Peace engineering: The contribution of blockchain systems to the e-voting process

A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis on Scalable Blockchain-Based Electronic Voting Systems

Electronic voting systems must find solutions to various issues with authentication, data privacy and integrity, transparency, and verifiability. On the other hand, Blockchain technology offers an innovative solution to many of these problems. The scalability of Blockchain has arisen as a fundamental barrier to realizing the promise of this technology, especially in electronic voting. This study seeks to highlight the solutions regarding scalable Blockchain-based electronic voting systems and the issues linked with them while also attempting to foresee future developments. A systematic literature review (SLR) was used to complete the task, leading to the selection of 76 articles in the English language from 1 January 2017 to 31 March 2022 from the famous databases. This SLR was conducted to identify well-known proposals, their implementations, verification methods, various cryptographic solutions in previous research to evaluate cost and time. It also identifies performance parameters, the primary advantages and obstacles presented by different systems, and the most common approaches for Blockchain scalability. In addition, it outlines several possible research avenues for developing a scalable electronic voting system based on Blockchain technology. This research helps future research before proposing or developing any solutions to keep in mind all the voting requirements, merits, and demerits of the proposed solutions and provides further guidelines for scalable voting solutions.

Artificial Intelligence Applications and Self-Learning 6G Networks for Smart Cities Digital Ecosystems: Taxonomy, Challenges, and Future Directions

The recent upsurge of smart cities’ applications and their building blocks in terms of the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), federated and distributed learning, big data analytics, blockchain, and edge-cloud computing has urged the design of the upcoming 6G network generation, due to their stringent requirements in terms of the quality of services (QoS), availability, and dependability to satisfy a Service-Level-Agreement (SLA) for the end users. Industries and academia have started to design 6G networks and propose the use of AI in its protocols and operations. Published papers on the topic discuss either the requirements of applications via a top-down approach or the network requirements in terms of agility, performance, and energy saving using a down-top perspective. In contrast, this paper adopts a holistic outlook, considering the applications, the middleware, the underlying technologies, and the 6G network systems towards an intelligent and integrated computing, communication, coordination, and decision-making ecosystem. In particular, we discuss the temporal evolution of the wireless network generations’ development to capture the applications, middleware, and technological requirements that led to the development of the network generation systems from 1G to AI-enabled 6G and its employed self-learning models. We provide a taxonomy of the technology-enabled smart city applications’ systems and present insights into those systems for the realization of a trustworthy and efficient smart city ecosystem. We propose future research directions in 6G networks for smart city applications.

Peace engineering and compassionate operations: a framework for leveraging social good

Purpose

Peace engineering and compassionate operations can unlock the potential of emerging technologies for social good. This work aims to investigate the integration of peace engineering and compassionate operations by proposing an integrative framework and identifying the main drivers regarding social good, considering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) landscape.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used a two-stage methodology by employing a narrative literature review in the first stage to identify the relationships and drivers and propose an original framework. In the second stage, the authors utilized an expert panel to validate the framework’s drivers.

Findings

The authors identified five main categories related to peace engineering and compassionate operations, which were then used to support the categorization of the drivers. In the second stage, the authors validated the drivers with a panel of academicians and experienced industry practitioners.

Practical implications

The proposed framework can provide insightful directions for practitioners and governments to develop strategies and projects in different contexts, including humanitarian logistics, climate change crises, supply chain disruptions, etc.

Originality/value

This work makes unique contributions by reinvigorating an amalgamation of the peace engineering and compassionate operations arenas and their integration with the SDGs to enable enhanced social good, supported by cutting-edge technologies. Thus, this framework’s contributions encompass essential theoretical, managerial, and social implications.

The use of blockchain in the luxury industry: supply chains and the traceability of goods

Purpose

Most businesses strive to control the efficiency of their supply chains; however, luxury firms face additional challenges from counterfeit, gray market and copycat products. Blockchain technology can address these issues and enhance firms' supply chain management, guaranteeing the traceability and origin of luxury products. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the utility and contexts influencing the implementation of blockchain technology to optimize supply chain management and prevent fraud in the luxury industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The research uses a qualitative approach based on the grounded theory method. Data are collected by semi-structured interviews with 12 stakeholders working on blockchain applications in the luxury business sector.

Findings

Highlighting the problems faced by luxury brands' supply chains, this study presents blockchain technology as a solution for disintermediation, traceability and transparency in the luxury goods sector. The constraints faced by luxury brands incorporating this technology into their ecosystem include the knowledge gap, the multiplicity of third parties involved in the production process and bias toward short-term returns on investment.

Originality/value

Blockchains promote greater transparency and efficiency within supply chains, which builds consumer trust and improves brand revenue. Considering luxury brands' reluctance to adopt blockchains, this study suggests that luxury firms adopt a staggered implementation of private blockchain networks starting with a small number of third-party suppliers.