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Assigment-2

Ramesh Chandra Singh


Q1. Discuss the socioeconomic impacts of block chain technology.
Ans-
 Blockchain has the ability to change everything around us. Blockchain has recently garnered a lot
of attention from industry experts, professionals and the general audience. The reason is how it
helps eradicate the problems that most of the industries are going through. If you check blockchain
use-cases, you will find that blockchain’s biggest impact is the financial sector, followed by supply
chain, real estate, and healthcare and so on. But before we dissect the technology and blockchain
impact on Social-economy, let’s first go through a few statistics highlighting the current state of the
technology and how the world is answering the most important yet cliché question- how to use
Blockchain technology?

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− Social economic Impact

− Banking and Financial Services

o When focusing on the blockchain and economic development, the foremost


industry that takes the limelight is banking and finance.

o The combination of Blockchain and Fintech has simplified banking processes in


many ways:

o enforced identity verification and management process

o introduced crypto payments

o Eradicated intermediaries.

o Besides, the convergence of the two, which has resulted into decentralized finance
led financial software development companies to automate has also automated
banking and accounting processes – right from organizing spreadsheets to filing all
tax files effectively.

− Real Estate

o Blockchain is taking real estate to the next level. The technology has opened new
doors for potential investors across the world to invest into the real estate economy.
Some of the advantages of Blockchain in the industry can be seen in how it has
authenticated the digital transactions, reduced siloed databases, and instilled trust

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in all the property buying and selling solutions – both at the commercial and
residential front.

o The real estate sector’s condition has not been so good for the past few years. That’s
partly because of the ever-increasing price and how frustrating it has become to buy
a property. Blockchain has brought a new fresh outlook on how the real estate
sector operates. The benefits of blockchain in real estate include the following –

o Tokenization: With blockchain, it will become possible to tokenize actions. This


means that properties can be rented out for a certain period using pre-defined code.
Tokens also make it possible to add any business logic, including the ability to
protect against fraud.

o Proper Tenant and Investor Identity: Digital identities can help both investor
and tenant to create digital identities that are easy to verify and work with. The
KYC/AML procedures will become more streamlined with the use of proper identity
management. Lastly, documentation becomes easier and more shareable.

o Property Sale: Property sales can be automated with smart contracts. It enables
legal agreements that are traceable and executable if a certain condition is met.

o Real-Time Accounting: With blockchain, it is possible to do real-time accounting

o An example of the scope of blockchain growth in the Real estate domain is


Ubitquity.

− Healthcare

o Blockchain technology in Healthcare industry has proven to be more than a baseless


hype. It serves the healthcare organizations with better data collaborations that not
just increases the probability of accuracy in diagnosis but also upgrades the
treatment level.

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o The use of Blockchain in the healthcare and pharmaceutical sector also streamlined
the supply chain and medicine verification process. It enabled the medical domain
stakeholders to make payments using crypto wallets, change the model for drug
design, and deliver a personalized yet trustable experience to both patients and
medical practitioners.

o Healthcare also requires a complete change if they want to be more effective in


providing service to their patients. The benefits of blockchain in healthcare are
countless. It does bring a lot of benefits to the table. Let’s see how blockchain for
healthcare can really alter the game.

o Patient Profile Privacy: The use of a decentralized ledger means a unified patient
profile. Patients do not have to carry their papers anymore as everything can be
stored and shared through a secure ledger. It will also offer patients more privacy as
they hold the authority to grant permission to who can use or see the data.

o Drug Traceability: Drug traceability will also improve with blockchain. As


everything is tracked in real-time and in a decentralized network, there are next to
impossible chances for it to get hampered.

o Better Clinical Trials: Patient’s data is secured and stored in a decentralized


network. The public health data can be used to do better clinical trials and research
— improving the chances of developing drugs for different diseases.

o Electronic Health Records (EHRs): With blockchain, health organizations can


easily manage electronic records.

o One such healthcare startup that has incorporated Blockchain in its process is Gem
Health Network.

− Education

o While education app development is what brought education from traditional


classrooms to real-time accessible mobiles, Blockchain has taken it to the next level.

