Robotics and Computer–Integrated Manufacturing 70 (2021) 102124

Available online 25 January 2021

Review

Industrial Blockchain: A state-of-the-art Survey

Z. Li

, Ray Y. Zhong

, Z.G. Tian

, Hong-Ning Dai

, Ali Vatankhah Barenji

George Q. Huang

Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Computer Integrated Manufacturing Systems, School of Electromechanical Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology,

Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

HKU-ZIRI Lab for Physical Internet, Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Faculty of Information Technology, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macao, China

H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA

ARTICLE INFO

Keywords:

Industrial Blockchain

supply chain

manufacturing

literature review

ABSTRACT

As an underlying and backbone technology of Bitcoin, Blockchain attracted extensive attention worldwide in

recent years due to its unique characteristics of decentralization, openness, immutability, anonymity, etc., which

enables it to build a trust basis through recording the point-to-point decentralized transactions in an immutable

way via the attached timestamp, thereby improving system efciency and reducing the cost without relying on

the central agent. As it is considered to be a potentially revolutionary technology, Blockchain has been intro-

duced into various industrial elds including nance, supply chain, manufacturing, healthcare, energy, and

smart city. In this paper, we conduct a state-of-the-art survey of industrial Blockchain in terms of published

articles between 2017 and 2020, and worldwide Blockchain movement including North America, Europe, and

the Asia Pacic region so far. We conduct a statistic analysis of the collected articles in terms of three dimensions,

which are year of publication, leading research institutes and researchers, and article classication to present a

multi-dimensional trend or conclusion. Besides, we analyse articles that are cited over a certain number of times

in detail to investigate the hot research directions. Finally, the challenges, opportunities, and future perspectives

are discussed to summarize the main obstacles of industrial Blockchain and identify the open research questions

in the near future.

1. Introduction

Blockchain technology has grabbed global attention with the pros-

perity of Bitcoin, which was originally proposed by Satoshi Nakamoto

[1] in 2008. It is a new application paradigm of multiple computer

technologies including asymmetric encryption, distributed network,

peer-to-peer transmission, smart contract, and consensus mechanism,

etc. to create permanent, immutable, authorized and time-stamped re-

cords of transactions, which enables it to establish mutual trust at low

costs in an untrusted competitive environment without any third parties.

Although Blockchain was designed as the underlying technology of

cryptocurrency originally, the application potential of Blockchain is

already far beyond nance. Practitioners of many elds are exploring

the application scenarios of Blockchain in various sectors, and many

Blockchain application scenarios have been studied and researched such

as nance [2–4], supply chain [5–7], healthcare [8–10], energy

[11–13], manufacturing [14–16], and smart city [17–19]. Moreover,

many countries and regions have conducted researches and evaluations

on Blockchain. North America occupied the largest market share of

global Blockchain technology [20]. The U.S. and Canada have actively

regulated cryptocurrencies while encouraging Blockchain-based re-

searches and innovations. In Europe, the European Union has committed

to providing reliable data security and privacy for international business

by establishing a unied Blockchain service infrastructure. In the Asia

Pacic, Blockchain technology innovations are also encouraged in some

main countries. Also, there have been some Blockchain initiatives

worldwide so far, such as Enterprise Operation System (EOS), Hyper-

ledger, Corda. Blockchain is shifting the application paradigm and

operating rules of many industries through its unique trust-building

mechanism.

Although a large number of application scenarios based on Block-

chain technology had been conceived or proposed, and Blockchain

* Corresponding author.

E-mail address: gqhuang@hku.hk (G.Q. Huang).

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing

journal homepage: www.cryptoforexleads.pw

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcim.2021.102124

Received 2 October 2019; Received in revised form 30 November 2020; Accepted 12 January 2021

Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 70 (2021) 102124

seems to be a potentially revolutionary technology in the future, there

are still many challenges and limitations when putting Blockchain

technology into practice. The main aims of this paper are to investigate

recent Blockchain applications in industrial elds including nance,

supply chain, manufacturing, healthcare, energy, and smart city to

present a state-of-the-art of Blockchain. Besides, the worldwide Block-

chain movement including North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacic

region so far are also surveyed to identify the current situation of

Blockchain technology in the world.

We conduct a statistic analysis of the collected articles in terms of

three dimensions, which are year of publication, leading research in-

stitutes and researchers, and article classication to present a multi-

dimensional trend or conclusion. Besides, we analyse articles that are

cited over a certain number of times in detail to investigate the hot

research directions. Finally, the challenges, opportunities, and future

perspectives are discussed to summarize the main obstacles of industrial

Blockchain and identify the open research questions in the near future.

Our contributions are stated as follows: (1) Existing surveys and re-

views typically concentrate on some specic topics or elds of Block-

chain application, and most of them lack the movement and

development worldwide of Blockchain. We investigated the movement

and development worldwide to present the current situation of Block-

chain. (2) Articles on the Blockchain are analysed according to three

dimensions, namely year of publication, leading research institutes, and

researchers, to illustrate the development characteristics and trends of

Blockchain-related research with visualization statistical data. (3) The

challenges, opportunities, and future perspectives of Blockchain appli-

cation are comprehensively discussed to identify the open research is-

sues on applying Blockchain practically in the future.

The remaining parts of this paper mainly consist of the following

sections. Section 2 presents the survey method and analyses the

collected articles from three dimension. Section 3 introduces an over-

view of Blockchain technology in terms of architecture, key enabling

technologies, and representative initiatives. The industrial Blockchain

applications are presented in Section 4. Section 5 mainly summarizes the

current development and application of Blockchain worldwide,

including North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacic. Discussion about

the current challenges, opportunities, and future perspectives of Block-

chain technology in industries is provided in Section 6.

2. Statistics and Survey Analysis

2.1. Survey Method

The survey method of this article is shown in Fig. 1. Following

criteria were applied to enhance the credibility of the results.

(1) The survey was conducted based on the Web of Science database.

The core collection was selected, and the citation indexes in-

cludes SCI-E, SSCI, and CPCI-S.

(2) The key words used for the search are ‘Blockchain’ and ‘elds’. i.

e. ‘Blockchain’ AND ‘Finan* OR Fintech’; ‘Blockchain’ AND

‘Supply chain’; ‘Blockchain’ AND ‘Healthcare’; ‘Blockchain’ AND

‘Energy’; ‘Blockchain’ AND ‘Manufacturing’, and ‘Blockchain’

AND ‘Smart city’. The search scope is the ‘topic’ (the title, ab-

stract, keywords, and keywords plus were included).

(3) To ensure the credibility of the survey, only English articles that

published between 2017 and 2020 (to date) were considered.

(4) The search result was rened manually to lter out the papers

whose focus outside the six elds. Nearly 600 papers were

collected. To ensure the referable value of the collected papers,

we conducted the further ltering to select the papers whose cited

times are no less than 10. Ultimately, over 80 papers were

retained.

The collected papers were analysed in terms of three dimensions,

namely year of publication, leading research institutes and researchers,

and article classication to better understand the research trends, the

Fig. 1. Survey method.

