Non-Fungible Token (NFT) har genom sitt framträdande i digitala medier skapat ett större intresse för digital virtuell konst. Möjligheten att kunna ge digitala virtuella tillgångar ett unikt ägandeskap genom NFT-tekniken har förändrat hela marknaden för digital virtuell konst. Utvecklingen av NFTs har skapat ännu en otydlighet i gränsen mellan upplevelsen av fysiskt och digitalt virtuellt ägandeskap vilket har resulterat i utmaningar för utvecklingen av marknader för köp och försäljning av digital virtuell konst. Studien syftar till att undersöka hur digitalt ägandeskap av NFTs upplevs av intressenter för att kunna skapa en bättre förståelse för hur marknadsplatser kan hantera de utmaningar och möjligheter som utvecklingen av det digitala ägandeskapet har resulterat i. För att undersöka upplevelsen av ägandeskapet har en kvalitativ intervjustudie utförts med respondenter som har erfarenhet av antingen köp eller försäljning av NFTs. Studien använder en lins av psykologiskt ägandeskap för att kunna utforska upplevelsen av det digitala ägandeskapet av NFTs. Studiens resultat presenterar en förståelse för hur intressenter upplever ägandeskap av NFTs samt förslag på hur marknadsplatser kan förhålla sig till upplevelsen av ägandeskapet för att kunna utveckla ett demokratiskt och inkluderande ekosystem. / Non-Fungible Token (NFT) has through its appearance in digital media created a greater interest for digital virtual art. The ability to provide digital virtual assets with unique ownership through NFT technology has changed the entire market for digital virtual art. The development of NFTs has created another ambiguity in the boundary between the experience of physical and digital ownership, which has resulted in challenges for the development of markets for buying and selling digital virtual art. The study aims to investigate how digital ownership of NFTs is experienced by stakeholders in order to create a better understanding of how marketplaces can handle the challenges and opportunities that the development of digital ownership has resulted in. To investigate the experience of ownership, a qualitative interview study has been conducted with respondents who have experience in either buying or selling NFTs. The study uses a lens of psychological ownership in order to explore the experience of digital ownership of NFTs. The results of the study present an understanding of how stakeholders experience ownership of NFTs and suggestions on how marketplaces can act in relation to the experience of ownership in order to develop a democratic and inclusive ecosystem.

Purpose: In this study, areas of use of blockchain technology in transportation management will be discussed. The purpose is to contribute with theoretical research of advantages and disadvantages of blockchain technology in transportation management before an implementation at Rhenus Logistics.   Methodology: Through interviews and literature, ways of using blockchain in transportation management is researched. A case study is set up, to further analyze the research topic from the view of an individual third-party logistic company.  Findings: Results showed that for a third-party logistic provider to successfully use blockchain technology within transportation management, it is important to have the entire network onboard in the process. If so, functionalities such as track and trace, digital handling of paperwork and smart contracts could be used. The advantages of using blockchain technology for transportation management at Rhenus Logistics were found to be trust, transparency, traceability, efficiency, cost-saving opportunities and the use of smart contacts. Identified disadvantages for Rhenus Logistics was that blockchain is costly, stakeholders are hesitant to get involved, smart contracts are not considerate of blurry lines in real life practice and there is a challenge in finding an accurate blockchain design for their business model.

