Blockchains & Smart Contracts: exploratory analysis
Rui Fernandes · Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) · 2018
Blockchain is a relatively new technology created for Bitcoin’s network to store transaction records happening in it. The system is redundant and distributed, making it difficult for corrupt transactions. Without doubt the greatest use case of this technology is cryptocurrencies, however is wrong to restrict this tool only to the financial area. Many use cases are also being developed for business areas like digital identity and technological areas like IoT and many other areas. Due to the complexity, privacy and bureaucracy of certain processes in many areas a new technology rise called Smart Contracts, computational code programmable to meet certain conditions. These digital contracts act like traditional contracts, with the difference of its automaticity, where the need for a notary and certified people to validate signatures can be erased. So, the point of this thesis is to understand the concept of Blockchain and Smart Contracts and how they can be integrated together in other business and technological areas to improve and increase the efficiency of the organizational processes. After that, to create a demonstration case that show all the potential behind these technologies in a business area.