scholarly journals Initial Coin Offerings and Agile Practices

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simona Ibba ◽  
Andrea Pinna ◽  
Maria Lunesu ◽  
Michele Marchesi ◽  
Roberto Tonelli
Keyword(s):  
Software Metrics ◽  
Project Planning ◽  
Agile Methods ◽  
Smart Contracts ◽  
Smart Contract ◽  
Planning Software ◽  
The People ◽  
Agile Practices ◽  
Develop Software ◽  
Initial Coin Offerings

An ICO (Initial Coin Offering) is an innovative way to fund projects based on blockchain. The funding is based on the selling of tokens by means of decentralized applications called smart contracts written in Solidity, a programming language specific for Ethereum blockchain. The ICOs work in a volatile context and it is crucial that the team is capable of handling constant changes. The Agile methods, proven practices enabling to develop software in presence of changing requirements, could be a means for managing uncertainty. The main goals of this work are to understand software engineering activities related to ICOs, recognize the ICOs developed using Agile methods, and make a comparison between ICOs and Agile ICOs. In addition, we perform a deeper analysis of Agile ICOs concerning project planning, software development, and code features. Our work shows that the roles of the people involved in an ICO can be compared to the typical roles of the SCRUM methodology. The majority of Agile ICOs use tool of testing before storing smart contract on blockchain. Finally, the application of volumetric and complexity software metrics shows that the files of Agile ICOs is on average shorter and less complex than in other smart contracts.

scholarly journals An Organized Repository of Ethereum Smart Contracts’ Source Codes and Metrics

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 197
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Antonio Pierro ◽  
Roberto Tonelli ◽  
Michele Marchesi
Keyword(s):  
Software Engineering ◽  
Software Metrics ◽  
Source Code ◽  
Empirical Software Engineering ◽  
Specific Information ◽  
Smart Contracts ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Source Codes ◽  
Engineering Studies ◽  
Smart Contract

Many empirical software engineering studies show that there is a need for repositories where source codes are acquired, filtered and classified. During the last few years, Ethereum block explorer services have emerged as a popular project to explore and search for Ethereum blockchain data such as transactions, addresses, tokens, smart contracts’ source codes, prices and other activities taking place on the Ethereum blockchain. Despite the availability of this kind of service, retrieving specific information useful to empirical software engineering studies, such as the study of smart contracts’ software metrics, might require many subtasks, such as searching for specific transactions in a block, parsing files in HTML format, and filtering the smart contracts to remove duplicated code or unused smart contracts. In this paper, we afford this problem by creating Smart Corpus, a corpus of smart contracts in an organized, reasoned and up-to-date repository where Solidity source code and other metadata about Ethereum smart contracts can easily and systematically be retrieved. We present Smart Corpus’s design and its initial implementation, and we show how the data set of smart contracts’ source codes in a variety of programming languages can be queried and processed to get useful information on smart contracts and their software metrics. Smart Corpus aims to create a smart-contract repository where smart-contract data (source code, application binary interface (ABI) and byte code) are freely and immediately available and are classified based on the main software metrics identified in the scientific literature. Smart contracts’ source codes have been validated by EtherScan, and each contract comes with its own associated software metrics as computed by the freely available software PASO. Moreover, Smart Corpus can be easily extended as the number of new smart contracts increases day by day.

Legally Enforceable Smart-Contract Languages

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-34
Author(s):  
Vimal Dwivedi ◽  
Vishwajeet Pattanaik ◽  
Vipin Deval ◽  
Abhishek Dixit ◽  
Alex Norta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Smart Contracts ◽  
Smart Contract ◽  
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations

Smart contracts are a key component of today’s blockchains. They are critical in controlling decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO). However, smart contracts are not yet legally binding nor enforceable; this makes it difficult for businesses to adopt the DAO paradigm. Therefore, this study reviews existing Smart Contract Languages (SCL) and identifies properties that are critical to any future SCL for drafting legally binding contracts. This is achieved by conducting a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of white- and grey literature published between 2015 and 2019. Using the SLR methodology, 45 Selected and 28 Supporting Studies detailing 45 state-of-the-art SCLs are selected. Finally, 10 SCL properties that enable legally compliant DAOs are discovered, and specifications for developing SCLs are explored.

