What is a smart contract and give examples

**Smart Contracts: Definition and Examples** 1. **Definition**: - A smart contract is a self-executing program that automates the enforcement of a contract's terms and conditions. It is stored on a blockchain, a decentralized ledger technology that ensures transparency and immutability. - Smart contracts eliminate the need for intermediaries, enabling trusted transactions and agreements to be carried out between parties that do not trust each other. 2. **Examples**: - **Supply Chain Management**: IBM's Transparent Supply platform uses smart contracts to track temperature-controlled pharmaceuticals through the supply chain, providing trusted, reliable, and accurate data across multiple parties. - **Real Estate Transactions**: Smart contracts can automate property sales, executing when conditions like payment confirmation are met, reducing the need for intermediaries. - **Insurance Claims**: Smart contracts can streamline insurance claims by automatically verifying and processing claims based on predefined conditions, such as damage assessment by sensors. - **Decentralized Finance (DeFi)**: Smart contracts are fundamental to DeFi applications, enabling automated payment obligations, such as transferring cryptocurrencies upon meeting certain conditions. - **Royalty Payments in Media and Entertainment**: Smart contracts can facilitate automatic royalty payments to artists based on streaming metrics, ensuring timely and accurate distributions. - **Clinical Trials Data Sharing**: Smart contracts can enable secure and efficient data sharing between institutions involved in clinical trials, promoting collaboration and accelerating research progress. These examples illustrate how smart contracts can transform various industries by increasing efficiency, transparency, and trust in transactions.