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o The technology has simplified the process of record keeping and verification of
certificates. It introduced the concepts of verifiable open badges which enables
students to maintain a permanent record of their certificates and other documents
and share with prospective employers. Also, it streamlined public assistance for
both students and families.

o When looking for the answer to why use Blockchain in Education, one company
that has come up as the right answer is Sony Global Education. The brand has
created an educational platform with the help of IBM that employs Blockchain to
store and share student records securely.

− Retail

Blockchain has bridged the gap between buyers and sellers by reducing the interference of
third party intermediaries. The technology, in the form of Blockchain wallets, have eased
the process of peer-to-peer payments. Besides, it has also added a tint of security and
transparency using the concept of Smart Contracts – a clear indication of which is
OpenBazaar.

− Transport and Ride Sharing

o Blockchain technology has also proven to hold the potential to change the
landscape of public transportation and ride sharing economy.

o On one side, blockchain-powered applications have encouraged users to commute


via public transportation and get rewards in the form of crypto-tokens,on the other
side, the technology has decentralized On-demand ride sharing economy, i.e., that
of Uber and Lyft. They have introduced new options that enable drivers and riders
to set their own rates, offer additional services like roadside assistance and
ultimately, create a more user-driven value-oriented market. Or better say, the
technology has introduced protocols that eliminate third-parties from the equation
and make the processes faster, efficient and seamless. A glance of which you can
take by visiting our blog, titled: Origin Launches Protocol to Decentralize the
Sharing Economy.

o One such app that proves how much is the Blockchain worth in ride sharing industry is
Arcade City.

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− Logistics and Supply Chain Management

o Blockchain also improves the scenario of Logistics and Supply chain management domain.
The technology lets companies record every transaction and process – right from
manufacturing to sales, storage, and shipment – in decentralized blocks. And in this way,
lower down the risk of time delays, human errors, and associated costs.

o The Food supply chain and safety system designed by Walmart in collaboration with IBM is
what indicates the real impact of Blockchain on business technology in the domain.

o Logistics is a prominent industry that needs a change as soon as possible. This is one of the
industries that is dealing with an overwhelming number of issues. This is where blockchain
comes into play. Blockchain can truly offer benefits to this industry. Let’s check out how
blockchain for logistics can really offer:

o Better Freight Tracking: Blockchain offers a proper authentication channel that comes
with verification as well; no one can tamper with the data available on the network. This
can help to keep track of all deliveries and maintain the deliveries in real-time.

o Better Carrier Onboarding: Blockchain is fully capable of handling the situation; any new
driver’s onboarding process can happen within minutes.

o Vehicle to Vehicle Communication: Blockchain can quickly secure all the data from
vehicle-to-vehicle communication processes and help companies streamline the
information efficiently.

o Security for the Internet of Things (IoT) Devices: It can offer security for IoT devices
(used within the logistics industries) and monitor all the data that comes from all of these
devices.

− Agriculture

o Agriculture is one of those sectors that require careful attention. It has the ability to impact
a huge population across the world. The main focus is to improve three key aspects of the
supply chain in agriculture. This includes improving transparency, traceability, and
efficiency. It will make sure that farmers are well connected to the consumers.

o Some of the key highlights that are shared in the study include the following

o New initiatives are less than two years old.

o None of the new initiatives have more than 1000 beneficiaries

o Some of the initiatives have the ability to reach a million beneficiaries

o Most of the applications are for-profit

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o With blockchain, these problems can be solved. First of all, it can reduce contamination
and food fraud. This can happen with the help of blockchain efficiency and transparency.
The role of blockchain is to improve the third party involvement by ensuring that they are
tracking, collecting and managing data in the best possible way. With blockchain, farmers
and distributors are going to get their payments faster than ever-improving their ability to
work on their next set of projects faster.

− Projects: AgriDigital, Grassroots Cooperative, Bext360

− Cybersecurity

o Blockchain is also gaining a huge traction in the field of Cybersecurity. The sector rightly
fits the textbook definition of impact of blockchain technology on business.

o It empowers users to maintain their unique and immutable identity records, which can’t be
accessed or interpreted by anyone without their consent. It also prevents DDoS attacks and
adds another layer of security on private messages.

o One of the best examples to look at the growth of blockchain technology in the
cybersecurity domain is Guardtime. It creates a keyless signature that goes with the
cybersecurity requirements of the US Department of Defense and helps in securing health
records of millions of Estonian citizens.

