Abstract
Distributed ledger technologies and blockchain are increasingly gaining attention and revolutionising traditional sectors with most notably finance and banking. Most recently, blockchain technology has been touted as a solution for the inefficiencies in the construction industry. Construction has been notorious for not only inefficiencies and ineffectiveness but also for traditionally importing innovations from other sectors and adopting them in an ad-hoc manner.
To this end, blockchain is not only cryptocurrencies. Thinking beyond tokenisation, blockchain applications for smart-contracts, digital identities/passports of physical assets, proofs of ownership and marketplaces coupled with the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Building Information Modelling (BIM) promise to provide simplification, transparency and an accountability chain not only to the transactions across the construction supply chain but also the interactions between physical and digital systems. The Construction Blockchain Consortium (CBC) is a social enterprise organised in a bottom-up manner to leverage the power of digitalisation in construction and deliver knowledge exchange, research and development and transform construction.
Dr Eleni Papadonikolaki
Associate Professor in Management of Engineering Projects
Researcher and consultant at the intersection of management and digital economy