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Blockchain Utility in Use Cases: Observations, Red Flags, and Requirements

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Euro-Par 2020: Parallel Processing Workshops (Euro-Par 2020)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 12480))

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Abstract

On a global scale blockchain is persistently proposed in thousands of use cases by corporates, governments, and academics. However, there is a lack of systematic evaluation of these use cases and the utility of blockchain. In this work we systematically evaluate fifteen use cases that use blockchain. Based on our evaluation we observe six recurring problems in these use cases. These problems either relate to the utility of blockchain in the use case, or to how well-documented a use case description is. We point out four red flags that, whenever they occur in a use case description, signal that blockchain may be a sub-optimal solution for that use case. Notably, one of these red flags indicates that there are no clear requirements in the use case descriptions that warrant the use of blockchain. We address this by proposing a set of requirement templates for any use case that includes a transaction system.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Tommy Koens & Erik Poll

Authors
  1. Tommy Koens
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  2. Erik Poll
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tommy Koens .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. AGH University of Science and Technology, Krakow, Poland

    Bartosz Balis

  2. CiTIUS, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

    Dora B. Heras

  3. ICAR-CNR, Naples, Italy

    Laura Antonelli

  4. University of Stirling, Stirling, UK

    Andrea Bracciali

  5. Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, Erlangen, Germany

    Thomas Gruber

  6. Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea (Republic of)

    Jin Hyun-Wook

  7. Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

    Michael Kuhn

  8. Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN, USA

    Stephen L. Scott

  9. Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Didem Unat

  10. Czestochowa University of Technology, Czestochowa, Poland

    Roman Wyrzykowski

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Koens, T., Poll, E. (2021). Blockchain Utility in Use Cases: Observations, Red Flags, and Requirements. In: Balis, B., et al. Euro-Par 2020: Parallel Processing Workshops. Euro-Par 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12480. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71593-9_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71593-9_1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-71593-9

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