Non-Functional Requirements for Blockchain: Challenges and New Directions

Abstract

Blockchain is one of the breakout technologies of the 21st century and it is destined to rule the field of cybersecurity. Eventually, all applications and software will adopt blockchain for being the most secure technology ever existed. Unlike other fields of computer science, blockchain too has functional and non-functional requirements (NFRs). As it is an emerging technology, Blockchain’s non-functional requirements are yet to be well-defined. From requirements engineering perspectives, the NFRs for blockchain should be well-established. In this study, some of the major non-functional requirements of blockchain are thoroughly analyzed. And, challenges of NFRs for blockchain and new research directions have been proposed. Five non-functional requirements challenges are presented-lack of knowledge about NFRs for blockchain, the necessity of feasibility analysis, integration with software engineering, NFRs measurement metrics, and its formal language representation. Based on those challenges, four new research directions have also been proposed. If those challenges are dealt with properly, the world will surely march towards a safer future in terms of cybersecurity.