In the last decade, the European Union has looked to become more sustainable toreach the global environmental goals. With The European Green deal, a transition towards a circular economy has been set in place. One of the proposals is the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) that will improve the circularity and sustainability of almost all categories of physical goods. The digital product passport is a significant part of the ESPR with the goal to enable circular economy and carbon reduction plans by providing product information in a digital format and enable traceability. The purpose of this study is to investigate the Digital Product Passport in product design and manufacturing and to assess the potential opportunities and challenges associated with its introduction. The study also identifies the key traceability aspects that need to be considered when implementing this technology. A qualitative study has been conducted with a focus on small-to-medium sized enterprises in the Swedish furniture industry. In this study, the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework has been used to identify key factors that will have an impact on the future implementation of Digital Product Passport. Based on empirical findings and the literature review, an adapted model of TOE is presented in the discussion. The study has identified several opportunities in the Swedish furniture industry, such as transparency, digital identification, marketing and competitive advantages, value chain collaboration and the traceability aspect. Challenges found were organizational resources, decentralised databases, lack of frameworks, establishing access levels and digital platforms. A traceability aspect that needs to be considered are the security and privacy. Blockchain solution could be seen as a traceability enhancer that provides security, while interoperability between different blockchain networks is questioned. / Under det senaste decenniet har Europeiska unionen försökt bli mer hållbar för att nå de globala miljömålen. I och med EU:s gröna överenskommelse har en övergång till en cirkulär ekonomi inletts. Ett av förslagen är förordningen om ekodesign för hållbara produkter (Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, ESPR) som kommer att förbättra cirkulariteten och hållbarheten inom nästan alla kategorier av fysiska varor. Det digitala produktpasset är en viktig del av ESPR med målet att möjliggöra planer för cirkulär ekonomi och koldioxid minskning genom att tillhandahålla produktinformation i digitalt format och möjliggöra spårbarhet. Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka det digitala produktpasset i produktdesign och tillverkning samt att bedöma de potentiella möjligheter och utmaningar som är förknippade med dess införande. Studien identifierar också de viktigaste spårbarhetsaspekterna som måste beaktas vid införandet av denna teknik. En kvalitativ studie har genomförts med fokus på små till medelstora företag inom den svenska möbelindustrin. I denna studie har ramverket Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) använts för att identifiera nyckelfaktorer som kommer att ha en inverkan på den framtida implementeringen av Digital Product Passport. Baserat på empiriska resultat ochlitteraturstudien presenteras en anpassad modell av TOE i diskussionen. Studien har identifierat flera möjligheter i den svenska möbelindustrin, såsom transparens, digital identifiering, marknadsföring och konkurrensfördelar, samarbete i värdekedjan och spårbarhetsaspekten. Utmaningar som hittades var organisatoriska resurser, decentraliserade databaser, brist på ramverk, fastställande av åtkomstnivåer och antalet digitala plattformar. En spårbarhetsaspekt som måste beaktas är säkerhet och integritet. Blockkedjelösningen kan ses som en spårbarhetsförbättring som ger säkerhet, medan interoperabiliteten mellan olika blockkedjenätverk ifrågasätts.