Z. Li et al.

Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 70 (2021) 102124

leading institutes and researchers, and the research progress of

Blockchain.

2.2. Dimension 1. Year of publication

The number of papers published each year reects the Blockchain

development and research status. The number increases in all six elds

in recent four years according to the statistics. Specically, the numbers

of publication in manufacturing, supply chain are presented in Fig. 2.

The number of papers in the two areas is projected to continue to grow

steadily. Besides, the total of publication in industrial blockchain (the six

elds) is also presented. It obviously saw a rapid increase during the

four-year period.

2.3. Dimension 2. Leading Research Institutes and Researchers

Analysis of the institutes and researchers involved reveal the fore-

runner and outstanding researchers of Blockchain research. By sorting

the papers published between 2017-2019 and the cited times is no less

than 10, and counting the number of times each author appears and

their institutes, the numbers of papers from each institute were ob-

tained. A total of 11 institutions published at least two papers.

As shown in Fig. 3. The largest number of papers originate from

Guangdong University of Technology, Seoul National University of

Science and Technology, and the University of Hong Kong, followed by

Shanghai University. These four institutes are the main source of

Blockchain research and are hosts to the predominant scholars in this

eld.

Since the number of papers from each institute does not consider the

situation where a paper has multiple authors belonging to different in-

stitutions, it is necessary to present a co-occurrence network diagram of

leading researchers to show their collaborations. Leading researchers on

the Blockchain can be recognized by counting the number of papers

published by different authors. By counting the number of occurrences

of each author and the number of co-occurrence of two authors among

the papers, a co-occurrence network diagram of the leading researchers

was obtained. The authors and their co-authors other than the above

four institutes are removed to simplify the network diagram.

The network diagram shows the collaborative relationships of each

author in Fig. 4. Among the researchers shown in the gure, Li, Zhi and

Huang, George Q have studied the theories and key technologies of

Blockchain in manufacturing eld. Kang, Jiawen focus on the energy

trading using Blockchain technology. Park, Jong Hyuk afliated with

Seoul National University of Science and Technology mainly studies the

application of Blockchain in smart city. Su Zhou of Shanghai University

focuses on energy transmission and energy security in the energy elds.

2.4. Dimension 3. Article Classication

In order to understand the depth of current Blockchain research, we

dene three stages, namely conceptual stage, verication stage, and

application stage for the collected papers and classify them according to

the contents. Papers that only propose a framework or an approach, or

conducts theoretical analysis will be sorted out as conceptual stage.

Those which build a mathematical model or conduct instance-based

study, or conduct a proof-of-concept, or carry out a simulation, or

develop a prototype will be categorized as verication stage. Papers that

include practical application of Blockchain or real case studies or use

cases will be identied as application stage.

As shown in Fig. 5, papers published between 2017-2019 that

belonging to different stages in six elds are counted. In the eld of

nance, supply chain, and healthcare, the theoretical research accounts

for over a half. While in the eld of energy, manufacturing, and smart

city, the verication research overweighs the theoretical research and

application research.

3. Blockchain Overview

In this section, we give an overview of Blockchain in terms of the

architecture, key enabling technologies, and representative initiatives.

3.1. Architecture

Generally, a Blockchain system consists of a data layer, a network

layer, a consensus layer, an incentive layer, a contract layer, and an

application layer [21]. The data layer encapsulates the underlying data

blocks, which includes hash values, time stamps, transaction informa-

tion, public and private keys etc. [22]. The network layer involves

peer-to-peer (P2P) networking mechanism, data broadcasting mecha-

nism, data verication mechanism, etc. Blockchain network is essen-

tially a P2P network. The resources and services in the network are

scattered on each node, and the transmission of information and the

realization of services are carried out directly between nodes without

the intervention of intermediate links or centralized servers (third

parties). Nodes synchronize information through the network layer to

jointly maintain the ledger of the entire network. The network layer

enables the Blockchain to be automatically networked [23]. The

consensus layer encapsulates the consensus algorithm and consensus

mechanism, such as PoW, POS, and DPoS, enabling distributed nodes to

effectively reach consensus on the validity of block data in a decen-

tralized blockchain network. The consensus mechanism is designed to

keep consistency among all the nodes. It determines who will submit

blocks in the Blockchain system [24]. The incentive layer combines

economic factors, mainly including the issue and distribution mecha-

nism of economic incentives. In public Blockchains, the incentive

mechanism encourages compliance with rules and participation in

bookkeeping, and to punish violation, making the entire system evolving

in a virtuous circle. In permissioned Blockchains, there is no need to

encourage nodes to compete for bookkeeping, therefore, the incentive

mechanism does not necessarily exist [25]. The contract layer mainly

encapsulates various codes, algorithms and smart contracts, which is the

basis of the programmability of the Blockchain [26]. The smart contract

Fig. 2. The number of publications in recent four years in manufacturing, supply chain, and industrial blockchain.

Z. Li et al.

Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 70 (2021) 102124

can be customized through embedding the code in the Blockchain or

token. The pre-set smart contract can be automatically executed without

third parties. The application layer includes various application sce-

narios and practical use cases of the Blockchain [27]. Various applica-

tions deployed on the application layer enrich the Blockchain ecology.

3.2. Key Enabling Technologies

P2P network: P2P network has no central server, and it is a

decentralized peer-to-peer network. It is a network structure composed

of multiple nodes, and each of nodes is equal in status [28]. Each node

can be either a server or a client. P2P networks mainly characterized as

high scalability, high robustness, and high privacy. User nodes can join

or leave the network freely. At the same time, with the increase of the

nodes number, the overall service capacity of the Blockchain system will

be improved accordingly [29].

Since there is no centralized server in the P2P networks, each node in

the networks can act as a server. Even if some nodes are attacked or

ofine, the system will not be affected [30]. Therefore, the resistance to

external network attacks and fault tolerance of Blockchain systems is

signicantly stronger than traditional systems. Besides, the transmission

of information in the P2P network does not need a central server, which

reduces the risk of user information being leaked or monitored [31].

Moreover, the high cost performance and load balancing brought by the

P2P network make the Blockchain system performs better than other

centralized systems.

Fig. 3. The number of papers published by different institutes.

Fig. 4. Author co-occurrence network of top 4 leading institutes.

Z. Li et al.

Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 70 (2021) 102124

Distributed ledger: the distributed ledger is a data recording

method without any centralized entities to conrm or store the ledger. In

the distributed ledgers, executors control the specic implementation of

data storage and conrmation [32]. The Blockchain is essentially a

distributed ledger. In the Blockchain systems, the ledgers are

geographically scattered across all the nodes [33]. Nodes restrict and

negotiate the update of data records in the ledger based on the consensus

mechanism. Each record in the distributed ledger has a timestamp and a

unique password signature. This mechanism also makes the ledgers

auditable to all transactions of the network.

