Blockchain Application in Information Systems Research

Blockchain is a radical innovation with a core value proposition of shifting trust from institutions towards algorithms. Still, the potential of Blockchains remains vague due to the knowledge gap between computer science and socio-economic activities. Ninety percent of current Blockchain projects did not move from ideas to production-ready prototypes. Researchers and practitioners are searching for the meaningful leveraging of Blockchains for value creation. This dissertation aims to bridge the gap between technical and managerial knowledge of Blockchain that allows successful Blockchain system design and implementation. Therefore, the objective of the project is to identify the scope of Blockchain applications and introduce guidelines to make purposeful decisions of Blockchain implementations. The dissertation project covers four research questions. First, I consolidated knowledge of Blockchain technical configurations through the development of a taxonomy. Second, I considered the design patterns of smart contracts that represent the application logic of Blockchain systems. Third, I offered guidance for transforming initial conceptions of Blockchain ideas into working system prototypes by introducing a Blockchain configuration process model. Fourth, I investigated the common factors of Blockchain decisions to evaluate Blockchain implementations in the form of the framework. I employed a Design Science Research approach to developing four artefacts. The first three artefacts consider technical, application, and organizational aspects of Blockchain. The synergy reflects in the fourth, combinational artefact, which employs the high-level factors of Blockchain decisions. During the project, I have investigated the scientific and business studies, run Blockchain-based applications, conduct interviews, and evaluate the findings on Blockchain projects. The dissertation project contributes to research by bridging knowledge gaps between computer science and socio-economic research on a Blockchain that provides a fruitful ground for future conceptual and empirical studies. For practitioners, the developed artefacts are useful to identify and guide Blockchain projects that facilitate purposeful Blockchain adoption

An assessment of the potential for legal redress for systematic errors in unpermissioned blockchain technology under English law

This thesis focuses on the potential for legal redress to be afforded to users who suffer loss resulting from transactions impacted by systematic errors in unpermissioned blockchains. Blockchain technology, which enables a cryptographically secure form of record keeping, is an emerging topic that has the potential to be adopted in many contexts, notably in cryptocurrencies. Unpermissioned blockchain technology provides a unique and decentralised technology in which anyone can participate or alter, and it gives rise to questions as to its compatibility with traditional legal frameworks. The regulatory landscape concerning unpermissioned blockchain technology has hitherto largely focused on the issue of money laundering via cryptocurrencies. However, this has resulted in limited legal protection for users in respect of liability for systematic errors. This thesis will explore the potential for development of the current English legal framework to enable protection to users who suffer loss attributable to systematic errors. Further to this, there shall be the exploration of creative legal solutions for regulating unpermissioned blockchain with the aim of enhanced clarity and legal protection for users in three different contexts: peer to peer, cryptocurrency exchange and DeFi exchange transactions. The public are most likely to encounter unpermissioned blockchain technology in these contexts, through cryptocurrency trading, and therefore risks in each instance may present the most likely case for regulation. Employing a decentred view of regulation, Ostrom’s self-management principles are drawn upon as one potential model of self-regulation that might be adapted for unpermissioned blockchain technology

Identity management policy and unlinkability: a comparative case study of the US and Germany

This study compares the privacy policies of Germany and the US in the field of identity management. It analyses the emergence of unlinkability within the countries’ electronic citizen identity initiatives. The study used qualitative research methods, including semi-structured interview and document analysis, to analyse the policy-making processes surrounding the issue of unlinkability. The study found that unlinkability is emerging in different ways in each country. Germany’s data protection and privacy regimes are more coherent than the US, and unlinkability was an incremental policy change. US unlinkability policies are a more significant departure from its data protection and policy regimes. New institutionalism is used to help explain the similarities and differences between the two countries’ policies. Scholars have long been calling for the use of privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) in policy-making, and unlinkability falls into this category. By employing PETs in this way, German and US identity management policies are in the vanguard of their respective privacy regimes. Through these policies, the US comes closer to German and European data protection policies, doing so non-legislatively. The digital citizen identities appearing in both countries must be construed as commercial products inasmuch as official identities. Lack of attendance to the commercial properties of these identities frustrates policy goals. As national governments embark on further identity management initiatives, commercial and design imperatives, such as value to the citizen and usability, must be considered for policy to be successful

