Blockchain Decision Path: When to Use Blockchains? Which blockchains do you mean?

Many organizations are looking at blockchain technologies. However, the drawbacks of blockchain databases (e.g., scalability, capacity, latency, privacy) mean that the technology is not always appropriate. This article presents a ten-step decision path that can help determine whether the application of blockchain is justified and, if so, which kind of blockchain technology to use. We describe how this decision path was used to develop a blockchain prototype for the Danish maritime shipping industry

Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies: a Classification and Comparison of Architecture Drivers

Blockchain is a decentralized transaction and data management solution, the technological leap behind the success of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. As the variety of existing blockchains and distributed ledgers continues to increase, adopters should focus on selecting the solution that best fits their needs and the requirements of their decentralized applications, rather than developing yet another blockchain from scratch. In this paper we present a conceptual framework to aid software architects, developers, and decision makers to adopt the right blockchain technology. The framework exposes the interrelation between technological decisions and architectural features, capturing the knowledge from existing academic literature, industrial products, technical forums/blogs, and experts' feedback. We empirically show the applicability of our framework by dissecting the platforms behind Bitcoin and other top 10 cryptocurrencies, aided by a focus group with researchers and industry practitioners. Then, we leverage the framework together with key notions of the Architectural Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM) to analyze four real-world blockchain case studies from industry and academia. Results shown that applying our framework leads to a deeper understanding of the architectural tradeoffs, allowing to assess technologies more objectively and select the one that best fit developers needs, ultimately cutting costs, reducing time-to-market and accelerating return on investment.Comment: Accepted for publication at journal Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience. Special Issue on distributed large scale applications and environment

Achieving Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Records: Prospects for Blockchain in Ontario\u27s Health Care System

Over the past decade, the Government of Ontario has devoted significant resources to the digitization of patient health records with the goal of improving data storage, management, transfers and, ultimately, patient care. Adoption rates for digitized records, known as electronic health records (EHR), and accompanying systems, has been high among health care providers in Ontario. Yet, research has demonstrated that a number of barriers appear to inhibit the effective use of EHRs among clinicians. These barriers can impede or delay meaningful use of EHRs and accordingly, limit their ability improve information exchanges, service delivery and patient care. This paper reviews the challenges of achieving meaningful use of EHRs in health care service delivery. It also examines whether an emerging technology for data management, blockchain, may overcome the most prominent barriers to meaningful use of EHRs. A strong focus of this research concerns the legal aspects of EHRs and the legal issues surrounding their use. The difficulties in achieving meaningful use of EHRs can stem from the time and resources required for training and change management activities, the skill-level of users and the usability of the systems adopted. This paper proposes recommendations including a greater emphasis by the government and industry groups on designated initiatives to support meaningful use, stronger compliance measures and incentives for health care providers, and investments in new and emerging health care positions. The legal community can assist by engaging in collaborative efforts that aid in increasing certainty about the laws concerning EHRs. These findings may provide guidance to health care industry professionals and legal practitioners, to enhance preparation for technology changes in the area of information management, and encourage activities which support meaningful use

Blockchain-Based Healthcare: Three Successful Proof-of-Concept Pilots Worth Considering

This paper features the use of blockchain technology in the healthcare industry, with special focus on healthcare data exchange and interoperability; drug supply chain integrity and remote auditing; and clinical trials and population health research. This study uses the research method of analyzing the published case studies, academic articles, trade articles, and videos on MEDRec, Patientory, and the AmerisourceBergen/Merck alliance with SAP/CryptoWerk. The “blockchain” concept was introduced around October 2008 when a proposal for the virtual currency, bitcoin, was offered. Blockchain is a much broader concept than bitcoin and has the following key attributes: distributed database; peer-to-peer transmission; transparency with pseudonymity; irreversibility of records; and use of computational logic. The following three healthcare use cases have been taken up for proof-of-concept pilots by MEDRec, Patientory, and the AmerisourceBergen/Merck collaboration with SAP/CryptoWerk. While blockchain technology has a promising potential for specific use cases in the healthcare industry, there are major challenges to deal with as well

#Blockchain4EU: Blockchain for Industrial Transformations

The project #Blockchain4EU is a forward looking exploration of existing, emerging and potential applications based on Blockchain and other DLTs for industrial / non-financial sectors. It combined Science and Technology Studies with a transdisciplinary policy lab toolbox filled with frameworks from Foresight and Horizon Scanning, Behavioural Insights, or Participatory, Critical and Speculative Design. Amid unfolding and uncertain developments of the Blockchain space, our research signals a number of crucial opportunities and challenges around a technology that could record, secure and transfer any digitised transaction or process, and thus potentially affect large parts of current industrial landscapes. This report offers key insights for its implementation and uptake by industry, businesses and SMEs, together with science for policy strategic recommendations.JRC.I.2-Foresight, Behavioural Insights and Design for Polic