Cryptography: Blockchain system builds trust through consensus

and cryptography. Cryptography in a Blockchain includes message, key,

cipher, and encryption/decryption algorithm. Message, i.e. plain text,

contains the information that the sender/receiver wants to keep secret.

A key is data that encrypts and decrypts messages. Cipher is the

encrypted form of information encrypted by a key [34]. The encryp-

tion/decryption algorithm is used for the conversion of message and

password. In order to ensure the security of the system, Blockchain

system uses different types of cryptography. Public Key Cryptography,

Hash Function, Merkel Tree and Zero Knowledge Proof are common

cryptography in Blockchain system [35].

Consensus mechanism: consensus mechanism is designed to

maintain the normal operation of the systems [36]. The consensus

mechanism solves the problem of distributed consistency in untrusted

environments [37]. In Blockchain systems, the nodes that do not trust

each other achieve consistency of the transaction data through a pre-set

consensus mechanism, and thereby the stability of the system is main-

tained. As the application of Blockchain technology in various in-

dustries, various consensus algorithms were designed for different

application scenarios. Table 1 shows several commonly used consensus

mechanisms of current Blockchain systems.

Smart contract: A smart contract is a set of digital commitments,

including protocols on which contract participants can full those

commitments [71]. Smart contracts in the Blockchain system allow

credible, traceable and irreversible transactions without any third

parties. It consists of construction, deployment and execution. Smart

contracts are jointly formulated by multiple nodes within Blockchain

systems and can be used for any transaction activities among nodes. The

rights and obligations of all the nodes and the conditions that trigger

automatic execution of the contract are specied in the commitments.

All of them are programmed in the smart contract and it will be

uploaded to the Blockchain network so that all the nodes can access.

Smart contracts will be checked periodically to detect the presence of

relevant events and trigger conditions. Eligible events will be pushed to

the queue for verication. The verication nodes on the Blockchain

rstly sign the event to ensure its validity. The smart contract will then

Fig. 5. Papers in different stages.

Table 1

Representative Consensus Protocols.

Consensus Protocols Representative

Applications

Descriptions

BFT-based, e.g.

Practical Byzantine

Fault Tolerance

(PBFT), Federated

Byzantine Agreement

(FBA), Delegated

Byzantine Fault

Tolerance (dBFT)

Hyperledger Fabric [38],

Stellar [39], XRP [40],

Dispatch [41], Neo [42]

Originated from Byzantine

General Problem [43],

Byzantine Fault Tolerance

(BFT) is a type of

fault-tolerant technology

in the eld of distributed

computing and was

designed to handle these

anomalous behaviors such

as hardware error, network

congestion or interruption,

malicious attacks etc.

Hyperledger Fabric uses

PBFT, Stellar and XRP to

use FBA, Neo use dBFT.

Raft IPFS Private Cluster [44],

Quorum [45]

Raft [46] achieves

consensus by selecting

leaders. The raft is mainly

divided into two stages,

namely leader election and

normal operation, such as

log replication and

bookkeeping which is on

the basis of the elected

leader.

Proof of Work (PoW) Bitcoin [47], Ethereum

[48], Litecoin [49],

Dogecoin [50]

PoW [51] achieve

consensus through a

competition to solve the

consistency problem in a

decentralized system. Each

node competes for the

bookkeeping right through

computing power.

Proof of Stake (PoS) Ethereum [48], Peercoin

[52], Nxt [53], Peercoin

[52]

PoS [54] is proposed as an

alternative for Pow to

solve the serious waste of

resources. The probability

of mining blocks is based

on the amount of stake a

miner holds.

Delayed Proof-of-Stake

(DPoS)

BitShares [55], Steemit

[56], EOS [57], Lisk [58],

Ark [59]

In DPoS [60], a certain

amount of representative

nodes will be selected to

collaboratively generate

the blocks instead of

competing for the right of

generating blocks as in

PoW and PoS. Thus, DPoS

can run faster than other

consensus algorithms.

Proof of Elapsed Time

(PoET)

HyperLedger Sawtooth

[61]

PoET [61] uses a trusted

execution environment to

improve the efciency of

existing solutions. An

individual node will be

stochastically selected to

execute requests at a given

target rate. Every node

must wait for a period of

time determined by

sampling and the smallest

node win the election.

Proof of Authority

(PoA)

POA.Network [62],

Ethereum Kovan testnet

[63], VeChain [64],

Parity [65]

In PoA [66], validators are

selected based on their

reputation and identity

rather than their stake. The

transactions and blocks

will be validated by the

validators.

Proof of Weight

(PoWeight)

Algorand [67] PoWeight [67] is a very

broad consensus algorithm

based on the Algorand

consensus model, which

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Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 70 (2021) 102124

be executed automatically after most of the verication nodes reaching a

consensus on the event. The nodes will be notied at the same time. The

distributed ledger will then be updated to record the result of the con-

tract execution.

3.3. Representative initiatives

Since the birth of bitcoin, there have been many representative

blockchain initiatives. We summarize seven Blockchain initiatives to

make a comparison.

As shown in Table 2, we compare seven Blockchain platforms in

terms of seven aspects, namely description, use cases, governance,

operation mode, consensus mechanism, smart contract, and currency.

Ethereum is an open source Blockchain platform for generic P2P and

B2C applications through various smart contracts [72]. Decentralized

Finance (DeFi) is the latest killer application of Ethereum. According to

DeFi Pulse [73], the value of DeFi has now boomed to over $10 billion,

and almost all the DeFi projects are built in Ethereum. Now the DeFi has

built an ecosystem including lending, decentralized exchanges (DEXes),

derivatives, payments, and assets. The prosperity of DeFi ecology will

bring new opportunities to supply chain nance and thereby promote

the industry.

Built by Linux Foundation, Hyperledger is an open Blockchain

platform with modular architectures and components. It focusses on

enterprise-grade blockchain deployments [74]. Hyperledger Fabric is a

permissioned blockchain infrastructure with executable smart contracts,

congurable consensus and membership services. There are already

some projects range from insurance, healthcare, nance, supply chain,

to manufacturing.

Corda was created by R3 consortium and it is a specialized distrib-

uted ledger platform for nancial industry. By helping their open source

distributed ledgers, Corda can help nancial entities better organize

their workow and trading activities [75]. It helps to enable multiple

applications of organizations to interoperate on a single network.

Currently, many famous nancial institutes have made attempts on

Blockchain with Corda.

Quorum, proposed by J.P. Morgan, is an open source Blockchain

platform based on Ethereum. Itis mainly used for nancial scenarios

because of its good solution on private protection and performance

limitation [76]. Quorum is now used by J.P. Morgan and its external

nancial rms and suppliers.

Ripple is a peer to peer digital payment network for nancial

transactions. Meanwhile, Ripple also acts as a currency and works for

various payment methods [77]. It is claimed that many nancial in-

stitutes have adopt Ripple to handle cross-border payment businesses.

