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Library/Papers/Designing a blockchain-based information system for procurement processes - Balancing decentralization, scalability, and security while maintaining privacy

Research paper

Designing a blockchain-based information system for procurement processes - Balancing decentralization, scalability, and security while maintaining privacy

The paper designs a blockchain-based procurement IS that navigates the extended blockchain trilemma (decentralization, scalability, security, plus privacy) while preserving privacy, deriving five evaluated design objectives and two design principles: balance decentralization, scalability and security via a public chain plus Layer-2 scaling and decentralized inter-layer communication; and maintain that balance when privacy is required via efficient, resilient cryptography and minimized control points.

Paper
OverviewDSR gridPaper design mapDesign knowledgePublication metadata

01

Overview

Publication metadata and narrative from the current library record.

Authors
Valeriya Arnold, Tobias Guggenberger, Jan Stramm, Nils Urbach
Year
2026
Venue
Information Systems 140 (2026) 102723
Methodology
Design science research (Peffers et al. 2007, six-step process): a structured literature review (Webster and Watson 2002) yielding a problem statement and five evaluated design objectives; iterative design and development of a prototype on the Aztec privacy roll-up over Ethereum; formative and summative evaluation via a quantitative viability assessment (throughput, latency, cost) and 16 semi-structured expert interviews; reflection yielding two prescriptive design principles.
DOI
10.1016/j.is.2026.102723
Design knowledge
View design knowledge on GitHub
blockchainblockchain-trilemmadesign-science-researchprivacyprocurementprocurement-is-trilemmazero-knowledge

Summary

The paper designs a blockchain-based procurement IS that navigates the extended blockchain trilemma (decentralization, scalability, security, plus privacy) while preserving privacy, deriving five evaluated design objectives and two design principles: balance decentralization, scalability and security via a public chain plus Layer-2 scaling and decentralized inter-layer communication; and maintain that balance when privacy is required via efficient, resilient cryptography and minimized control points.

Artifact

A public-permissionless, Layer-2 (rollup) blockchain-based procurement information system built on the Aztec privacy-preserving roll-up over Ethereum. Private functions execute off-chain in each user's Private Execution Environment (PXE), which generates zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs, via the PLONK protocol) attesting to the correctness of procurement actions without revealing prices, quantities, or counterparty identities; a sequencer network verifies and batches these proofs for finality on Ethereum L1. The prototype tokenizes purchase orders as regulation-compliant stablecoins (issued by a licensed financial institution under MiCAR), and orchestrates the procure-to-pay workflow (supplier discovery, private negotiation, ordering, settlement) through L1 (Solidity) and L2 (Noir) smart contracts, including Token, Token Portal, Inbox/Outbox/Rollup, Token Bridge, and Trade contracts.

02

DSR grid

Six dimensions represented in the current paper record.

01

Problem description

Existing blockchain-based procurement systems rarely balance decentralization, scalability and security (the blockchain trilemma) while also maintaining the strict privacy required for sensitive commercial data (the extended blockchain trilemma) across inter-organizational processes.

02

Input knowledge

The (extended) blockchain trilemma; Layer-2 (rollup) and zero-knowledge-proof research; procurement research; the Gregor et al. (2020) anatomy-of-a-design-principle formulation.

03

Research process

Design science research: a structured literature review (34 papers) combined with 16 expert interviews yielding a problem statement and five evaluated design objectives; a prototype on Aztec/Ethereum (Layer-2 rollup with ZKPs); a quantitative viability assessment (throughput, latency, cost) and qualitative expert evaluation against the five design objectives.

04

Key concepts

Blockchain, procurement, extended blockchain trilemma, privacy, design science research, zero-knowledge proofs.

05

Solution description

A public-permissionless, Layer-2 procurement information system with zero-knowledge-proof-based privacy and minimized control points. Solution-space representation: Instantiation (prototype) plus two design principles grounded in five evaluated design objectives.

06

Output knowledge

Five evaluated design objectives (DO1-DO5) and two design principles (DP1, DP2) - balancing the trilemma, and maintaining that balance under privacy requirements.

