SmaC: a model-based framework for the development of smart contracts

Abstract

The emergence of the digital transformation era has brought significant changes in the way organizations approach their business processes and service delivery. This doctoral thesis explores the role of smart contracts as a key tool in implementing this transformation. Smart contracts, which are self-executing contracts based on blockchain technology, enable secure, transparent, and decentralized transactions between parties without the need for intermediaries. Due to the potential of these scripts, several platforms allow their hosting as a means of creating decentralized applications for various purposes, such as voting, decentralized identity records, crowdfunding, or property registration systems. However, as this technology is in its early stages, the actors involved in the digital transformation process do not have sufficient resources to develop smart contracts that are secure and free of vulnerabilities that can be exploited. Therefore, it is crucial to establish new tools that facilitate the development of smart contracts in a safe manner. One approach to developing these tools has been Model-Driven Engineering, which employs domain-specific languages, templates, or transformations between models. Despite the existence of certain tools that allow for the development of smart contracts, they are not tailored to meet the needs of all audiences. Thus, the adoption of this technology as a means of implementing digital transformation proposals is impeded. The objective of this doctoral thesis is to develop a framework for designing smart contracts in the Solidity language using model-driven engineering techniques. The framework aims to enable integrated work with various visual notations for the different profiles involved in the smart contract development process as a proposal for digital transformation and to exploit its benefits. Specifically, the framework will support the development of textual and visual models of smart contracts and the automation of several tasks with these models, such as validation, simulation, or generation of smart contract models from models developed with a different technique.