EOS is a generic Blockchain platform and suits generalized applica-

tions. It creates a developer-friendly underlying Blockchain platform

that supports multiple applications running at the same time and pro-

vides the underlying template for developing DApps. EOS solved the

problems of high latency and low TPS with parallel chain and the

consensus of DPoS [78]. Now many DApps have been developed based

on EOS in E-commerce, Fintech, healthcare, etc.

Facebook created a global currency and nancial infrastructure

named Libra. It aims to dominate the international monetary market.

However, this aim will exert a great inuence on the world’s economy,

the real release and usage of Libra still needs time [79].

4. Industrial Blockchain Applications

Many Blockchain-related studies have been conducted in various

industrial elds. This article surveys the Blockchain applications in the

elds of nance, supply chain, healthcare, energy, manufacturing, and

smart city. In this section, a content-based analysis is carried out to

identify the aspects of Blockchain applications in the above six

industries.

4.1. Supply chain

Since supply chain involves a wide range of stakeholders, it is

believed Blockchain has potential to impact supply chain management.

Kshetri [80] examined how Blockchain is likely to affect key supply

chain management objectives such as cost, quality, speed, depend-

ability, risk reduction, sustainability and exibility. Ivanov et al. [81]

regard Blockchain as an advanced tracking and tracing technologies

which can increase visibility and efciency based on record-keeping in

Table 1 (continued )

Consensus Protocols Representative

Applications

Descriptions

can facilitate very fast

transaction processing thus

allows it to scale to many

users. In a PoWeight

system, some other

relatively weighted value

is used.

Proof of Burn (PoBurn) Slimcoin [68], TGCoin

[69]

In PoBurn [70], the user

will be given the privilege

of mining the system for

the entire lifetime based on

a random selection process

by sending the token to a

non-existent address.

Table 2

Comparison of different Blockchain platforms.

Items Ethereum Hyperledger Corda Quorum Ripple EOS Libra

Description

of platform

Generic Blockchain

platform

Modular

Blockchain

platform

Specialized

distributed ledger

platform for

nancial industry

Enterprise

Blockchain

platform

Digital payment

network for

nancial

transactions

Generic

Blockchain

platform

A global currency

and nancial

infrastructure

Use cases Generalized

applications, mainly

for P2P and B2C

operations

B2B operations,

mainly used in

enterprises

Financial Generalized

applications,

mainly for nance

Internet transaction

protocol for various

payment methods

Generalized

applications

None

Governance Ethereum developers Linux Foundation R3 J.P.Morgan Ripple Labs EOSIO software

development team

Facebook

Operation

mode

Permissionless, public

or private

Permissioned,

private

Permissioned,

private

Permissioned,

private

Permissioned,

private

Permissionless,

public or private

Permissionless,

private

Consensus

mechanism

PoW Multiple

approaches

Transaction validity

& Transaction

uniqueness

QuorumChain Federated Byzantine

Agreement (FBA)

DPoS LibraBFT consensus

protocol

Smart

contracts

Solidity Golang Kotlin, Java Solidity C++, Javascript Solidity, Serpent,

Mutan etc

Move

Currency Ether None None JP Coin Ripple EOS Libra

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Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 70 (2021) 102124

the supply chain. Queiroz and Wamba [82] investigated Blockchain

adoption behaviour at the individual level in India and the U.S. The

result showed that the Blockchain adoption by logistics and supply chain

management professionals is still at its infancy stage. Kamble et al. [83]

developed a model to understand user perceptions on Blockchain

adoption in the supply chain based on the integration of three adoption

theories- technology acceptance model (TAM), technology readiness

index (TRI) and the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). The results

showed that insecurity and discomfort have an insignicant effect on the

perceived ease of use and usefulness. Perceived usefulness, attitude, and

perceived behavioural control affect the behavioural intention. Subjec-

tive norm has a negligible impact on behavioural intention. Treiblmaier

[84] presented a framework built on four established economic theories,

namely, principal agent theory (PAT), transaction cost analysis (TCA),

resource-based view (RBV) and network theory (NT) to illustrate how

the implications of Blockchain on SCM can be investigated from

different perspectives. Wang et al. [85] used sensemaking theory to

explore how emerging Blockchain technology may transform supply

chains. Min [86] discussed ways to leverage Blockchain technology to

enhance supply chain resilience in times of increased risks and uncer-

tainty. Montecchi et al. [87] developed a provenance knowledge

framework and show how its application can enhance assurances and

reduce perceived risks via the application of blockchain. The authors

also presented a guide on how to implement Blockchain to establish

provenance knowledge and close with a kind warning on the importance

of demonstrating the value of Blockchain to customers. Cole et al. [88]

believed that Blockchain helps enhancing product safety and security;

improving quality management; reducing illegal counterfeiting;

improving sustainable supply chain management; advancing inventory

management and replenishment; reducing the need for intermediaries;

impacting new product design and development; and reducing the cost

of supply chain transactions.

Some studies regard Blockchain as a propellant for sustainable sup-

ply chain management. Saberi et al. [89] introduced four categories

Blockchain technology adoption barriers, namely inter-organisational,

intra-organisational, technical, and external barriers. The authors also

identied the relative importance of Blockchain technology for sus-

tainability in supply chains. Kouhizadeh and Sarkis [90] primary focus

on identifying potential uses across the spectrum of green supply chain

management functions and activities, specically on environmental

sustainability in the supply chain, and provided an overview of the

potential of Blockchain technology in the sustainable supply chain

context.

Above studies mainly focus on general discussion about the inuence

of Blockchain on supply chain. There are also some specic explorations

on the adoptions of Blockchain on supply chain. Perboli et al. [91]

created a standard methodology to design Blockchain technology use

cases, which are not related to nance applications. Toyoda et al. [92]

proposed a product ownership management system for anti-counterfeits

in the post supply chain. Leng et al. [93] proposed a public Blockchain of

agricultural supply chain system based on double chain architecture.

Tseng et al. [94] studied the governance on the drug supply chain via

Gcoin Blockchain. That paper applied Gcoin Blockchain’s

double-spending prevention mechanism to alleviate the

counterfeit-drug problem. Choi et al. [95] discussed how the Blockchain

technology can be applied to facilitate the implementation of

mean-variance risk analysis for global supply chain operations. Figorilli

et al. [96] introduced the use of Blockchain technology for the electronic

traceability of wood from standing tree to nal user. Mao et al. [97]

provided a Blockchain-based credit evaluation system to strengthen the

effectiveness of supervision and management in the food supply chain.

Venkatesh et al. [98] developed a system architecture which integrates

Blockchain, IoT and big data analytics to support sellers to monitor their

supply chain social sustainability efciently and effectively. Wang et al.

[99] built a Blockchain-based information management framework for a

precast supply chain to achieve information sharing management,

real-time control of scheduling, and information traceability. Sund et al.

[100] studied the feasibility of using Blockchain in the major interna-

tional retail company IKEA. The authors created a prototype based on

Quorum to deal with the identied events which is signicant in the

supply chain process. Liu et al. [101] proposed an industrial

Blockchain-based PLM framework to facilitate the data exchange and

service sharing in the product lifecycle across the supply chain.