− Democracy and Governance

o The next sector where blockchain can play a crucial role is Democracy and Governance.
Right now, governments are very receptive to blockchain and its role in improving
democracy and governance.

o Key highlights

o Governments started blockchain as early as 2008

o 21 initiatives across Democracy and Governance.

o 81% of the initiatives have seen success by early 2019.

o Less than 50% of the initiatives are for-profit.

o Governments run on trust. And, that’s where blockchain comes into play. With blockchain,
governments can address security-related to the address data exchange. In addition, it will
also allow users to vote via blockchain, which makes them instantly countable and
traceable.

o By using blockchain, the government can also store citizens’ data in a much better way. The
data is immutable, which means that there is no citizen data that can be illegally deleted or
edited. It also gives agencies the ability to access the data whenever they want. The lack of

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centralization also means that there is no central point of failure. The government can also
run proper crowdfunding using blockchain.

− Projects: e-Estonia, Votem

− Energy, Climate and Environment

o Blockchain technology has the potential to change the climate, energy, and environment.
With millions of dollars of transactions, it is important to optimize every single aspect of
this sector. Blockchain can help improve with the use of peer-to-peer transmission, and also
gives the people the ability to create micro-grid.

o Key highlights

o Only 10% of the initiatives are not for profit in the energy sector.

o With the help of blockchain, the energy sector can bring in more efficient solutions. This
also means that electricity can become more reliable, clean and affordable.

o Energy distribution, allocation, and production have always been an important sector for
governments out there. Without proper energy management, it becomes hard for any
government to provide valuable growth to its economy. Private players also play a crucial
role and can benefit from the blockchain. Below are the benefits that the energy sector
receives with the use of blockchain.

o Environmental Sustainability: Blockchain helps make the energy sector more


environmentally sustainable. It helps overcome legacy energy sector efficiency issues and
provides a network where it is possible to produce, store, and distribute energy more
efficiently.

o Reduced Costs: The costs associated are reduced when it comes to infrastructure and
operational aspects of the energy sector.

o Improved Transparency: The use of a distributed ledgers improves transparency.

o Projects: Grid Singularity, ME SOLshare

− Crowdfunding and Venture Capital

o Blockchain has introduced the concept of Smart Contracts in the crowdfunding and
venture capital domain. This has helped every associated entity to get a better oversight of
individual campaigns and cope up with the risk of fraud in this sector.

o In other words, it has added authenticity and trust into the spectrum which has made it
easier for startups and other companies to get funding easily and effectively.

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− Philanthropy and Aid

o Social impact can be best seen from the philanthropy and aid sector. Right now, the aid and
philanthropy don’t reach their intended use. This is because of the huge inefficiencies that
the current platform suffers when it comes to aid and philanthropy. Even with so much
investment, there is still a need for additional funds to meet the demand for basic human
rights, poverty and access to education.

o Key highlights

o More than 80% of the initiatives are non-profit

o Over 55% of the initiatives are reaching less than 1000 people.

o Billions of dollars are invested in helping the needy. However, these aids are mostly
misused due to a lack of transparency. In fact, most of the aid never reaches the intended
people. This has also led people to not contribute to these non-profit organizations.
Blockchain can solve all of these problems and help elevate the confidence in non-profit in
utilizing the funds.

o Projects: Ixo Foundation, Disberse, RootProject

− A part from various sector block chain also addressed the existing system fault & their
correction as economy point of view_

− Better Transparency

o Transparency is one of the big issues in the current industry. To improve transparency,
organizations have tried to implement more rules and regulations. But there is one thing
that doesn’t make any system 100% transparency, i.e., centralization.

o With blockchain, an organization can go for a complete decentralized network where there
is no need for a centralized authority, improving the system’s transparency.

o A blockchain consists of peers who are responsible for carrying out transactions and
validating them. Not every peer takes part in the consensus method, but they are free to
choose if they want to participate in the validation process. To provide validation through
decentralization, the consensus method is used. Once validated, each node keeps a copy of
the transaction record. This way, the blockchain network handle transparency.

o Transparency has bigger implications when it comes to organizations. As mentioned


earlier, governments can also utilize transparency in building government processes or even
conduct voting.

