A smart contract is a piece of digital code that can execute predefined agreements between parties.

Can it be used for all types of agreements? No. It can only be used when the agreement can be configured, conditions can be verfied and actions can be executed digitally.

The biggest advantage is you do NOT need to trust the party you are getting into the agreement with. As long as the agreement can be configured in a smart contract the parties themself can not alter it.

This can be particularly useful where middle-men are paid to facilitate trust between 2 parties.

Farmers heavily depend on their yield for income. Claiming crop insurance is a slow and burdensome process.

Smart contracts enable a simple and quick process for farmers and insurance companies. Since weather conditions can be fed into the system, this makes verification easy.

Taxes. We hate 'em. Not because we pay a lot, but because we do not observe the same gain in value for us.

The lack of transparency and accountability in the process can make it easier for self-interest and corruption to creep in at various stages.

Smart contracts and decentralized ledgers can help in accounting for every tax dollar spent and make information easy to access for common people.

In many cases middle-men exist to ensure trust between parties. Smart contracts can be used to cut out middle-men to save cost. This is already being used in various trading activies.

In the years to come we'll see more and more adoption of this wonderful technology. It has the potential to increase efficiencies in various systems across sectors and help create more robust, secure and fair platforms.