There are some real use cases of Blockchain solutions on the logistics

industry worldwide. TradeLens, launched by Maersk and IBM, is an open

and neutral supply chain platform supported by Blockchain. TradeLens

allows users to save all the necessary workows in digital format. The

audit of les like certicates, accompanying documents and other pa-

pers is dramatically simplied. Business processes automation is ach-

ieved by a module integration with smart contracts. TradeLens also

supports users to track various metrics, such as cargo weight or

container temperature through integrating with IoT.

IBM lunched a Food Trust project using Blockchain with 10 major

food manufacturers and distributors including Driscoll’s, Dole, Kroger,

Golden State Foods, McCormick and Company, Nestl

e, McLane Com-

pany, Tyson Foods, Unilever and Walmart. The project was supported by

the IBM Blockchain. The data of food products stored on the IBM

Blockchain platform and Hyperledger Fabric is over 1 million. All the

participants can access to a transparent, consistent and distributed led-

ger of records related to food origin, transportation status, location

status, and more via the platform. It was claimed that the cost of

returning products can be reduced by an average of 80%.

Provenance provides Blockchain-based tracking solutions to track

the whole journey from manufacturing to purchase of a product. Prov-

enance have integrated their solution to the UK grocery chain Co-op.

Users can view whole product journey from a manufacturer to super-

market shelves by accessing to a product tracking platform using

Blockchain. They also helped Indonesian shermen to add tags on

caught sh and record the information on Blockchain. The workow

was heavily reduced.

Chronicled provides a decentralized supply chain system. It com-

bines IoT and Blockchain to improve traceability of products and in-

crease the reliability of nancial transactions. Cumberland, a large

pharmaceutical company, has announced a partnership with Chronicled

to develop a large system MediLedger for drugs tracing using Block-

chain. The stakeholder can access to all the information across the whole

logistics of medications.

4.2. Manufacturing

Li et al. [102] proposed a cross-enterprises framework to achieve a

higher level of sharing of knowledge and services in manufacturing

ecosystems. The authors believe that the manufacturing ecosystems is

transforming from networked manufacturing into open manufacturing

because of Blockchain technology. Li et al. [103] proposed a distributed

peer to peer network architecture that improves the security and scal-

ability of the cloud manufacturing. Fu et al. [104] proposed a Block-

chain enhanced emission trading scheme solution for Industry 4.0 and a

novel emission link system to reduce the emissions. Yin et al. [105]

proposed a machine to machine secure communication Blockchain for

addressing security problem of communications between different types

of machines in the cyber-physical systems. Lin et al. [106] proposed a

hierarchical framework comprising four tangible layers, which is

designed to vertically integrate inter-organizational value networks,

engineering value chain, manufacturing factories, etc. The authors also

proposed a Blockchain-based secure mutual authentication system for

enforcing ne-grained access control polices. Kennedy et al. [107]

proposed a Blockchain-based anti-counterfeiting method to meet the

user’s requirements for verifying the authenticity of components in

additive manufacturing. Westerkamp et al. [108] proposed a method for

the traceability of manufactured products and the components. Block-

chain is used to create non-fungible digital tokens for manufactured

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Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 70 (2021) 102124

products. Lee et al. [109] proposed a custom manufacturing service with

P2P network for manufacturer and customers udner the

Blockchain-based IIoT architecture. The architecture consists of a

reputation assessment method, a manufacturer rating classication, and

a malicious evaluator identication. Yu et al. [110] proposed a

Blockchain-based SharedMfg (BSM) framework to support the Cyber

Physical Systems (CPS).

With the society entering the era of Industry 4.0, great changes are

taking place in the manufacturing industry. New technologies like the

Internet of Things (IoT), cloud manufacturing (CM), articial intelli-

gence (AI), and Blockchain are paving the way for smart manufacturing.

Industry leaders like IBM, BMW, and Ford are turning to Blockchain to

achieve business innovation for efciency improvement of their supply

chains.

The Trusted IoT Alliance, a collaboration among leading technology

companies, and many start-ups, is developing a standard for integrating

the IoT and Blockchain. It aims to develop an interface for smart-

contract that allows data to transfer within and between Blockchain-

enabled systems simultaneously. The alliance is focusing on immu-

table documentation and trusted hardware identication using Block-

chain. Blockchain as a service (BaaS) is a new paradigm for enterprises

to embrace Blockchain. BaaS allows self-managed Blockchain and adds

developed tools that facilitate deployment and management at scale.

BaaS will be a good choice for many manufacturers, especially those

with resource-constrained enterprises to deploy Blockchain.

Automotive Industry Giants like Ford, BMW, and General Motors

(GM), formed the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI) with the

prospect of making cars more affordable, safer, and widely accessible

with Blockchain technology. MOBI launched rst Blockchain vehicle

identity standard to give new cars a digital identity. It can track events

throughout a car’s life and be used to connect vehicles to achieve share

information sharing, including track speed, location, direction of travel,

braking and even driver intention. GM are cooperating with Spring Labs

turning to stop synthetic identity fraud using Blockchain. It is reported

that $15 million has been raised to fund the project.

4.3. Supply Chain Financing

Supply chain nancing connects nancial institutes and upstream

and downstream enterprises in the supply chain. Banks or other nan-

cial institutions provide enterprises in supply chains with comprehen-

sive nancial products or services through various methods like

accounts receivable nancing, chattel mortgage nancing, and advance

nancing. Compared to traditional nancing, supply chain nancing is

more concerned about the coordination among the stakeholders in

supply chains. It uses the information ow, logistics, and cash ow of

supply chains to improve risk control and operational risk privation.

Besides, it can also expand the nancing group, and lower the costs of

settlement and nancing of supply chains.

As the advent of industry 4.0 era, the high degree of intelligence and

network bring challenges to the management and operation of manu-

facturers. It is increasingly difcult for individual enterprises to adapt to

the rapidly changing environment of market demands. In this situation,

supply chain nancing is crucial for companies to get nancing and

expand the market economy.

However, there are some problems for manufacturers to obtain

nancing. In the traditional paradigm, the core enterprises with strong

competitiveness play a key role in managing the supply chain. This re-

sults in inequality and information asymmetry among upstream and

downstream enterprises of supply chains. Besides, fraud in supply chain

nancing also occurs from time to time [111]. These problems make it

difcult for SMEs in the supply chain to obtain nancing.

As Blockchain applications are booming in the nance and supply

chain management, Blockchain-driven supply chain nancing is

emerging. There have some studies on supply chain nancing using

Blockchain. Tang and Zhuang [112] proposed a mathematical model to

analyse the Blockchain-driven supply chain nance (BCT-SCF). The re-

sults show that BCT-SCF model can improve production and nancing

efciency of supply chains. Li et al. [113] proposed a

Blockchain-enabled logistics nance execution platform (BcLFEP) to

facilitate logistics nancing for E-commerce retails. A case study was

conducted to implement BcLFEP-enabled dynamic pledge management.

