Asif Raza (known as @asif#2234 on Discord) is the creator of SmartT, a decentralized event ticketing application (dApp) built on NEO blockchain and nOS client. Beyond being one of nOS’s first dApps, SmartT is also one of the first dApps to utilize Splyse’s Master Contract Token (MCT) as a utility token.

Asif is originally from Pakistan, and currently resides in South Korea. He’s a PhD candidate at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) with plans to graduate in December of 2018. His core research interests include software-defined networks (SDN), network function virtualization (NFV), security, cloud computing, blockchain technologies, and consensus algorithms. To learn more about Asif’s academic research, visit his Google Scholar page, or learn about his recent work as the main developer for AmoebaNet: An SDN-enabled network service for big data science.

Asif has also worked as an assistant manager in Network & Security at the National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCOM) in Islamabad, Pakistan.

With regards to blockchain technology, Asif finds the main appeal to developing on top of decentralized platforms to be the “unique architecture [of the] distributed and public digital ledger.” He also appreciates how blockchain makes it “so no one can alter the record on ledger and each record is immutable” and is interested in consensus mechanisms.

Asif first began to research blockchain platforms, smart contracts, and the NEO smart economy in December of 2017. He was drawn to the NEO blockchain because of its vision for the smart economy, focus on regulatory compliance, and its scope of being more than “just a public blockchain.” After looking into various blockchains, Asif became determined to develop an application on top of NEO. Initially, he considered developing a game entitled “NEO Parrot,” or a dApp where users could prove or verify their personal, physical property. Eventually, he settled on developing SmartT. 

SmartT is built on top of nOS

Asif designed SmartT to be a “fully decentralized, secure, user incentivized, and fast dApp” that would strive “to provide a perfect ticketing solution for ticket users, event organizers, and advertisers.” The idea for a smart ticketing system stemmed from a realization that “there are lots of problems with current ticketing systems, and [they’re totally] centralized.” So, Asif set out to “write something, and solve the [issues] of current ticketing system for users, as well as organizers.”

His research into smart contracts on the NEO platform began in December of 2017, but Asif soon began to face problems with front-end development for his smart ticketing platform. He became aware of neon-js, a City of Zion developed JavaScript library that is often called the “Web3” of NEO. However, Asif found it difficult to find the time to study the neon-js documentation for integration into his application.

A new option arose in April of 2018 as Asif watched a live presentation by Dean van Dugteren (@Deanpress on Discord) introducing his new project, the nOS platform at the NEO ❤️ Amsterdam Summit. nOS is a “virtual operating system” that offers a complete platform for decentralized application development, deployment, discovery and interaction. During this presentation Asif thought, “yes, nOS can solve my problem and it can give me the flexibility to write my front-end code easily.”

One advantage of the nOS client is that it allows transactions and invocations to be sent to the blockchain through simple JavaScript functions, which reduced the learning curve for Asif. Whilst neon-js was a viable option, Asif notes that “most of abstraction is done by nOS for my dApp.”

From that day onward, Asif began to engage the nOS community, and gradually learned more about how the decentralized operating system could support the SmartT dApp.

Initially, Asif contributed to the nOS community by reporting a number of issues on its GitHub page pertaining to the nOS Client, and received “great and quick [responses] from this nOS team.” Furthermore, he said the “nOS client is [a] wonderful solution which makes life easier for developers,” which he believes will help nOS to become a “great blockchain service in [the] future.”

During the conversation with NEO News Today, Asif expressed his gratitude to Dean van Dugteren and the whole nOS team for the support they have provided to various facets of the SmartT project development. The SmartT dApp is currently in alpha testing, and is also one of the first projects to utilize MCT as the utility token (instead of GAS or a custom token) to operate smart contracts and other processes.

MCT and SmartT

The SmartT dApp will allow users to purchase and sell tickets, while organizers will be provided the ability to sell tickets and provide refunds. To achieve this functionality, Asif explored the unspent transaction output (UTXO) model of NEO/GAS, and other NEO-based projects. He debated creating a SmartT token, however, it became apparent that token withdrawals directly from a smart contract in the manner required by SmartT would be difficult. Asif then turned to the Discord channels to seek solutions, only to find it would be necessary to write off-chain codes to achieve his desired functionality.

Around this time in the research process, Asif began to speak with Joe Stewart (known as @hal0x2328 on Discord, or “Hal”), core developer of Hash Puppies, a NEO based game, and Splyse, a tech consultancy. Through discussions with Hal surrounding the SmartT UTXO and smart contract dilemma, Asif learned of an alternative to writing off-chain code, which was the use of MCT. More information on how MCT works can be found here.

Hal’s “great support and friendly responses” helped Asif understand the mechanics of MCT, how it could solve the limitations of smart contract functionality, and why it would be a good solution for SmartT. Due to the nature of the SmartT application, Asif opted to use Splyse’s MCT as the utility token for his project.

In addition to smart ticketing functionality, the SmartT dApp is also planned to offer a incentive system where users will receive MCT rewards for participation. This reward system will be based on a Proof-of-Participation (PoP) mechanism, a concept Asif says is new to dApps, that will be introduced and expanded upon as the platform is further developed.

Next Steps for SmartT

The initial working alpha version of SmartT aims to be a complete ticketing solution for ticket users, event organizers, and advertisers. The dApp is under constant improvement, and development is scheduled to continue into Quarters 3 and 4 of 2018. Additionally, Asif will seek to establish partnerships with local event organizers and advertisers. SmartT is tentatively scheduled to launch on MainNet sometime in Quarter 4 of 2018, or Quarter 1 of 2019.

For specific information about the platform, those interested can communicate with Asif directly via Discord, or through the SmartT GitHub page.

To access the SmartT dApp, users will need to utilize the nOS client via nOSNet (nOS’s TestNet). For purposes related to testing SmartT, Asif is amenable to sending MCT tokens to anyone’s wallet on nOSNet, which can be requested through direct messages to him on the Discord channel.

For now, Asif is a “one man army” developing the SmartT event ticketing platform solely through his personal efforts. However, Asif is seeking community support (in the form of partnerships) to launch the dApp. Parties interested in collaborating on the SmartT project are encouraged to contact Asif directly.

To connect with Asif visit his Twitter, or contact him on Discord @asif#2234.

To learn more about SmartT visit their GitHub, Discord, Telegram, Facebook, Twitter, Medium, or Reddit.

More information on nOS and MCT can be found at the links below.

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