in blockchain technology around logistics processes to provide insights into realized maturity