Yu et al. [114] explored the effectiveness of Blockchain-driven supply

chain nancing by building an analytical model involving multi-sided

platform, customer, bank, and multiple transportation service pro-

viders. A traditional SCF model with Platform Undertakes Guarantee

(PUG) and a novel SCF strategy with self-guarantee (i.e. Customer Un-

dertakes Guarantee (CUG)) are analysed. The results indicate that CUG

can bring a Pareto improvement for the market compared to PUG.

Lahkani et al. [115] studied sustainable B2B E-commerce and

Blockchain-based supply chain nance. The ndings show that Block-

chain improves protability of B2B market companies in the e-com-

merce market. Choi [116] proved that the Blockchain-supported supply

chain incurs a lower level of operational risk than the traditional supply

chain.

Apart from the academic research on supply chain nancing with

Blockchain, the industry also put the Blockchain-driven supply chain

nancing into practice. It is estimated in a white paper by the World

Economic Forum that supply chain nance will expand by 5-15% a year

in the Americas and Western Europe and 10-25% in Asia [117]. IEEE

Standards Association has established a working group on Blockchain in

supply chain nancing. Some tech behemoths are also actively involved

in and leading the implementation of Blockchain supply chain nancing.

Ant Group launched Trusple, an AntChain-powered global trade and

nancial services platform for SMEs and nancial institutions. Tencent

launched its rst supply chain nancing, Blockchain and asset-backed

securities (ABS) platform called WeChain. It was claimed that the

nancing cost for suppliers is 33% lower than the average factoring cost.

JD Logistics also cooperate with Development Bank of Singapore (DBS)

to provide Blockchain-supported supply chain nancing to SMEs in

Hong Kong.

5. Recent Worldwide Movement

Investigating the current situation of Blockchain worldwide helps to

understand the development of Blockchain. In this survey, we investi-

gated the number and the amount of funding projects about Blockchain

worldwide. Some explorations of Blockchain initiatives worldwide are

also provided.

5.1. North America

The National Science Foundation (NSF) supports Blockchain-related

research proposals positively. It can be found from the website of NSF

that 70 research proposals related to Blockchain technology were

granted since 2015. From the beginning of 2015 to the end of April

2020, NSF has provided more than US$25 million to support the

development and application of Blockchain technology. The supported

projects are categorized into seven NSF directorates, including SBE

(Social, Behavior & Economic Science), CSE (Computer & Information

Science & Engineering), ENG (Engineering), HER (Education & Human

Resources), O/D (Ofce of the Director), MPS (Mathematical & Physical

Science), and BIO (Biological Science). The number of projects in each

group is shown in Fig. 6. The statistics show that over 80% of awards are

funded by Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engi-

neering and Directorate for Engineering with a percentage over 75% in

award amount. The number of CSE is about twice as the one of ENG in

award and amount.

Fig. 7 shows the number and amount of Blockchain related NSF

awards from 2015 to the end of April, 2020. It is clear that both the

number and the amount increasing overall.

Canada is leading the world in Blockchain. Payments Canada, the

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Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 70 (2021) 102124

Fig. 6. Amounts of projects supported by NSF of the U.S. from 2015 to April 2020.

Fig. 7. The number and amount of Blockchain related NSF awards.

Fig. 8. The number and amount of Blockchain related awards in Canada.

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Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 70 (2021) 102124

Bank of Canada and TMX group launched a collaborative research

initiative Project Jasper in March 2016 to explore the future of distrib-

uted ledger technology (DLT) impacts on payments in Canada. In

addition to the toleration policy in the nancial sector, the Canadian

government also actively involves in the exploration and practice of

Blockchain, which is used to improve administrative transparency,

allowing public access to the records of government expenditures. The

public can browse government spending records through the website.

Moreover, Several Canadian government authorities and bodies,

including the Ontario Provincial Government, City of Toronto and Bank

of Canada, participated in Blockchain research plans organized by

Blockchain Research Institution (BRI). BRI was built in Toronto, 2017. It

is an international top Blockchain technology and commercial applica-

tion research institution. It has collaborated with nearly 40 global au-

thorities on different topics in about 70 projects include IBM, Microsoft,

Tencent, etc.

There are 33 Blockchain-related research proposals and with the

total amount of over 800 thousand Canadian Dollar was funded by the

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

since 2015.

5.2. Europe

Since 2013, EC has been funding Blockchain projects through the EU

research program 7th Framework Programme (FP7) and Horizon 2020

(H2020). In particular, the My Health My Data (MHMD) project uses

Blockchain technology to protect patient data while allowing patients to

share private information in a secure way. DECODE uses Blockchain

technology to help people control their personal information and decide

whether to share it for the public good.

For academic research, we searched the quantity and number of

projects from the EU project database stored on the Community

Research and Development Information Service, the ofcial information

space of the European Commission. There are 183 projects associated

with Blockchain. 181 of them are funded by the H2020 research

program.

Fig. 9 presents the projects sponsored by different European coun-

tries. There are 29 European countries taking part in supporting

Blockchain researches. Spain takes the largest number of Blockchain

projects in Europe with 42, which is approximately twice the number of

Italian projects. The number of Blockchain projects in Greece, Germany,

United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Belgium does not vary much, with

each uctuating around 10.

5.3. Asia Pacic

The Blockchain market in the area of Asia Pacic has experienced

signicant growth due to the increment in the investments in

Blockchain-based companies. As a consequence, many investors believe

Asia will become a crucial engine for venture capital investment and a

hotbed for Blockchain innovation. One of the evidences is that the in-

vestment of nancing technology (Fintech) in Asia-Pacic was doubled

from $5.2 billion to $11.2 billion within only one year from 2015 to

2016, compared with $9.2 billion in the USA and $2.4 billion in Europe.

The innovation of Blockchain currently happens in the USA and Europe,

but the application of the new technology is quickly spreading over the

Asia-Pacic region. According to the Global Market Insights’ report, one

of the biggest reasons for such a huge transition in the Blockchain

technology comes from the support from the Asia governments. Through

numerous policy changes and initiatives, countries like Singapore,

China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are trying to understand the

new technology and explore new application elds and business

opportunities.

Singapore is far more open to the Blockchain-based technology on

nancial innovation regulatory policies than other Asian countries.

Therefore, Singapore plays the leading role of Blockchain research in the

Asia Pacic region and drives the growth of the Blockchain market. The

world’s best Blockchain researchers along with the government support

offer Singapore a better chance over other countries in leading the

Blockchain revolution. The growing leading role of Blockchain can also

Fig. 9. The Number of Blockchain projects sponsored by different program and European countries.

Z. Li et al.

Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 70 (2021) 102124

be attributed to the government’s support policies. In June 2016, the

Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched the "Sandbox"

mechanism, which means that any Fintech company registered in a

protected space as stipulated by the regulations is allowed to engage in

business that is in conict with the current laws and regulations, pro-

vided that it is reported in advance. And even if the relevant business is

later terminated by the authorities, it will not be held legally respon-

sible. Through the "sandbox" mechanism, the government is able to

encourage a variety of nancial innovations within its control.