During the last few years, there has been increasing interest in making medical records more centered around patients. Empowering the patient more in the care process has proven to increase the quality of care. It can also enable increased data sharing among different actors, where today patient health data is locked into thousands of separate data silos. Meanwhile, growth in portable medical devices and patient-generated health data (PGHD) poses a new source of valuable data which today has limited utilization in clinical settings. In solving these issues of data availability without compromising the privacy of patients, blockchain has been suggested to play an important role through a more patient-centric model of controlling information. The purpose of this study is to investigate how blockchain can solve data availability and security issues in the healthcare system. We explore the research question from a Sweden-specific context by first defining the current state of the Swedish health data ecosystem, and then analyzing how blockchain helps in increasing the availability and security of personal health data. Qualitative methods were used, and data was collected through both a literature review and an interview study where 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted with Swedish governmental agencies, EMR providers, informaticians, as well as blockchain experts. The current issues in data availability and security in the Swedish healthcare system were identified together with the benefits of using blockchain in this context. Our findings suggest that Sweden has already solved many of the problems other countries face, limiting the marginal benefit of using blockchain. However, problems of sharing raw data persist and blockchain has benefits in managing accesses to health data from both regulatory and privacy perspectives. There are also benefits of using the technology for ensuring the quality of PGHD as well as providing increased security for health data. Lastly, we propose and discuss three separate blockchainbased solutions to be used in healthcare. A major contribution to literature lies in finding that system barriers in form of legislation and technical and semantic interoperability are issues that first need to be resolved in order to harvest the full value of using blockchain technology - issues often understated in other papers. We call for future studies to investigate practical use-cases such as small-scale consortiums addressing specific data sets or patient groups to provide proof-of-concept on how the technology performs in terms of cost, integrity, security, and scalability in for personal health data. / Patientdata är i dagsläget spridd i tusentals data-silos i sjukvården. Att involvera patienten i vårdprocessen har visat sig förbättra vårdresultatet, vilket senaste åren ökat diskussioner om att göra hälsodata mer tillgänglig och centrerad kring patienten. Samtidigt växer användandet av portabla medicinska apparater och patient-genererad information snabbt, och utgör nu en ny datakälla som i dagsläget i princip inte utnyttjas i den kliniska kontexten. För att lösa dessa problem och öka tillgängligheten av data utan att äventyra patientens integritet har blockkedjeteknologi föreslagits spela en viktig roll genom en mer patientcentrerad modell av informationsdelning. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur blockkedjor kan lösa problemen med tillgänglighet av sjukvårdsdata inom vårdsystemet. Vi undersöker frågeställningen utifrån en svensk kontext genom att först definiera de existerande problem relaterade till datatillgänglighet och säkerhet i det svenska vårdsystemet, för att sedan analysera blockkedjans roll för att lösa dessa problem. Studien är av kvalitativ natur där datainsamling gjorts genom dels en litteraturstudie, och dels genom en intervjustudie, där 16 semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med svenska myndigheter, journalsystems-leverantörer, informatiker samt blockkedje-experter. Nuvarande problem inom datatillgänglighet och datasäkerhet identifierades tillsammans med de fördelar som finns av att använda blockkedjor i sammanhanget. Våra resultat visar att Sverige redan har löst många av de problem många andra länder idag möter, vilket potentiellt minskar den marginella nyttan av att använda blockkedjor. Dock existerar fortfarande problem när det gäller delning av digitala kopior av journaler mellan aktörer, och en blockkedjelösning har fördelar ur både regulatoriska perspektiv och integritetsperspektiv. Vidare finner vi fördelar av att använda blockkedjor för att försäkra kvaliteten av patient-genererad hälsodata, samt för att öka säkerheten i arkitekturer som möjliggör datadelnin. Slutligen föreslår vi och diskuterar tre olika blockkedjelösningar för den svenska sjukvårdssektorn. Ett av huvudbidragen till litteraturen ligger i att identifiera systembarriärer i form av legislativa åtgärder samt teknisk och semantisk interoperabilitet - problem som måste lösas för att till fullo kunna åtnjuta fördelarna av en blockkedjelösning. Vi uppmanar framtida studier att undersöka praktiska användningsområden såsom småskaliga konsortium för att vidare bidra med hur tekniken levererar på frågor kopplade till kostnad, integritet, säkerhet och skalbarhet för personlig hälsodata.

