“Blockchain technologies applied to the digitalization of governance processes in business contexts”

Abstract

The blockchain, a distributed, digital ledger, is widely seen as one of the technologies that will lead the future. According to numerous experts, thanks to its features, such as immutability and decentralization, we can apply it in various fields and change the way we see Internet-based services. From financial applications to supply chain problems, blockchain could represent a game-changer. Nevertheless, there are several serious questions about this topic, concerning the actual utility of blockchain but also the consequences that the application of this technology could lead to, such as the environmental footprint and the privacy issues.

X DataNet Srl is a software-house based in Mirandola, Modena. For twenty-seven years, it has been producing software mainly focused on the digitalization of the governance processes like boards of directors and shareholders’ meeting voting procedures.

Along with the spread of blockchain popularity, the interest of X DataNet in that arise, until they asked themselves if this technology could increase the security and quality of any other feature of their products. During the time I spent there, my task was to do research about blockchain and analyze its actual pros and cons. I was asked also to realize some proof of concept and to study possible integrations to their software.

X DataNet e-voting and notary software could integrate the blockchain technology to ensure immutable procedures, called smart contracts, to provide an additional security level to an already established architecture. Blockchain would represent an innovative way to improve electronic ballots and documents’ digital notarization, playing the role of a trusted third party. The prototype of the digital notary service is based on the document digest upload to the blockchain, which could also integrate the e-voting analyzed protocol, a blind-signature scheme over ECC cryptography.

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