Blockchain Technology and Its Applications

By Matthew Sadiku

It is hard to imagine modern life without technology. Technology is gradually becoming an indispensable component of our lives because it does miracles toward business growth and societal development. Advances in technology always have an impact on our society. Emerging technologies, such as the Internet of things (IoT), artificia

• Language: English
• Publisher: Book Films Media
• Release date: Jan 5, 2024
• ISBN: 9798989091683

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BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY

AND ITS

APPLICATIONS

Regents Professor Emeritus and IEEE Life Fellow

Prairie View A&M University

Prairie View, TX 77446

Matthew N. O. Sadiku, Ph.D., P.E.

Copyright © 2023 by Matthew N. O. Sadiku

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permission requests, contact:

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Date published: 2023

Matthew N. O. Sadiku

[e-mail]

www.matthew-sadiku.com

Paperback: 979-8-9890916-7-6

eBook: 979-8-9890916-8-3

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DEDICATED TO MY WIFE,

JANET O. SADIKU

BRIEF TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE

Advances in technology always have an impact on our society. Emerging technologies, such as the Internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence, and Blockchain, present transformative opportunities. The 21st century is all about revolutionizing technologies. One of the leading technologies that has changed many aspects is Blockchain. Blockchain came as a solution to the longstanding user’s trust problem. It is a technology that builds a trustworthy service in an untrustworthy environment. It refers to a highly secure and decentralized ledger system on which information can be stored but cannot be altered. It has evolved beyond cryptocurrencies to general purpose and can be used across an array of applications. It has proven to be another revolutionary technology that will impact many industries and transactions.

Blockchain (also known as distributed ledger technology) is a peer-to-peer network that sits on top of the Internet. Blockchain technology is an innovation which is regarded as the center of Industry 4.0 revolution and it has become part of our lives. It is a system that stores data in a special way. Blockchain technology has some interesting properties, such as its decentralized nature, immutability, decentralization, transparency, and permissionless, that may be used to address pressing issues in many sectors. Although this technology finds its first application in the financial sector, it has become possible to use it in all sectors which can be integrated with technology today.

Before Blockchain technology, people turned to gold or real estate when inflation hit its peak. Today, governments all over the globe have started opening up to Blockchain and crypto. By using blockchain, governments can reduce administrative costs, increase transparency, and improve service delivery. Blockchain is revolutionizing the digital world by bringing a new perspective to security, efficiency, and stability of systems and data. It is network of computers that is decentralized. Blockchain keeps track of distributed data and provides encrypted transaction tracking. It has attracted attention with its unique characteristics, such as irrevocability and security. It will be a part of our everyday life.

This book explores Blockchain and its various applications. It is organized into fourteen chapters that summarize Blockchain technology and its applications.

Chapter 1: Introduction:

This chapter introduces Blockchain and serves an introduction to this book. It explains how its unique characteristics could help fundamentally change the building blocks of commerce and society. Bitcoin is a cryptographic electronic payment system that purports to be the world’s first cryptocurrency. The Blockchain could bring everything that is good about Bitcoin and translate it into decentralized applications. Blockchain, a type of distributed digital ledger technology, is a relatively new and exciting way of recording transactions in the digital age.

Chapter 2: Blockchain in Business:

This chapter is an introduction to the use of Blockchain technology in business. The business world is constantly evolving, and technological advancements play a pivotal role in shaping its landscape. Traditional business models are no longer sufficient to tackle global competition due their inherent limitations. Blockchain is one of the major technologies driving business transformation. While Blockchain holds immense potential for revolutionizing various aspects of business operations, it is important for businesses to carefully assess their needs, understand the technology, and consider the challenges before implementing Blockchain solutions.

Chapter 3: Blockchain in Finance:

The chapter provides a primer on the use of Blockchain technology in finance. Finance industry is one of the largest booming sectors. It was the first sector to which Blockchain (BC) technology was applied. This sector witnesses millions of transactions worth trillions of dollars daily. Blockchain is basically a ledger of recorded financial transactions. It provides a potentially attractive alternative way to organize modern finance. It facilitates safe, easy transactions, and builds trust between trading partners. When trust in the central hubs of finance is being increasingly questioned, decentralized systems like the Blockchain that reduce the need for such trust become attractive.