Die Blockchain-Technologie revolutioniert die Interaktion zwischen Menschen durch Peer-to-Peer-Netzwerke, Kryptografie und Konsensalgorithmen. Trustless Trust ermöglicht sichere und transparente Transaktionen ohne Zwischenhändler. Trotz der zunehmenden Beliebtheit von Krypto-Assets und den damit verbundenen „Tokenomics“ hat die Öffentlichkeit immer noch kein umfangreiches Wissen über die Funktionsweisen dieser Technologie, und ein Großteil des Diskurses bleibt spekulativ. Das Hauptziel dieser Arbeit ist, die grundlegenden Prinzipien von Krytowährungen (Cryptos) und Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) zu untersuchen sowie eine Korrelation zwischen der Technologie und ihren Auswirkungen auf die Wirtschaft aus statistischer und wirtschaftlicher Sicht herzustellen. Um dieses Ziel zu erreichen, wird in den Kapiteln 2 und 3 der Einfluss der Blockchain-Technologie auf Ökonomie und Funktionsweise von Kryptowährungen anhand ökonometrischer Modelle und Clustering-Techniken untersucht. Kapitel 3 untersucht Kryptowirschaft und Blockchain-Funktionalität anhand empirischer Methoden, insbesondere für Coincreatoren und Investoren. Wir zeigen am Beispiel von Ethereum, dass die wirtschaftliche Leistung von Kryptowährungen durch die Gestaltung der ihnen zugrunde liegenden Blockchain-Technologie beeinflusst werden kann. Kapitel 4 untersucht die partiellen Korrelationen von Bitcoin-Renditen über neun verschiedene Zentralbörsen aus der Perspektive eines hochfrequenten, dynamischen Netzwerks. Die vorgeschlagene MHAR-CM liefert Kovarianzschätzungen, die die Besonderheiten der Kryptomärkte berücksichtigen. Das Kapitel zeigt Spillover- und Third-Party-Risiken zwischen diesen Börsen. Kapitel 5 verwendet eine Hedonische Bewertungsmethode, um den DAI Digital Art Index basierend auf dem NFT-Kunstmarkt zu konstruieren. Ein besonderer Fokus liegt auf der Nivellierung der Auswirkungen von Ausreißern mit einer einstufigen robusten Regressions-Huberisierung und einem dynamic conditional score model. Diese Arbeit verknüpft neue Technologien und Wirtschaft durch statistische Modellierung und Analyse. Durch die Bereitstellung empirischer Belege beobachten wir, wie die Blockchain-Technologie unsere Wahrnehmung von Geld, Kunst und anderen Branchen verändert. / The emergence of distributed ledger technologies, such as blockchain, has revolutionized how individuals interact by enabling "trust-less trust" through peer-to-peer networks, cryptography, and consensus algorithms. This technology eliminates intermediaries and provides secure, transparent transaction methods. However, public understanding of this technology, along with "Tokenomics", remains limited, resulting in speculative discourse. The main objective of this thesis is to investigate the fundamental principles of cryptocurrencies (cryptos) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and establish a correlation between the technology and its economic impact from statistical and economic perspectives. To achieve this, Chapters 2 and 3 explore the influence of blockchain technology on the economic and functional performance of cryptos using econometric models and clustering techniques. Chapter 3 presents an empirical framework that offers insights to coin creators and investors regarding the interplay between cryptonomics, blockchain functionality, and market dynamics. The economic performance of cryptocurrencies, illustrated with Ethereum as an example, is shown to be affected by the design of their underlying blockchain technology. Chapter 4 examines partial correlations of Bitcoin returns across nine centralized exchanges from a high-frequency dynamic network perspective. The proposed MHAR-CM provides reasonable covariance estimates that account for the unique characteristics of crypto markets. This chapter uncovers spillover risk and counterparty risk among these exchanges. In Chapter 5, a hedonic regression approach is employed to construct the DAI digital art index for the NFT art market. Special emphasis is given to mitigating the impact of outliers using one-step robust regression Huberization and a dynamic conditional score model. The DAI index enhances our understanding of this emerging art market and facilitates observation of its macroeconomic trends. This thesis establishes a connection between emerging technologies and the economy through statistical modeling and analysis. By providing empirical evidence, we gain insights into how blockchain technology is transforming our perceptions of money, art, and various industries.

Purpose - Blockchain technology holds immense potential in increasing transparency in supply chains. However, little is known about the implementation challenges and ways to address them. The purpose of this report is to get a deeper understanding of the challenges that might occur when implementing blockchain technology in a supply chain and the suitable actions for each one of them from the mining industry's perspective. Method - This study was conducted by using an abductive research approach with a qualitative data collection through interviews. The respondents were divided into three categories: exploratory, pilot and main interview, the pilot and main interviews were divided into two types, potential actors in the supply chain ecosystem and experts on the topic. In total 17 interviews were conducted which was then analyzed through a thematic analysis. Findings - The findings of the collected theory in combination with the information gathered through the interviews resulted in a framework based on the TOE-model. The framework explicates four key challenges in implementing BC, (1) Technological, (2) Organizational, (3) Ecosystem and (4) Environmental. The challenges within these categories are then categorized based on the level a company can control/ have an impact on these challenges, the categories are hard control, soft control, and no control. Finally, these challenges are connected to different mitigators which aim to solve these challenges. Theoretical and Practical implications - The presented study contributes to current literature by extending previous research of challenges and applying the T-O-E model to the challenges occurring in the mining industry. Moreover, this study breaches a gap by connecting challenges to mitigators and recommended actions. Furthermore, the study contributes to practical implication by enabling practitioners to get a bird’s eye view of the challenges and the recommended action during the blockchain implementation process. Limitations and future research - This study is limited by its qualitative method since it cannot determine the significance and magnitude of each challenge, calling for future research to quantitatively study this area.