Cryptocurrency and the Myth of the Trustless Transaction

This article interrogates the claim that trust can be replaced with blockchain technology. Part I begins with an introduction that provides an overview of the trust issues surrounding cryptocurrency. Part II then outlines the role that trust plays in a financial market more generally, focusing specifically on the trust embedded in what cryptocurrency supporters derogate as a ‘fiat’ currency. Part III introduces the blockchain, as well as Bitcoin and cryptocurrency more generally. Part IV then tests the claims that Bitcoin eliminates the need for trust against real-world experiences of Bitcoin holders and markets. This section disaggregates the blockchain technology itself from how actual people typically use Bitcoin or any of the follow-on cryptocurrencies. It documents the many points at which cryptocurrencies shifts the locus of embedded trust, rather than eliminating the need for such trust. Finally, Part V concludes that rather than replacing trust, cryptocurrencies instead require users to repose their trust in less transparent, less reliable and less accountable parties. The ultimate message is that caveat emptor should be a consumer watchword and that users should understand that many legal protections they take for granted may not apply when purchasing cryptocurrency

Identity management policy and unlinkability: a comparative case study of the US and Germany

This study compares the privacy policies of Germany and the US in the field of identity management. It analyses the emergence of unlinkability within the countries’ electronic citizen identity initiatives. The study used qualitative research methods, including semi-structured interview and document analysis, to analyse the policy-making processes surrounding the issue of unlinkability. The study found that unlinkability is emerging in different ways in each country. Germany’s data protection and privacy regimes are more coherent than the US, and unlinkability was an incremental policy change. US unlinkability policies are a more significant departure from its data protection and policy regimes. New institutionalism is used to help explain the similarities and differences between the two countries’ policies. Scholars have long been calling for the use of privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) in policy-making, and unlinkability falls into this category. By employing PETs in this way, German and US identity management policies are in the vanguard of their respective privacy regimes. Through these policies, the US comes closer to German and European data protection policies, doing so non-legislatively. The digital citizen identities appearing in both countries must be construed as commercial products inasmuch as official identities. Lack of attendance to the commercial properties of these identities frustrates policy goals. As national governments embark on further identity management initiatives, commercial and design imperatives, such as value to the citizen and usability, must be considered for policy to be successful

EU Business Law and Digital Revolution : Selected Studies from New Fields of Technology

The first chapter (I. Artificial Intelligence: legal implications) reflects on the growing importance of using artificial intelligence and the role of the legal regulation. The articles pose questions form general as well as specific perspectives and illustrates the legal problems of the artificial intelligence by varieties of topics, from the public procurements to the supply chains. The second chapter collects the papers that are focusing on the new instruments of exchange (II. Cryptocurrencies). The chapter lays down the conceptual basis of cryptocurrencies and examines the legal and regulatory challenges arising from the current use and the probable future prevalence of the virtual currencies. The third chapter of the book pays attention to emerging fields of regulations (III. Business and digitalization). The papers examine the adoption of technological innovations in higher education, e-commerce related aspects of computer games, legal challenges of smart contracts and autonomous vehicles

Big Data and Artificial Intelligence in Digital Finance

This open access book presents how cutting-edge digital technologies like Big Data, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Blockchain are set to disrupt the financial sector. The book illustrates how recent advances in these technologies facilitate banks, FinTech, and financial institutions to collect, process, analyze, and fully leverage the very large amounts of data that are nowadays produced and exchanged in the sector. To this end, the book also describes some more the most popular Big Data, AI and Blockchain applications in the sector, including novel applications in the areas of Know Your Customer (KYC), Personalized Wealth Management and Asset Management, Portfolio Risk Assessment, as well as variety of novel Usage-based Insurance applications based on Internet-of-Things data. Most of the presented applications have been developed, deployed and validated in real-life digital finance settings in the context of the European Commission funded INFINITECH project, which is a flagship innovation initiative for Big Data and AI in digital finance. This book is ideal for researchers and practitioners in Big Data, AI, banking and digital finance