Chapter 4: Blockchain in Healthcare:

In this chapter, we consider the use of Blockchain healthcare. The healthcare industry is one of the world’s largest industries and is resistant to change and innovative practices. As a catalyst for change, the Blockchain technology is going to change healthcare in major ways. The main motivation for using Blockchain in healthcare is to solve the data integrality, data interoperability, and privacy issues in current health systems. Blockchain eliminates the need of a middleman who plays the role of verifying transaction in the healthcare industry.

Chapter 5: Blockchain in Agriculture:

This chapter examines the applications of Blockchain technology in agriculture. Agriculture is the production of food, fiber, and data. It has played a crucial role in the promotion of life and wellbeing around the world. Blockchain has different uses in the agricultural industry such as providing solutions to food safety, food waste, food fraud, supply chain visibility, and management. Several farmers and agribusinesses have started introducing  Blockchain technology in agriculture.

Chapter 6: Blockchain in Supply Chain:

In this chapter, we introduce the integration of Blockchain in supply chain. Supply chain is a set of sequential stages in the manufacturing, transportation, storing, or distribution of a product. It plays a critical role in the global economy. Today’s supply chains are global networks that generally include manufacturers, suppliers, logistics companies, and retailers that work together to deliver products to consumers. They operate without Blockchain technology. Several prominent, forward-thinking companies are testing Blockchain solutions and investigating Blockchain uses for their supply chains. Blockchain supports supply chain management by resolving some of the existing concerns, like provenance, transparency, performance improvement, quality assurance and control, and achieving sustainability.

Chapter 7: Blockchain in Government:

This chapter provides an overview on blockchain in government. Most government services around the world run on inefficient systems loaded with heavy bureaucracy. They lead to non-transparent systems and a loss of public confidence in government services. Blockchain provides governments with a fast, secure, efficient, speedy, trustworthy, and transparent way to deliver government services and communicate with their citizens. It can help build citizens’ trust, prevent data breaches, reduce corruption, and cut government spending. As a result, the governments of many countries have expressed interest in the technology.

Chapter 8: Blockchain in Internet of Things:

This chapter provides a short review of the union of the Internet of things (IoT) and Blockchain. The IoT connects people, places, and products, offering new opportunities to generate value in products and business processes. IoT is a network of connected devices and people, collecting and sharing data. IoT holds the promise of connecting almost any device to the Internet and making the devices smarter and more accessible. Integrating Blockchain with the Internet of things can deliver numerous benefits, such as improving transparency, traceability, reliability, and automation. The merging of Blockchain and the IoT is also expected to address the issue security and privacy.

Chapter 9: Blockchain in Smart Cities:

This chapter explores the potential of Blockchain as a technology for enabling smart cities. A smart city is a high-tech urban area that connects people, information, and technologies in order to increase life quality. It integrates critical infrastructures such as bridges, tunnels, roads, subways, airports, seaports, and buildings in a secure manner so as to manage the city’s assets and improve the efficiency of services such as energy, water, and transportation. Cities around the world are already working becoming smart cities. They are using Blockchain  technology to enhance their operations and services. Applying Blockchain technology to smart cities produces several benefits such as trust-free, transparency, pseudonymity, democracy, automation, decentralization, and security.

Chapter 10: Blockchain in Cybersecurity:

This chapter provides a primer on Blockchain security. Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting systems and networks from digital attacks. Blockchain is the latest cybersecurity technology that is gaining popularity and recognition. Blockchain provides security, anonymity, and data integrity without the need of a third party. Cybersecurity is built into Blockchain technology because of its inherent nature of being a decentralized system based on principles of security, privacy, and trust. Blockchain technology is emerging as the ultimate weapon in the fight against cybercrime.

Chapter 11: Blockchain in Social Media:

In this chapter, we consider the use of Blockchain technology in social media. Social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Whatsapp, Snapchat, etc.  have changed our way of communication. They have become the center of the modern Internet. Modern social networks wield enormous power in society as it is evident by the fact that people are spending significant portions of their lives online. We turn to social media to form groups, foster relationships, and keep in touch with long-distance friends. Blockchain technology offers a promising solution for a new social media architecture. The decentralized nature of Blockchain allows for the creation of platforms where users control their data and have a stake in the network. This eliminates the need for a central authority or intermediary, promoting transparency and fairness.