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− Enhanced Security

o Blockchain technology utilizes advanced security compared to other platforms or record-


keeping systems. Any transactions that are ever recorded needs to be agreed upon
according to the consensus method. Also, each transaction is encrypted and has a proper
link to the old transaction using a hashing method.

o Security is also enhanced by the fact that each node holds a copy of the transactions ever
performed on the network. So, if any malicious actor ever wanted to make changes in the
transaction, he won’t be able to do so as other nodes will reject his request to write
transactions to the network.

o Blockchain networks are also immutable, which means the data, once written, cannot be
reverted by any means. This is also the right choice for systems that thrive on immutable
data, such as systems that citizens age

− Reduced Cost
o Right now, businesses spend a lot of money to improve to manage their current system.
That’s why they want to reduce cost and divert the money into building something new or
improving current processes.

o By using blockchain, organizations can bring down a lot of costs associated with 3rd party
vendors. As blockchain has no inherited centralized player, there is no need to pay for any
vendor costs. On top of that, there is less interaction needed when it comes to validating a
transaction, further removing the need to spend money or time to do basic stuff.

− True Traceability

o With blockchain, companies can focus on creating a supply chain that works with both
vendors and suppliers. In the traditional supply chain, it is hard to trace items that can lead
to multiple problems, including theft, counterfeit, and loss of goods.

o With blockchain, the supply chain becomes more transparent than ever. It enables every
party to trace the goods and ensure that it is not being replaced or misused during the
supply chain process. Organizations can also make the most out of blockchain traceability
by implementing it in-house.

− Improved Speed and Highly Efficient

o The last industrial benefit that blockchain brings is improved efficiency and speed.
Blockchain solves the time-consuming process and automates them to maximize efficiency.
It also eradicates human-based errors with the help of automation.

o The digital ledger makes everything this possible by providing a single place to store
transactions. The streamlining and automation of processes also mean that everything
becomes highly efficient and fast.

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o The fact that everything is stored in a decentralized ledger also makes it easy for everyone
to trust each other. In short, blockchain utilizes its unique way of data storage to provide a
highly efficient process with trust, transparency, and immutability.

o We hope that all the above points have answered your question on what are the key
benefits of blockchain technology.

o To give you a better glimpse, let’s list out the advantages of blockchain technology that you
get by using blockchain for your project.

As I menationed early that Blockchain has capacity to change every things around us ,If we
consider that point, Then Blockchain is that tool which change the various things as nation
perspective especially emerging market nation & under developing country. By blockchain
technology used we cater income equality, improve education infra & also minimize
injustice & corruption which is main issue of developing nation. If we want to make better
future then Blockchain is necessity for nation.

Q2. Describe different double-spending attacks and how to


prevent these.
Ans.
Double Spending in Blockchain

- Blockchain is a list of blocks. Each block comprises some information associated with some hash. Blockcha
is used nowadays widely for transactions. It is an immutable, distributed, and decentralized ledger. The
working of Blockchain is as follows. Suppose a user wants to make a transaction. A block is created and sen
to other users. Users validate the block and the transaction gets executed. The block is added and the users
get incentives.

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Here Peter has only $500 in his account. He initiates 2 transactions simultaneously to Adam for
$400 and Mary for $500. Normally this transaction would not go through as he doesn’t have
sufficient balance of $900 in his account. However, by duplicating or falsifying the digital token
associated with every digital transaction, he can complete these transactions without the needed
balance. This operation is known as Double Spending.

Understanding Double Spending

− Although Blockchain is secured, still it has some loopholes. Hackers or malicious users take
advantage of these loopholes to perform their activities.

− Double spending means the expenditure of the same digital currency twice or more to avail the
multiple services. It is a technical flaw that allows users to duplicate money.

− Since digital currencies are nothing but files, a malicious user can create multiple copies of the
same currency file and can use it in multiple places.

− This issue can also occur if there is an alteration in the network or copies of the currency are only
used and not the original one.

