Publications Database
Welcome to the new Schulich Peer-Reviewed Publication Database!
The database is currently in beta-testing and will be updated with more features as time goes on. In the meantime, stakeholders are free to explore our faculty’s numerous works. The left-hand panel affords the ability to search by the following:
- Faculty Member’s Name;
- Area of Expertise;
- Whether the Publication is Open-Access (free for public download);
- Journal Name; and
- Date Range.
At present, the database covers publications from 2012 to 2020, but will extend further back in the future. In addition to listing publications, the database includes two types of impact metrics: Altmetrics and Plum. The database will be updated annually with most recent publications from our faculty.
If you have any questions or input, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Search Results
Henry M. Kim (2024). "Can Stablecoins Actually Improve Financial Inclusion: Exploring the IT Affordances of Token-Based Digital Currencies", Hawaii International Conference on Systems Science (HICSS-57), Honolulu, HI, January 3 – 6.
Abstract
Token-based digital currencies like cryptocurrencies and stablecoins constitute newer, more novel technology relative to account-based digital currencies like M-Pesa’s or traditional bank’s. To motivate wider adoption, proponents of stablecoins in particular have advocated for their use for financial inclusion. With their central ethos of decentralization, these token-based currencies are much closer to cash than intermediated account-based ones, important since cash is the least financially excluding form of money. However, in-depth evidential studies have surmised that the narrative appears compelling only in niche cases, generally having to do with NGO-led cash disbursements. In this paper, we present a reframed exploration of the narrative, drawing from IT Affordance Theory. Using an example scenario from literature, we explore how the recently introduced concept of intermediary ecosystem can impede or enable a financially excluded person’s potential use of stablecoins to fulfill goals associated with the affordances of transferring value, maintaining liquidity, staying resilient to financial shocks, and meeting other family and lifestyle goals. Through this exercise, we discern the possibility that stablecoin functionalities could be integrated into, say, community-based initiatives like Latin American tandas. Hence, reframing in the lens of IT affordance reinforces that blockchain-based tokenized digital currencies could strengthen benevolent intermediaries’ ability to aid financially excluded persons.Kim, Henry M. and Tom Baumann (2022). "Towards Ontology and Blockchain Based Measurement, Reporting, and Verification For Climate Action", Journal of Risk and Financial Management.
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Efforts that incentivize GHG emissions reduction are hampered by inability to transparently and uniformly account for impact. The UN has espoused blockchain’s potential to address transparency, and novel Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems that constitute the state-of-the-art in using blockchain to address this need. However, positive effect is diluted without sufficient uniformity: Different blockchains idiosyncratically reporting carbon credits based on differing standards does not constitute a solution. In this paper, we specify a top-level architecture that uses Semantic Web ontologies to complement a blockchain-based, transparent, uniform (sharable) MRV system. Our design conceptualizes transforming “smart standards” designed and harmonized using IT into ontologies of quantification methodologies and verification standards, which in turn can be used develop smart contracts executable on, and interoperable between, different blockchains. We pose this within the context of the real-life Reciclo Orgánicos project, an international collaboration to reduce GHG emissions from Chile’s municipal waste sector.Kim, Henry M., Hjalmar Turesson, Marek Laskowski, and Amir Fard Bahreini (2022). "Permissionless and Permissioned, Technology-Focused and Business Needs-Driven: Understanding the Hybrid Opportunity in Blockchain through a Case Study of Insolar", IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 59(3), 776-791 .
Abstract
Blockchains can be public, permissionless networks implementing novel cryptocurrency-based technology features or permissioned, interorganizational networks championed by industry consortia. Some ventures operationalize a hybrid of these two network types to enhance adoption of their blockchain platforms by broadening their base of stakeholders or facilitating interoperability between heterogeneous blockchains. In this paper, we synthesize literature and industry writings to identify four hybrid blockchain architectures: hybrid blockchain approach, connected hybrid blockchain, interoperable blockchain architecture, and hard-forked blockchain for enterprise use. We then analyze these architectures along dimensions of semantic modeling support between private and public networks; data connectivity between networks; syntactic interoperability support between networks with heterogeneous codebases; governance model, and technical features. We find that hybrid blockchain ventures make trade-offs: support API’s, tools, and customized development so that a codebase is useful for private and public networks or provide such support for interoperation between heterogeneous codebases. We then conduct a case study of an exemplar for a hybrid blockchain approach, the startup Insolar. We identify characteristics that have led Insolar to be idiosyncratically agile and effective in its blockchain development, which together with our architecture analysis may be timely and prescriptive as enterprises grow interested in addressing blockchain hybridity and interoperability.Kim, Henry M., Marek Laskowski, Michael Zargham, Hjalmar Turesson, Matt Barlin, and Danil Kabanov (2021). "Token Economics in Real-Life: Cryptocurrency and Incentives Design for Insolar Blockchain Network", IEEE Computer, 24(1), 72-80.
Abstract
The study of setting up cryptocurrency incentive mechanisms and operationalizing governance is called token economics. Given the US$250 billion market cap for cryptocurrencies, there is compelling need to investigate it. In this article, we present facets of the token engineering process for a Swiss blockchain startup.Evermann, Joerg and Henry M. Kim (2021). "Workflow Management on Proof-of-Work Blockchains – Implications and Recommendations", SN Computer Science, 2(44).