Chapter 12: Blockchain in Artificial Intelligence:

The chapter considers the combination of AI and Blockchain and its applications. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a technology that can perform complex tasks that require human intelligence, and it holds the potential of exceeding human capabilities. Blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) are important disruptive, emerging technologies. When both of them are combined, they can help you build an immutable, safe, and decentralized system. The amalgamation of AI and Blockchain holds great potential to create new business models and used for process improvement and value creation such as asset management, customer service, dispute resolution, fraud prevention, production evaluation, and supply chain monitoring.

Chapter 13: Blockchain Around the World:

This chapter summarizes the current Blockchain adoption and regulation in many countries. Global interest in Blockchain technologies and their possible impact have permeated the public consciousness. Due to several factors existing in each country around the world, there are countries that are more ahead of the curve in terms of Blockchain adoption. A practical usage of cryptocurrency around the globe is what differentiates it from every other major currency whether it is euro, dollar, or any other. Numerous country-based financial organizations are putting resources into Blockchain technology to make a more productive organization to deal with economic exchanges.

Chapter 14: Future of Blockchain:

This last chapter attempts to predict the future of Blockchain technology. It explores the future of Blockchain by first considering novel technologies with the potential to facilitate future development of Blockchain, and then delving into its implications in different applications in the future of Blockchain. Such technologies include Internet of things and artificial intelligence. Although it is difficult to predict the future technology landscape and exactly how Blockchain fits in, but this chapter has identified a few areas of potential impact that will dictate the future of Blockchain.

This is a comprehensive introductory text on the issues, ideas, theories, and problems on Blockchain. It provides an overview on each of its applications so that beginners can understand Blockchain, its increasing importance, and its applications. It is a must-read book for anyone who wants to learn about Blockchain, which is undoubtedly one of the most important technologies that has emerged in the last decade.

I am grateful for the support of Dr. Annamalia Annamalai, the department head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Dr. Pamela Obiomon, the dean of the College of Engineering at Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Texas. Special thanks are due to my wife Janet Sadiku for helping with the quotations at the beginning of each chapter.

— M. N. O. Sadiku

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matthew N. O. Sadiku:

He received his B. Sc. degree in 1978 from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria and his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, TN in 1982 and 1984 respectively. In total, he received seven college degrees. From 1984 to 1988, he was an assistant professor at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, where he did graduate work in computer science. From 1988 to 2000, he was at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, where he became a full professor. From 2000 to 2002, he was with Lucent/Avaya, Holmdel, NJ as a system engineer and with Boeing Satellite Systems, Los Angeles, CA as a senior scientist. He is presently a Regents professor emeritus of electrical and computer engineering at Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX.

He is the author of over 1,200 professional papers and over 120 books including Elements of Electromagnetics (Oxford University Press, 7th ed., 2018), Fundamentals of Electric Circuits (McGraw-Hill, 7th ed.,2020, with C. Alexander), Computational Electromagnetics with MATLAB (CRC Press, 4th ed., 2019), Principles of Modern Communication Systems (Cambridge University Press, 2017, with S. O. Agbo), and Emerging Internet-based Technologies (CRC Press, 2019). In addition to the engineering books, he has written Christian books including Secrets of Successful Marriages, How to Discover God’s Will for Your Life, and commentaries on all the books of the New Testament Bible. Some of his books have been translated into French, Korean, Chinese (and Chinese Long Form in Taiwan), Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.

He was the recipient of the 2000 McGraw-Hill/Jacob Millman Award for outstanding contributions in the field of electrical engineering. He was also the recipient of Regents Professor award for 2012-2013 by the Texas A&M University System. He is a registered professional engineer and a life fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for contributions to computational electromagnetics and engineering education. He was the IEEE Region 2 Student Activities Committee Chairman. He was an associate editor for IEEE Transactions on Education. He is also a member of Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE). His current research interests are in the areas of computational electromagnetic, computer science/networks, engineering education, and marriage counseling. His works can be found in his autobiography, My Life and Work (Trafford Publishing, 2017) or his website: www.matthew-sadiku.com. He currently resides with his wife Janet in West Palm Beach, Florida. He can be reached via email at [e-mail]

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