− There are also double spends that allow hackers to reverse transactions so that transaction happens
two times.

− By doing this, the user loses money two times one for the fake block created by the hacker and for
the original block as well.The hacker gets incentives as well for the fake blocks that have been
mined and confirmed.

How Does Double Spending Happen

− Double spending can never arise physically. It can happen in online transactions. This mostly
occurs when there is no authority to verify the transaction. It can also happen if the user’s wallet is
not secured. Suppose a user wants to avail of services from Merchant ‘A’ and Merchant ‘B’.

− The user first made a digital transaction with Merchant ‘A’.

− The copy of the cryptocurrency is stored on the user’s computer.

− So the user uses the same cryptocurrency to pay Merchant ‘B’

− Now both the merchants have the illusion that the money has been credited since the transactions
were not confirmed by the miners.

This is the case of double spending.

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Types Of Double Spending Attacks

− There are different types of Double Spending attacks:

− Finney Attack: Finney Attack is a type of Double spending Attack. In this, a merchant accepts an
unauthorized transaction. The original block is eclipsed by the hacker using an eclipse attack. The
transaction is performed on an unauthorized one. After that, the real block shows up and again the
transaction is done automatically for the real block. Thus the merchant loses money two times.

− Race attack: is an attack in which there is a ‘race’ between two transactions. The attacker sends
the same money using different machines to two different merchants. The merchants send their
goods but transactions get invalid.

- 51% Attack: This type of attack is prevalent in small blockchains. Hackers usually take over 51%
of the mining power of blockchain and therefore can do anything of their own will.

Solutions To Prevent Double Spending

− Double Spending can be prevented using two approaches: Centralized and Decentralized.

− Centralized Approach: In this case, a secured third party is employed to verify the transactions. The
third-party can track each of the user’s balances. Suppose a user makes a transaction. The third-party
identifies the transaction with a unique identity. Then it verifies the transaction and allows the

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transaction. The problem is that suppose we want to make transactions with other countries where a
third party is not required. So in such cases, decentralized systems come into play. another drawback
is if the whole system fails, the users cannot have access.

− Decentralized Approach: This approach is used by Bitcoin. In this, there is no involvement of


central authority. Each transaction is verified using powerful algorithms. The decentralized approach
proved to be more secure than the centralized approach. Protocols are established and each protocol
does its job at each step. Therefore this also promotes transparency.

Prevent of Double Spending

− Double spending has been minimized to a large extent as companies are using many security features.
But we as users also have some responsibility so that such attacks don’t happen.

− Any user should wait for a minimum of six confirmations of the transaction before performing another
transaction. In the blockchain, more the confirmations by different users, lesser will be double
spending attacks.

− Users should keep their hardware resources safe so that hackers do not misuse them for their own
purposes. Often hackers target the hardware part because the hardware is costly. If they somehow
steal the hardware, they can roll back any transaction or alter information.

− Users should delete spam mails and avoid phishing to avoid unnecessary malware attacks Phishing is a
very common attack by hackers as hackers target login credentials.

Software should be updated regularly with the latest antivirus installed. If the software is not up to
date then the bugs present can cause major damage.

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Q3. Design a system that incorporates blockchain technology for polio
vaccination distribution and monitoring, underlining the necessity for
a blockchain-based solution. Explain the operation of this system.
Ans-
Blockchain System for Vaccine Distribution

The proposed blockchain system for transparent POLIO vaccine tracking, distribution monitoring and
administration is presented in Figure 1. It uses the distributed ledger for storing vaccine related data,
while assuring data immutability to guarantee that the vaccines are transported safely to the
beneficiaries and the administration is done correctly to the real recipient without abuses.

Blockchain and immunization program management: vaccine registration, tracking, monitoring,


administration and self-reporting.

− The main actors of the proposed blockchain based system that act as peer network nodes are: i) the
beneficiaries that register for vaccination, ii) the company that prepares and registers the vaccine
batches/lots for transportation, iii) the IoT sensor devices that continuously monitor the vaccine
delivery, storage and handling; iv) the medical centers that will receive the vaccine and prepare it
for administration and v) the doctor who validates the beneficiary, delivery and storage conditions
and administers the vaccine. All the actions are registered into the distributed ledger as immutable
transactions which are stored in blocks that are replicated to all the peer actors in the chain. This
will provide a high transparency of the vaccine handling operations enabling the tracking and
registration of the POLIO vaccine as digital asset.