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Blockchain technology, originally popularized by cryptocurrencies, has been proposed as an infrastructure technology with applications in many areas of business management. Blockchains provide an immutable record of transactions, which makes them useful in situations where actors must cooperate but may not fully trust each other. In this paper, we examine the use of proof-of-work blockchains for executing inter-organizational workflows. We discuss architectural options and describe two prototype implementations of a blockchain-based workflow management system (WfMS), highlighting differences to traditional WfMS. Our main contribution is the identification of potential problems raised by proof-of-work blockchain infrastructure and recommendations to address them.Sengupta, Ushnish and Henry M. Kim (2021). "Meeting Changing Customer Requirements in Food and Agriculture Through the Application of Blockchain Technology", Frontiers in Blockchain.
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This research summarizes the implementation of blockchain technology in the food and agriculture industry in Canada. Our research indicates that blockchain solutions are an existing and proven set of technologies. We also describe how blockchain based supply chain traceability information has many more benefits than its current use for food safety and product recalls. We recommend that costs for development of blockchain based solutions should also be distributed across stakeholders, and apportioned by the relevant industry associations. Our research indicates that adoption of blockchain technology in agriculture will achieve critical mass earlier when the industry applies a consortium approach, in a regulatory environment that is supported by government. This report also makes recommendations relevant to the integration of blockchain for end consumers of food.Kim, Henry M., Ushnish Sengupta, and Marek Laskowski (2021). "Business in the Front, Crypto in the Back: How to Be a Blockchain Startup in Finance", International Review of Entrepreneurship, 19(1), 117-36.
Abstract
We present the journey by which Novera, a blockchain start-up, partnered with CompanyX, an SME investment firm actively looking for opportunities to leverage disruptive technologies. We believe that the key to this journey is expressed in Novera’s “Business in the front, crypto in the back” perspective. Finance is highly regulated and conservative. So, Novera would not have been able sell its concept for a novel bitcoin tracking fund that received over $1M in venture capital without its corporate ethos: Novera would be able to walk into any boardroom and clearly demonstrate compliance to regulations, and moreover show that their business practices would meet stringent expectations of large financial institutions. At the same time, it is Novera’s vision to innovate beyond the fund to a blockchain-based token platform that keeps its team of technologists motivated and forward-looking. We advise others weighing investment in blockchain, especially SME’s and start-ups in finance, to understand and manage this dichotomy.Saxena, Shivam, Hany Farag, Aidan Brookson, Hjalmar Turesson, and Henry M. Kim (2020). "A Permissioned Blockchain System to Reduce Peak Demand in Residential Communities via Energy Trading: A Real-World Case Study", IEEE Access, 9, 5517-5530.
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Residential energy trading systems (RETS) enable homeowners with distributed energy resources (DERs) to participate in virtualized energy markets that have the potential to reduce the peak demand of residential communities. Blockchains are key enablers of RETS, by virtue of providing a decentralized, self-governed network that mitigates concerns regarding privacy and transparency. However, more real-world case studies are needed to evaluate the techno-economic viability of blockchain-based RETS to improve their positive uptake. Thus, this article develops a permissioned blockchain-based RETS, which enables homeowners to select bidding strategies that consider the individual preferences of their DERs, and further evaluates the impact of the bidding strategies on reducing the peak demand of the community. The proposed system is implemented on the permissioned Hyperledger Fabric platform, where a decentralized ledger is used to store all energy bids, and a smart contract is used to execute a double auction mechanism and dispatch the homeowner DERs. The proposed system is validated by conducting simulations on a 8-home community using real-world data, and also by deploying the system to a Canadian microgrid, where the smart contract execution time is benchmarked. Simulation results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed system by achieving a peak demand reduction of up to 48 kW (62%), which leads to an average savings of $1.02 M for the distribution system operator by avoiding transformer upgrades. Also, the simulation results show that the execution time of the proposed smart contract is 17.12 seconds across 12 nodes, which is sufficient for RETS.Evermann, Joerg and Henry M. Kim (2020). "Workflow Management on BFT Blockchains", Enterprise Modelling and Information Systems Architecture, 15, 14:1-22.
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Blockchains have been proposed as infrastructure technology for a wide variety of applications. They provide an immutable record of transactions, making them useful when business actors do not trust each other, and their distributed nature makes them suitable for inter-organizational applications. However, widely-used proof-of-work based blockchains are computationally inefficient and do not provide final consensus, although they scale well to large networks. In contrast, blockchains built around Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) consensus algorithms are more efficient and provide immediate and final consensus, but do not scale well to large networks. We argue that this makes them well-suited for workflow management applications, which typically include no more than a few dozen participants. This paper is motivated by a use case in the resource extraction industry. We develop an architecture for a BFT blockchain based workflow management system (WfMS) and present a prototype implementation. We discuss its advantages and limitations with respect to proof-of-work based systems and provide an outlook to future research.Karajovic, Maria, Henry M. Kim, and Marek Laskowski (2019). "Thinking Outside the Block: Projected Phases of Blockchain Integration in the Accounting Industry", Australian Accounting Review, 29(2), 319-330.