[pt] Os problemas relacionados ao controle de qualidade e a fraudes no setor de distribuição de combustíveis são tão antigos quanto o próprio setor. Furto, desvios de qualidade, sonegação fiscal e adulteração de combustíveis são problemas recorrentes e muito prejudiciais para toda a cadeia. Na tentativa de combater estes desvios, as distribuidoras continuamente empenham esforços e recursos financeiros no desenvolvimento de novos procedimentos operacionais e mecanismos de governança. Tais mecanismos de governança visam reduzir o espaço para oportunismo dos envolvidos e aumentar o controle sobre os produtos ao longo da cadeia. Neste contexto, a Blockchain tem se provado uma eficiente tecnologia para a implantação de mecanismos de governança e para o controle de cadeias de suprimentos. Através do uso de contratos inteligentes executados em uma Blockchain privada, este trabalho propõe um modelo de negócio de uma solução tecnológica para o controle da cadeia de suprimentos de combustíveis. Esta solução visa o rastreamento e certificação do volume vendido, desde a distribuidora até o consumidor final, através de pares digitais refletidos na Blockchain. Com isso, pretende-se garantir um controle pleno das distribuidoras sobre a cadeia de suprimentos. / [en] Problems related to quality control and fraud in the fuel distribution sector are as old as the sector itself. Fuel theft, tax evasion and adulteration are recurrent events and very damaging for the entire industry. In an attempt to suppress these deviations, distributors continually commit efforts and financial resources to the development of new operating procedures, new technologies and new governance mechanisms. Such mechanisms aim to reduce the opportunism and to increase control over products throughout the supply chain. In this context, Blockchain has proven to be an efficient technology for the implementation of governance mechanisms and for the control of supply chains. Through the use of smart contracts executed on a private Blockchain, this work proposes a business model of a technological solution for controlling the volumes being transferred through the fuel supply chain. The proposed solution, presented in the form of a business model, aims to track and certify the volume sold, from the distributor to the final costumer through tokenized digital pairs reflected in a Blockchain. With so, it is intended to guarantee full control of the distributors over the supply chain.

This study presents the results of an exploratory study investigating the current level of awareness of blockchain technology among IT administrative staff and educators in the context of higher education in Sweden, by employing a qualitative method for data collection. This study has gained useful insight and perspective of participants’ level of understanding of blockchain technology in the context of higher education.The results demonstrate varied awareness levels of participants by highlighting the level of understanding about blockchain technology and their attitude towards acceptance of it. The study also sheds some light on the challenges associated with blockchain from the perspective of the participants. The study has tried to identify viable solutions to improve the acceptance and gradual adoption of blockchain technology in higher education.In conclusion, the results indicate that existing frameworks like the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) could be extended by adding a perception of cost to understand the acceptance and adoption of blockchain technology in the context of higher education. Further research is required to investigate the importance of cost perspective to UTAUT and TAM models and its relevance in the context of blockchain technology in higher education. Furthermore, the study suggests that addressing the knowledge gap by producing and distributing educational resources and programs focused on blockchain technology could raise the awareness level and understanding among various stakeholders in higher education which will help in the gradual adoption of blockchain technology in higher education.

No description available.

This study has the purpose to investigate the existing state of adoption of blockchain technology in higher education, exploring the obstacles, and potential associated with its implementation to provide an updated and concise overview of the challenges and assess the feasibility of adopting blockchain in higher education.This research includes a literature review to examine the current status of blockchain in higher education. Additionally, a qualitative approach involving semi-structured interviews is utilized to gain an in-depth understanding of blockchain adoption, the potential challenges of its adopting, and its prospects within higher education by investigating the perspective of the interviewed academic community.Furthermore, the TOE framework is used to categorize adoption challenges into technical, organizational, and environmental dimensions. Challenges identified include technical complexity, resistance to change, financial constraints, perception of immaturity, lack of awareness, limited interoperability, insufficient skills, inadequate organizational support, regulatory compliance, cultural factors, and ecosystem readiness.Besides, the TAM is utilized to highlight the potential of blockchain based on respondents’views. It also explores how challenges from the TOE framework impact users’ perceptions of blockchain’s ease of use and usefulness in higher education. The overall findings indicate that adopting blockchain in higher education presents challenges such as resistance to change, cost concerns, lack of awareness, cryptocurrency bias, technical complexity, regulatory compliance, and ecosystem readiness.As a consequence, considering the identified level of readiness of universities to embrace new technologies, it is evident that blockchain is still in its early stages of recognition in higher education. However, its potential benefits are suggested such as reducing bureaucracy, enhancing communication and collaboration, improving payment systems, and ensuring secure document storage. It will require time for the full potential of blockchain to be acknowledged and accepted within the field of higher education