Towards Model-Driven Engineering of Smart Contracts for Cyber-Physical Systems

The DLT (Distributed ledger technology and Cyber-Physical Systems application) is becoming more popular than ever.But the development is still challenging because there are some challenges in building the smart contract development  for these use cases compared to the cryptocurrencies-based smart contracts.

It is not wrong to be oblivious to the best approaches for structuring smart contracts for Cyber-Physical systems. Well, it is a job for a software development company. But the experts are kind enough to share the steps that you could expect to take in order to create smart contracts not only for cyber-physical systems but also for other applications in other industry niches.

Process of developing smart contracts

In the development of special smart contracts, we can call it the “smart contract life cycle.” There are several phases that you and your team need to overcome in order to deploy the smart contract on the particular blockchain. However, each smart contract might have a specific life cycle. One smart contract can be different from the other smart contracts. But here are the common life cycle phases of the smart contract:

Define what you need.

The very first thing to do is to identify your needs. How can smart contracts help your business? It is also the phase where you can determine if building a smart contract is necessary for your business or not. The involved parties will conduct a meeting and define the business logic of the smart contract. In this phase, the developers can also use their insights to give their insights and help the clients to determine.

Structurize the smart contract

In this phase, the developers will implement the logic of the contract. To do that, they will need to design the right architecture that can accommodate the contracts. These contracts will later represent the logic and requirements that you have jotted down with your colleagues and stakeholders. The smart contract architecture is an important blueprint which will make sure that smart contract development is on the right track all the time.

Smart contract development

It will be the core phase of smart contract development. In this phase, the developers will write the smart contract code for the particular blockchain platform. Commonly, clients pick Ethereum. But in fact, there are a lot of other blockchain platforms to be used as well, such as Cosmos, Polkadot, Tron, and so on. Unit testing will also be applicable in this phase to make sure that the blockchain that is chosen is suitable for the particular smart contract.

Phase of internal auditing

The audit needs to be done to get rid of the flaws and errors. It is usually performed by the local blockhain. The testnet will also be performed in this phase. The developers will meticulously conduct the audits to find the flaws in the system. This phase is also to make sure that the smart contract you designed has met the security standards.

Smart contract deployment

In this phase, the developers will deploy the smart contract on the blockchain. The particular blockchain should be large enough so that the smart contract can run on it.

Simple vs. complex smart contracts

When you are consulting about implementing smart contracts, there are always options you could take. More often, you will be choosing between simple smart contracts and complex smart contracts.

Simple smart contracts usually come with legal implications for the parties involved who fail to deliver their parts of the agreement. Smart legal contracts are basically the same as conventional contracts in the real world.

Meanwhile, the complex smart contracts add more elements from DAO (decentralized autonomous organizations) and ALC (application logic contracts).

In the DAO community, the participants are doing their activities based on the rules and regulations set out in a series of smart contracts. Meanwhile, the ALC is the bridge between smart contracts and the Internet of Things. ALC is an important component for solutions that are dependent on multiple devices. It allows users to utilize different devices within the IoT.

Smart contract applications in real industries

The application of smart contracts can be different from one industry to another. Depending on your business niche, your smart contract can be different than others. You might want to take a look at some inspiration from the examples below.

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding has been challenged with the way the funds are raised with transparency and payment methods. Traditional investment models frequently have accessibility issues.With the help of the smart contracts on the blockchain, it opens the opportunity to expand more options for fundraising, such as ICOs (initiative coin offerings), IEOs (initial exchange offerings), as well as STOs (security token offerings).

P2P Lending

P2P lending is often relevant to DeFi. Many startups have been providing true P2P lending to the world. You can now easily obtain this platform because there is no need for a third party to intervene.

The insurance procedures

Insurance companies can use smart contracts to create an alternative to traditional insurance transactions, such as flight delay insurance, accident insurance, smart contract cover, and a variety of other practices.

Real estate

Real estate agencies and professionals nowadays can process the real estate transaction in no time. Both realtors and landlords will also have more opportunities to create certain products to sell. The clients who have a lower amount of capital will also have the opportunity to purchase fractional land ownership.

Supply chain automation

Smart supply chains will be more prevalent nowadays thanks to the help of smart contracts. The smart contract can help the providers to automate all of the processes, including invoicing, content tracking, tracing, inventory checking, data sharing, fulfilling, and many more. Supply chain automation can boost productivity, product delivery, and the overall quality of your company’s services and products.It is also possible to procure real-time tracking for the supply chain from top to bottom.

Are you looking to hire smart contract developers for your business processes? You can reach out to your professionals now to explore your opportunities.