The main features of the system as well as their implementation using self-enforcing smart
contracts are detailed in the next sub-sections.

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Vaccine distribution chain monitoring

- The goal in this case is to make transparent the degree in which the defined conditions for vaccine
storage and manipulation are met during the entire distribution chain. This is achieved using smart
contracts that evaluate continuously the data received from sensors deployed on storage units or
attached to the transportation freezers against the defined conditions rules .

-
- The companies in the distribution chain or the medical centers can register a set of freezing devices
used for vaccine manipulation and storage, since the vaccine lots can be transported or stored in
different type of devices depending on the destination distance and travel time. At the same time,
they may update the freezing devices to vaccine correlations, by mapping the vaccine batch ready
to be transported to a freezer ID that in his turn has associated a set of rules. All the association
and rules are being stored in the blockchain distributed ledger making them impossible to be
tampered.

- Once the transaction is mined, the contract will verify the identity of the device signing the
transaction and the monitored value against the rule limits defined for safe vaccine handling. As the
value reaches the blockchain, it triggers the computation of the smart contract rules defined
validating or invalidating the transportation conditions. Furthermore, based on the time provided by
the chain, the time limit imposed by the vaccine issuer regarding the transportation/storage may be
validated:

- By storing the monitored values and the rules on blockchain, the immutability and integrity of the
data is assured. The monitored values cannot be changed and the decision of annotating these
values as corresponding/breaking the issuer-imposed rules are subject to consensus and mined in
chain in a tamper- proof manner. Any actor may check the logs registered on chain and trust
that the results provided have not been subject to any malicious tampering.

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- The freezer devices and vaccine lots are registered on the chain. The vaccine lots are assigned to
freezing devices, this association being updated during the distribution chain enacting its
decentralized tracing.

Immutable registration of vaccine beneficiaries

− The objective of beneficiary registration for vaccination via the proposed blockchain based system
is to ensure the privacy preserving of identity as well as to avoid the impersonations. As shown in
Figure 2, before the actual registration, the beneficiary generates a secret key (SK) that will be
stored off chain and it will be later used to prove his/her identity. To maintain personal data
privacy and anonymity on chain, while at the same time enabling beneficiary to prove their identity
without reveling it, a Merkle Proof is used. The root node stores the hash of the secret key
generated by the beneficiary and the hash of its Personal Identification Number (PI).

− 𝑃_𝐻𝐴𝑆𝐻 = 𝐻𝑎𝑠ℎ(𝐻𝑎𝑠ℎ(𝑃𝐼), 𝐻𝑎𝑠ℎ(𝑆𝐾)

− The root of the Merkle Proof (𝑃_𝐻𝐴𝑆𝐻) becomes the payload of a blockchain transaction signed by
the beneficiary and aimed for the Vaccine Registry (𝑉_𝑅𝐸𝐺) contract deployed on chain, marking
the intent to receive the vaccine. Once mined, the transaction hash and the contract address are
sent back to the beneficiary, who generates a QR Code that will be later shown as identification to
the doctor containing the transaction hash, the contract address, the PI and the hash of the SK.

- All relevant actors’ registration actions are management using smart contract functions. We have used a
map structure for keeping track of the registered actors, since it features a small time overhead for
accessing the resources upon verification and validation. This leads to a smaller execution costs of the
blockchain transactions mined. The beneficiary can register the request and intent for receiving the
vaccine, and the address signing the registration transaction will be stored. As input payload, the
beneficiary must provide the beneficiaryHash (line 10) represented by the Merkle Root. During
the verification step conducted by the doctor, the beneficiary will need to reveal the raw data

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to prove that he/she is the actual person who made the registration request using a pseudo-
anonymized blockchain address.

Vaccine operation system

− The most complex operation of the pipeline is the actual vaccine administration. This step must
check the following conditions for the blockchain system operation: the identity of the beneficiary
to be vaccinated, the conditions of vaccine delivery and handling according to the rules defined by
producer and the association of beneficiary with the vaccine to be administrated enabling the
further reporting of potential side effects.

