Blockchain-enhanced contracts

The goal of this project is to make B2B contracting more agile and robust.

Before thinking of any kind of automated contract execution (smart contracts), we may want to start by simplifying the way contracts are created, reducing their complexity and improving their readability.

1. From a “notebook to a flyer”
Contracts usually include or reference other contracts/statements/agreements (e.g.: Code of Conduct, Privacy Policy, Health & Safety Policy, …) and this is one of the major reasons for the size of contracts.
To avoid this, the company could register each of these "attachments" on the blockchain and storing it on a decentralized file system like IPFS. 

For each referenced document, the company will be able to produce a certificate that  will prove:

• the existence of the document at a certain date in time
• the control of the company over it
• the IPFS location where the document is available
• links to blockchain certificates of previous and future versions of the same documents

This approach will limit the complexity and size of a contract, since it may just include pointers to the chain of certificates for each "attachment". Moreover it will reduce the need to proactively update the contract itself if any of the attachment changes since the contract will always point to the most recent certificate of the chain.

2. Easier and safer definition of confidential data perimeter
Several contracts require to find a balance between the need to precisely define the perimeter of a collection of data and the need to keep those data secrets. The most common examples are:

• NDAs
• licensing agreements involving trade secret
• confidentiality clauses in employment contracts
• frame agreements for software development
• ...

In all these cases it is possible to specify the perimeter of the confidential data by registering them on the blockchain and referring to them via a blockchain certificate. This approach will not expose the data to any third party, while allowing the contracting parties to have full visibility and transparency over the content of the contract.