Smart Contract: Concept, Financial Essence, World Experience and Opportunities of Practical Use

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 1871-1893
Author(s):  
Vasilii A. DADALKO ◽  
Vladimir V. NIKOLAEVSKII ◽  
Andrei D. NEKRASOV ◽  
Dar’ya S. SHERSTNEVA
Keyword(s):  
Banking Sector ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Utilization Efficiency ◽  
Smart Contracts ◽  
Financial Instruments ◽  
Complex Concept ◽  
Smart Contract ◽  
Fundamental Possibility ◽  
The Moment

Subject. The article considers smart contracts as digital financial instruments, their financial and economic essence, which is defined as digital instruments for the settlement of financial relations. Objectives. The aim is to introduce into scientific use such a system concept as digital financial instruments and mechanisms based on the consideration of their economic, legal and financial essence. Methods. The study rests on systems approach that enables to present a smart contract from a technological, economic, legal and financial position as a set of elements with their specific functions defining its complex concept. Results. We reveal the nature of financial relations, arising at the time when bilateral or multilateral transactions are concluded and smart contracts are presented as ways to automatically settle them. Completion of a smart contract is a confirmation of the completion of the transaction and the moment of termination of financial relationship. The article shows the fundamental possibility of using smart contracts in the system of budget relations as a tool for the settlement of a multilateral transaction. Conclusions. Currently, smart contracts are an essential element of a new stage in the development of financial technologies. Specialists in the financial and banking sector recognize the emerging opportunities for their use in the system of financial relations. The paper shows an example of possible use of smart contracts in the settlement of budget relations and in improving the utilization efficiency of budget funds.

Administrative risks challenging the adoption of smart contracts in construction projects

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Asli Pelin Gurgun ◽  
Kerim Koc
Keyword(s):  
Construction Projects ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Risk Category ◽  
Smart Contracts ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Smart Contract ◽  
Criteria Weights

PurposeAs a remedy to usually voluminous, complicated and not easily readable construction contracts, smart contracts can be considered as an effective and alternative solution. However, the construction industry is merely known as a frontrunner for fast adoption of recent technological advancements. Numerous administrative risks challenge construction companies to implement smart contracts. To highlight this issue, this study aims to assess the administrative risks of smart contract adoption in construction projects.Design/methodology/approachA literature survey is conducted to specify administrative risks of smart contracts followed by a pilot study to ensure that the framework is suitable to the research question. The criteria weights are calculated through the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process method, followed by a sensitivity analysis based on degree of fuzziness, which supports the robustness of the developed hierarchy and stability of the results. Then, a focus group discussion (FGD) is performed to discuss the mitigation strategies for the top-level risks in each risk category.FindingsThe final framework consists of 27 sub-criteria, which are categorized under five main criteria, namely, contractual, cultural, managerial, planning and relational. The findings show that (1) regulation change, (2) lack of a driving force, (3) works not accounted in planning, (4) shortcomings of current legal arrangements and (5) lack of dispute resolution mechanism are the top five risks challenging the adoption of smart contracts in construction projects. Risk mitigation strategies based on FGD show that improvements for the semi-automated smart contract drafting are considered more practicable compared to full automation.Originality/valueThe literature is limited in terms of the adoption of smart contracts, while the topic is receiving more attention recently. To support easy prevalence of smart contracts, this study attempts the most challenging aspects of smart contract adoption.

Trust but Verify: The Oracle Paradox of Blockchain Smart Contracts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullah Albizri ◽  
Deniz Appelbaum
Keyword(s):  
Internal Control ◽  
Process Management ◽  
Weak Link ◽  
Design Science ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Smart Contracts ◽  
Independent Verification ◽  
Smart Contract ◽  
Control Application

Although research shows that blockchain provides fairly immutable virtual provenance workflows, proof that the Blockchain accurately represents physical events lacks truly independent verification. This dilemma, the Oracle Paradox, challenges blockchain architecture and is perhaps one reason why businesses have hesitated to adopt smart contracts. Blockchain proponents claim that people can serve as trusted Oracles in a smart contract. However, auditing research shows that people are the weak link in almost every internal control application, including those pertaining to blockchain. People are susceptible to collusion, bribery, error, and fraud and these tendencies are not entirely mitigated by blockchain technologies (Balagurusamy et al. 2019; Nakamoto 2008). This research proposes a framework to mitigate the paradox of the Oracle: A Business Process Management (BPM) model of a Blockchain Smart Contract-enabled Supply Chain with IoT as the sole "third-party" Oracle participant, utilizing Design Science research.

scholarly journals SMART CONTRACT AND CHALLENGES TO LAW

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gergana Varbanova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Law ◽  
Smart Contracts ◽  
Program Code ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Smart Contract ◽  
The Law

Are the technologies advanced enough to replace lawyers and the judiciary in the negotiation and enforcement process? Is it possible for a program code to be a contract that binds the parties named in it? What is a smart contract and what challenges does it pose to the law? The present study aims to clarify and show the advantages and disadvantages of using smart contracts in civil law.

AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF SOFTWARE METRICS FOR ASSESSING THE PHASES OF AN AGILE PROJECT

2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (04) ◽  
pp. 525-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
GIULIO CONCAS ◽  
MICHELE MARCHESI ◽  
GIUSEPPE DESTEFANIS ◽  
ROBERTO TONELLI
Keyword(s):  
Software Quality ◽  
Web Application ◽  
Software Metrics ◽  
Pair Programming ◽  
Application Development ◽  
Agile Practices ◽  
Code Metrics ◽  
Agile Process ◽  
Adoption Level

We present an analysis of the evolution of a Web application project developed with object-oriented technology and an agile process. During the development we systematically performed measurements on the source code, using software metrics that have been proved to be correlated with software quality, such as the Chidamber and Kemerer suite and Lines of Code metrics. We also computed metrics derived from the class dependency graph, including metrics derived from Social Network Analysis. The application development evolved through phases, characterized by a different level of adoption of some key agile practices — namely pair programming, test-based development and refactoring. The evolution of the metrics of the system, and their behavior related to the agile practices adoption level, is presented and discussed. We show that, in the reported case study, a few metrics are enough to characterize with high significance the various phases of the project. Consequently, software quality, as measured using these metrics, seems directly related to agile practices adoption.

Blockchain for Islamic Social Responsibility Institutions

2019 ◽  
pp. 221-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moutaz Abojeib ◽  
Farrukh Habib
Keyword(s):  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Transaction Cost ◽  
Economic Efficiency ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Innovative Technology ◽  
Islamic Finance ◽  
Smart Contracts ◽  
Smart Contract ◽  
Traditional Technologies ◽  
High Level

Blockchain and smart contracts are forming new systems to record and manage businesses with less need for intermediaries. The new systems are expected to offer high level of governance with lower cost as compared to the traditional technologies. While there is a continuous effort to apply this innovative technology in several businesses, Islamic finance in general—and Islamic social finance in particular—are facing few challenges that could be solved by such innovations. Islamic social finance institutions such as waqf are facing some challenges in enhancing its governance structure to ensure Shariah compliance as well as economic efficiency. This chapter explains how blockchain and smart contract technologies can help these institutions for better governance, lower transaction cost, more transparency, and higher trust, hence enhancing the business flexibility and market accessibility. It also presents some related cases that are currently under development as an evidence for the practicality of these technologies in the Islamic social finance arena.

A Study of Use Cases for Smart Contracts Using Blockchain Technology

2021 ◽  
pp. 1823-1844
Author(s):  
S R Mani Sekhar ◽  
Siddesh G M ◽  
Swapnil Kalra ◽  
Shaswat Anand
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disaster ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Use Cases ◽  
Use Case ◽  
Smart Contracts ◽  
Digital Identity ◽  
Blockchain Technology ◽  
Smart Contract ◽  
Healthcare Finance ◽  
Natural Disaster Management

Blockchain technology is an emerging and rapidly growing technology in the current world scenario. It is a collection of records connected through cryptography. They play a vital role in smart contracts. Smart contracts are present in blockchains which are self-controlled and trustable. It can be integrated across various domains like healthcare, finance, self-sovereign identity, governance, logistics management and home care, etc. The purpose of this article is to analyze the various use cases of smart contracts in different domains and come up with a model which may be used in the future. Subsequently, a detailed description of a smart contract and blockchain is provided. Next, different case-studies related to five different domains is discussed with the help of use case diagrams. Finally, a solution for natural disaster management has been proposed by integrating smart contract, digital identity, policies and blockchain technologies, which can be used effectively for providing relief to victims during times of natural disaster.

Blockchain for Islamic Social Responsibility Institutions

2021 ◽  
pp. 1114-1128
Author(s):  
Moutaz Abojeib ◽  
Farrukh Habib
Keyword(s):  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Transaction Cost ◽  
Economic Efficiency ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Innovative Technology ◽  
Islamic Finance ◽  
Smart Contracts ◽  
Smart Contract ◽  
Traditional Technologies ◽  
High Level

Blockchain and smart contracts are forming new systems to record and manage businesses with less need for intermediaries. The new systems are expected to offer high level of governance with lower cost as compared to the traditional technologies. While there is a continuous effort to apply this innovative technology in several businesses, Islamic finance in general—and Islamic social finance in particular—are facing few challenges that could be solved by such innovations. Islamic social finance institutions such as waqf are facing some challenges in enhancing its governance structure to ensure Shariah compliance as well as economic efficiency. This chapter explains how blockchain and smart contract technologies can help these institutions for better governance, lower transaction cost, more transparency, and higher trust, hence enhancing the business flexibility and market accessibility. It also presents some related cases that are currently under development as an evidence for the practicality of these technologies in the Islamic social finance arena.

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