- The first step of the process is the validation of beneficiary identity prior to the vaccination . It is
performed by the doctor using the beneficiary registration QR code containing the blockchain
transaction hash, the smart contract address, the hash of personal identification number and the
hash of the secret key. Using the hashes extracted from the QR code, the doctor performs an on-
chain identity verification for registration acknowledgment. Using the Merkle Proof, the hash of
the two values is compared against the root stored in the blockchain during the beneficiary
registration step.

-
− After the beneficiary identity verification is completed the vaccine QR Code is scanned to extract
relevant vaccine information stored on the blockchain, such as the smart contract address and the
vaccine lot ID and monitoring transportation conditions. After the vaccine was administrated, a
two-step locking mechanism is employed to mark the vaccine on the blockchain using the
signatures of the doctor and the beneficiary. In the blockchain, the vaccine is marked as
administrated using the Hash(PI) of the beneficiary that had received the vaccine.

− First, the beneficiary validation using QR code information and blockchain registered data
is done This is done on the chain by offering as input the two hashes (the hash of the PI,
and the hash of the SK) and checking the obtained root hash against the chain stored

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beneficiary registry. Both the beneficiary and the doctor must acknowledge the
administration on the chain by signing the associated blockchain transaction. When both
signatures are registered, the vaccine lot size is decremented and the association between
the beneficiary Hash(PI) and the vaccine lot is registered .

Necessity of Block chain based solution

− Blockchain can increase the efficiency and transparency of POLIO vaccine distribution assuring the
traceability and the rigorous audit of the storage and delivery conditions. In our opinion,
blockchain-based solutions may provide a fully automated implementation of data accountability
and provenance tracking in vaccine distribution, which will enable the integration of different
information silos as well owned and managed by different types of stakeholders on the entire
distribution chain. Self-enforcing smart contracts may assure the traceability of the POLIO vaccine
supply chain especially the cold part of the chain in which the vaccine needs to be kept at
extremely low temperatures to remain viable. Moreover, a breach in assuring the delivery
conditions will be registered on the chain in a tamper-proof manner and all the peers of the
network will be made aware due to the distributed ledger block distribution and replication
features. Furthermore, the blockchain can act as proof of the delivery chain, making it impossible
to counterfeit the vaccine, since at any point the medical units and the vaccine beneficiaries would
be able to trace it back up to the companies that have registered the vaccine lots in circulation.

− The second aspect is the transparency and correctness in the registration and management of the
waiting list of people for immunization. The data on this list is not only sensitive but at the same
time, it requires correctness, avoidance of impersonation, privacy, and immutability. These
properties can be achieved by using blockchain technology. Blockchain can change the way in
which the waiting list is managed allowing parties mutually unknown to transact and trace digital
assets securely without a central trusted intermediary. Such a decentralized system will remove the
necessity of having third parties’ entities that centralize and manage the waiting list the
immutability of transactions and the authorization achieved by using smart contracts which allows
all peers to restrict access to their private information. The entire sequence of actions taken in a
smart contract may be propagated across the network and/or recorded on the blockchain, and
therefore are publicly visible. Transactional privacy, as well as the privacy of personal data, can be
assured using novel solutions such as the incorporation of zero-knowledge proofs which are
cryptographic techniques that can assure privacy for verifying private data without revealing it in
its clear form .

- Finally, the third aspect is building trust in vaccine by implementing a transparent and public
reporting systems of potential side effects including the automatic tracing back up vaccine lot
level. Concerns have raised that different drug makers do not correctly and completely
report the side effects to relevant authorities . Thus, a transparent, real time and reliable
system regarding the reporting of the side effects once a drug/vaccine is released is crucial.
In this sense a blockchain platform would bring advantages with respect to the existing
state of the art solutions. Any beneficiary that has received a vaccine, may report any

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problems/symptoms encountered after the administration using blockchain, all other peers will be
made aware and moreover the report could be potentially validated using the peers’ consensus in
relation to vaccine lot. Furthermore, being stored in an immutable log, all the reported side effects
are protected against tampering

___________________________________Thank You_________________________________________

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