From 2016, the MAS is working in a partnership with R3, a Block-

chain technology company, and a consortium of nancial institutions on

a proof-of-concept project to conduct inter-bank payments using

Blockchain technology. They are exploring the use of Blockchain to link

the National Trade Platforms to the trade platforms of other countries.

All the activities have shown the revolutionary status of Singapore in

developing Blockchain technology.

China’s government has explicitly seen Blockchain as a pillar tech-

nology to help its economic development strategy. In December 2016,

China incorporated Blockchain technology into the 13th ve-year na-

tional informatization plan. In October 2016, the Ministry of Industry

and Information Technology (MIIT) released the white paper on 2016

China’s Blockchain technology and application development. In

September 2017, the People’s Bank of China and the other seven min-

istries and commissions jointly issued a document identifying ICO as an

unauthorized act of public nancing. China has a high demand for

nancial support and the demand for more convenient and affordable

products and services are also very high.

For academic research, the details of Blockchain-related projects

from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) are

collected and analysed. Fig. 10 shows a recent rise in Blockchain-related

projects in both quantity and amount. The project fund has increased

from 0.83 million RMB to over 22 million RMB from 2016 to 2019. It has

the great potential to grow continuously in the next few years. The

research elds of Blockchain in NSFC are various as shown in Fig. 11.

Similar to the statistic of the US, computer science is the main research

direction in Blockchain.

On the other hand, according to the data from MIIT of China, as of

the end of March 2018, there are 456 new Blockchain companies

launched in China. The initial industrial chain of China’s Blockchain has

been formed, from upstream hardware manufacturing, platform ser-

vices, security services, downstream industrial technology application

services, to industry investment and nancing, media, talent services to

ensure industrial development. Companies in different elds that have

been basically well-developed, coordinated and orderly promote the

industry forward. According to the distribution of newly established

companies in the area of industrial subdivision of Blockchain, by the end

of March 2018, the number of industrial application companies in the

area of Blockchain was the largest. Among these companies in the area

of Blockchain, 86 companies are serving the nancial industry and 109

companies are serving the substantial economy. In addition, there are

more than 40 related companies in Blockchain Solutions, Bottom Plat-

form, Blockchain Media and Community Information Center of the

Ministry of Philosophy, Industry and Communications.

In Japan, the government in association with universities and

research institutes has initiated several programs to make full explora-

tion of Blockchain technology. These programs are widely dispersing in

industry collaboration, government perspective and academic research.

In industry, Japan has conducted projects like Proof of Concept (PoC) in

both the nancial eld and non-nancial elds. It develops Blockchain

services including identity management, interbank payment system, and

participates in the Hyperledger project. Currently, the government

amends the statutes, such as the Banking Act and Money Lending

Business Acts, to adapt the new demand and application of virtual cur-

rency. Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is developing an

evaluation axis to properly evaluate a system using Blockchain. In

academia, Japan is one of the major nations, which forms the BSafe.

network. It provides a neutral, stable and sustainable international

research test network for Blockchain research.

Australia is still in the beginning stage of Blockchain, with govern-

ment, industry, banks, academia, and business exploring through proof

of concepts. The federal government shows positive messages about

Blockchain technology. Australia is looking at standards, denitions,

rules, and other elements of the technology. It aims to provide a clear

operational standard on issues such as governance, jurisdiction and

interoperability in all walks of life. In 2016, Australia started to stan-

dardize Blockchain and set to revolutionize the way of the global

economy aspects. In order to lead the project, Australia tries to initiate

“priorities for Blockchain standards and contributing to the establish-

ment of industry, consumer and market condence in the use and

application of Blockchain technologies, most notably in nancial ser-

vices, government and supply chain management (particularly in

agriculture).”

Not much information can be found in academic research funding. In

2018, the Australian Research Council (ARC) supports 2 Blockchain

projects of the University of Sydney. The total funding amount of the

projects is $855,000 and $367,666, respectively. The funding amount

indicates that the Australia government attaches importance to Block-

chain research.

With the development of Blockchain, the New Zealand government

takes a positive attitude towards the benet from the economic, social,

and environmental aspects. According to the white paper by Edmund

Hillary Fellowship, New Zealand planned to apply Blockchain to Fin-

tech, agriculture, health, smart grid energy systems, climate response,

education, public services, and international development. It has the

Fig. 10. The number and number of Blockchain-related projects of NSFC.

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Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 70 (2021) 102124

power to create new industries that New Zealand can participate in.

Moreover, a growing number of Blockchain projects launches involving

Kiwi rms including Blockchain Lab NZ which has raised over NZ$410

million through initial coin offerings.

6. Discussion and Conclusion

Although Blockchain-based solutions have been conceived or pro-

posed in many industrial elds, there are still some challenges before

Blockchain can be applied in industrial elds widely. Five challenges are

summarized in this section, and corresponding opportunities and future

perspectives are also provided to present a broader view.

6.1. Challenges

6.1.1. Security

Theoretically, a Blockchain system is safe because of its feature of

tamper-proof and decentralization. However, Blockchain security in-

cidents happened frequently in recent years, leading to the loss of bil-

lions of dollars every year. Security threats are by far one of the most

important issues faced by Blockchain. The security challenges mainly

include two categories, namely system security and application security.

System security mainly refers to the security of the underlying codes,

the cryptographic algorithms and the consensus mechanisms. Block-

chain systems are built on code, and most security events attribute to

hacker attacks caused by the vulnerabilities of the source codes. The

vulnerabilities of smart contracts account for a large part of code vul-

nerabilities because smart contracts are usually open, which makes it

easy for hackers to nd the vulnerabilities of the codes and further

change the execution results of the smart contracts by manipulating the

execution conditions of the codes. Unfortunately, no one can guarantee

that the codes are vulnerability-free because there is no standard and

rigorous code audit specication currently, which leads to frequent se-

curity events. The security of smart contracts has become one of the

most important aspects of Blockchain security.

Blockchain mainly relies on the elliptic curve public key encryption

algorithms to generate digital signatures for secure transactions. How-

ever, it is not secure absolutely. The Shor’s algorithm based on quantum

computing can solve prime factorization of larger numbers in poly-

nomial time easily to crack the RSA effectively. The usage of the Shor’s

algorithm makes the public-key cryptosystems based on discrete loga-

rithms, which is widely used now, considered cracked in the post-

quantum era, and digital signature algorithms commonly used today,

such as DSA, ECDSA, and EdDSA, will become useless consequently. The

development of quantum computing will pose a great security threat to

cryptographic systems.

The security of consensus mechanisms is also a big challenge. The

underlying consensus protocol determines the credibility of the entire

Blockchain architecture. There is a well-known trilemma in the design of

a consensus algorithm, namely security, scalability and decentralization

cannot be achieved at the same time. In order to improve performance,

Blockchain itself may compromise on security, which may cause some

security problems. Besides, it is difcult to design a perfect consensus

mechanism without any vulnerabilities that can also lead to some at-

tacks aim at the consensus mechanism, such as 51% attack, sybil attack,

and double spend attack.