03

Paper design map

The default semantic design map canonicalizes stored design relationships; Raw links retains the complete technical Markdown-link view.

Design-knowledge map

7 stored concepts / 5 canonical semantic relationships

Concept types
Design Objectives
Design Principles
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04

Design knowledge

Directly linked concepts, grouped by their represented design-knowledge category.

5 Design Objectives

design-knowledge/procurement-is-trilemma-do1

DO1 - Publicly accessible, interoperable blockchain infrastructure

The artifact should leverage standardization efforts to enable enterprises to seamlessly integrate their ERP systems with publicly accessible, interoperable blockchain infrastructure.

blockchain-trilemmadesign-objectiveprivacyprocurement+2
design-knowledge/procurement-is-trilemma-do2

DO2 - Stable, regulation-compliant payment processing

The artifact should embed stable and regulation-compliant payment processing into blockchain-based procurement workflows, enabling efficient and seamless value exchange among participants in both national and international contexts.

blockchain-trilemmadesign-objectiveprivacyprocurement+2
design-knowledge/procurement-is-trilemma-do3

DO3 - Strengthen dispute-resolution trust via permissionless blockchain

The artifact should strengthen trust in procurement's dispute resolution processes without undermining trust in the underlying infrastructure by leveraging permissionless blockchain.

blockchain-trilemmadesign-objectiveprivacyprocurement+2
design-knowledge/procurement-is-trilemma-do4

DO4 - Infrastructure that scales with volume and users

The artifact should be built on an infrastructure capable of scaling with growing transaction volumes and users.

blockchain-trilemmadesign-objectiveprivacyprocurement+2
design-knowledge/procurement-is-trilemma-do5

DO5 - Privacy-enabled while maintaining auditability

The artifact should be privacy-enabled while maintaining the inherent auditability of blockchain records.

blockchain-trilemmadesign-objectiveprivacyprocurement+2

2 Design Principles

design-knowledge/procurement-is-trilemma-dp1

DP1 - Balance decentralization, scalability and security

Principle of balancing the blockchain trilemma with a public Layer 1 as a trust anchor, a Layer 2 for scalability, and decentralized communication between layers.

blockchain-trilemmadesign-principleprivacyprocurement+2
design-knowledge/procurement-is-trilemma-dp2

DP2 - Maintain the balance under privacy requirements

Principle of ensuring privacy while maintaining a balanced blockchain trilemma through efficient and resilient cryptography and minimized control mechanism.

blockchain-trilemmadesign-principleprivacyprocurement+2

05

Publication metadata

Additional metadata represented in the current library record.

Show additional metadata+
{
  "type": "paper",
  "title": "Designing a blockchain-based information system for procurement processes - Balancing decentralization, scalability, and security while maintaining privacy",
  "description": "The paper designs a blockchain-based procurement IS that navigates the extended blockchain trilemma (decentralization, scalability, security, plus privacy) while preserving privacy, deriving five evaluated design objectives and two design principles: balance decentralization, scalability and security via a public chain plus Layer-2 scaling and decentralized inter-layer communication; and maintain that balance when privacy is required via efficient, resilient cryptography and minimized control points.",
  "resource": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.is.2026.102723",
  "authors": "Valeriya Arnold, Tobias Guggenberger, Jan Stramm, Nils Urbach",
  "year": 2026,
  "venue": "Information Systems 140 (2026) 102723",
  "methodology": "Design science research (Peffers et al. 2007, six-step process): a structured literature review (Webster and Watson 2002) yielding a problem statement and five evaluated design objectives; iterative design and development of a prototype on the Aztec privacy roll-up over Ethereum; formative and summative evaluation via a quantitative viability assessment (throughput, latency, cost) and 16 semi-structured expert interviews; reflection yielding two prescriptive design principles.",
  "dsr_grid": true,
  "dsr_solution_space": "Instantiation (prototype) plus two design principles grounded in five evaluated design objectives.",
  "tags": [
    "procurement-is-trilemma",
    "procurement",
    "blockchain-trilemma",
    "privacy",
    "zero-knowledge",
    "design-science-research",
    "blockchain"
  ]
}