Abstract
Blockchain is widely regarded as a breakthrough innovation that may have profound impact on almost every sector of economy and society, of a magnitude comparable to the introduction of the Internet itself. While words like 'trust machine' and 'trustlessness' are used to invoke the revolutionary potential of blockchains, what trust in blockchains implies is stili ill-understood. Given thai scientific and practical understandings of blockchains are emergent and fragmented into disciplinary silos, also understandings of trust have been limited lo either human-based trust, orto technology or algorithmic trust. However, as we move towards agreement that blockchains are complex socio-technical (eco)systems capable of revolutionizing the relational and contractual base of human transaclions, there is need of an integrated perspective on the multiple dimensions (i.e., sources and targets) of trust involved in blockchains (i.e., algorithms, code, peers, transaction parties, technology experts, markets and institutions), a process-based view of their interplay and a careful analysis of their impact on the emergence of blockchain use cases. This project aims at providing a taxonomy of trust dimensions regarding blockchains and their interplay in different typologies of blockchain ecosystems. By exploring what il means lo trust sociotechnical systems, we adopt an ecosystem perspective on blockchain technologies and propose the concept of multidimensional distributed system trust. Specifically, the main goal is lo understand how four types of blockchain stakeholders -i.e., orchestrators, complementors, users and external actors- contribute lo distributed trust in blockchain ecosystems and with what impact on the ecosystems' configuration in terms of governance, participation, regulatory attempts and technology adoption and use. Methodologically, we will conduci case studies in sectors thai the ltalian Ministry of Economie Development and the OCSE consider of strategie importance in the adoption of blockchain technology in ltaly, selected according to a set of context conditions identified theoretically (codifiability, technicality, regulation, type of blockchain solution). To compare and confirm trust taxonomies in ltalian blockchain ecosystems, we also propose case studies within INATBA, an international forum of discussion and standardization far blockchain stakeholders. We contribute lo management and organization research by theorizing about distributed system trust processes in blockchain ecosystems. We also intend a contribution to legai studies by analyzing multiple cases of regulatory efforts in different blockchain spheres and by formulating recommendations about future regulatory interventions. Last, we build on software engineering research by using trust and organization taxonomies lo perform a blockchain architecture tradeoff analysis method (ATAM).
Project details
Unibo Team Leader: Elisa Villani
Unibo involved Department/s:
Dipartimento di Scienze Aziendali
Coordinator:
Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia - UNIMORE(Italy)
Total Unibo Contribution: Euro (EUR) 61.600,00
Project Duration in months: 24
Start Date:
28/09/2023
End Date:
28/02/2026