Application security mainly refers to the security problems in the

combination of Blockchain systems and traditional network information

systems, i.e. the traditional security vulnerabilities of the application

systems, mainly including source code vulnerabilities, business logic

vulnerabilities, website security vulnerabilities, and application security

vulnerabilities, etc. Especially in industrial systems, Blockchain faces

more security problems in the process of combining with the existing

industrial systems due to the large scale equipments, and complex

business logic and system architecture of industrial systems. Even

Blockchain itself can guarantee security theoretically, the security vul-

nerabilities of the traditional information system could damage the

theoretical security of Blockchain systems.

6.1.2. Privacy protection

Privacy and security are usually interdependent. Privacy protection

is usually regarded as a sub-issue of security. Technically, however,

there are differences between privacy and security. Security can be

achieved without privacy while not vice versa. In Blockchain systems,

the privacy protection in Blockchain systems mainly includes the pro-

tection of identity anonymity and the protection of content condenti-

ality. Blockchain is characterized by anonymity originally, while the

anonymity of Blockchain also have some challenges with the develop-

ment of Blockchain. For example, transaction tracking could trace the

transaction’s path through the Blockchain network and nd the initial

node of the transaction eventually. By associating the transactions with

the IP address of the initial node, the anonymous account and user

identity in the transactions are also correlated, and thus the anonymity

of the Blockchain could be broken. Although the technology can help

identify the identity of malicious traders and enhance regulation, it can

also pose a threat to the privacy of the companies’ business and even

harm the companies’ interests. Especially in industrial systems, privacy

protection is particularly important as the premise of applications of

industrial big data.

Privacy protection needs to verify transaction while encrypt

Fig. 11. Areas distribution of Blockchain-related projects of NSFC.

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Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 70 (2021) 102124

transaction contents. It is contradicted on a certain degree. Currently,

privacy protection generally adopts cutting-edge technologies such as

homomorphic encryption and zero-knowledge proof. These technolo-

gies require extensive calculations, which will degrade the system per-

formance inevitably. It is a great challenge for privacy protection

technology to take system performance into consideration while

ensuring user privacy.

6.1.3. scalability

Blockchain operation is based on transactions, which are usually

concurrent due to distribution of Blockchain systems. The scalability of

Blockchain systems is generally measured by transactions per second

(TPS), the highest number of concurrent transactions that can be sup-

ported per unit interval. TPS is jointly determined by block size, the

running time of consensus protocol, including broadcasting and veri-

cation etc. It is worth noting that the verication of transactions can only

be completed after most nodes achieving consensus because of the

decentralization of Blockchain systems. Consequently, transaction speed

of current Blockchain systems will decrease with the increase of nodes

inevitably. It is necessary for Blockchain applications that the TPS is

large enough. However, current TPS of Blockchain systems is still a little

far away from this requirement. For instance, known as the earliest

Blockchain application, Bitcoin’s TPS is only about 7. For industries with

large operations and businesses, nance for example, requires at least

thousands of TPS. VISA cards, for example, the continuous throughput

can reach around 2000 TPS, with a peak in the tens of thousands.

Obviously, current Blockchain systems cannot achieve this level of TPS.

Besides, the combination of Blockchain and IoT is a hot trend in in-

dustrial systems. However, most of the existing IoT devices is resource-

constrained, and the privacy protection and consensus mechanism of

Blockchain require strong computing power. Therefore, the scalability

of Blockchain in industrial systems is also a challenge.

6.1.4. usability

Usability refers to the easy-to-use characteristics of products, which

can be measured by the total costs of users to learn, get familiar with,

and use products, such as the cost of cognition and time.

The lower the costs for users to fully master the use of products, the

better the usability of products. Obviously, Blockchain still has great

challenges in terms of usability. On the one hand, there is a shortage of

talents in Blockchain currently. Enterprises that have the willingness to

adopt Blockchain have no ability to develop a Blockchain platform.

Especially in industrial systems, the development becomes even more

difcult due to the complexity of business process. On the other hand,

ordinary users who want to interact with the Blockchain need a series of

complicated and novel processes such as installing browser plug-ins or

digital wallets, creating key pairs and saving private key, pay gas fee for

every transaction, etc. because there is a huge difference in process

between the Blockchain and previous platforms and software. It is a

challenge that cannot be ignored for enterprises to develop a Blockchain

platform or application that is easy for users to understand and operate

based on complex business processes. In addition, smart contracts are

presented in form of programs. Most ordinary users without program-

ming knowledge have difculty in understanding the content of smart

contracts and cannot develop smart contracts, which hinders the ap-

plications of Blockchain.

The high costs of running a Blockchain network and high latency

problems in cryptocurrency-based Blockchain systems is also a problem.

It is known that public Blockchains relies on incentive mechanism to

maintain the network running. In Bitcoin and Ethereum, the incentive

mechanism is token rewards, known as mining rewards. The rewards

mainly come from transaction fees paid by users. However, the trans-

action fees in Bitcoin or Ethereum are much higher than a non-

Blockchain system. Besides, the mining process costs huge. This is not

the worst part, the high latency in Bitcoin and Ethereum network has

long been a major problem for the users of cryptocurrency-based public

Blockchains. The high costs and high latency have been the huge chal-

lenge for the applications of Blockchain in industry.

6.1.5. supervision and regulation

Supervision is the primary challenge for Blockchain applications.

Most of the regulatory challenges faced by Blockchain are currently in

the nancial eld. Digital currencies based on Blockchain makes the

cross-border capital ows easier, which may harm nancial sovereignty

of countries and affect the stability of nancial markets. In addition,

Digital currencies provide a safe and stable nancing channel for

criminal activities such as money laundering and ransomware, which

can also accelerate nancial crimes. However, it is difcult for regula-

tors to identify real identity of senders through the address of the senders

involved in illegal and criminal transactions.

If Blockchain cannot comply with legal supervision, it cannot be

applied in widely. The regulatory compliance of Blockchain also re-

quires a series of infrastructure construction, such as Know Your

Customer (KYC), Anti Money Laundering (AML), and other tools, on-

chain and off-chain data mining, industrial audit and regulatory

reporting tools. The establishment and improvement of these tools is a

prerequisite for the large-scale application of Blockchain.

6.2. Opportunities

Facing those challenges, there are some corresponding opportunities

of Blockchain. An increasing number of Blockchain security events are

forcing the development of code auditing. For instance, intelligent code

auditing which conduct robustness tests through computers is replacing

manual auditing gradually to achieve code-level security. Similarly, the

security challenges of encryption algorithms and the consensus mech-

anisms will also promote the long-term development of encryption al-

gorithms and consensus mechanisms. For example, the threat of

quantum computing to the elliptic curve encryption algorithm may

promote the development of quantum cryptography algorithms, making

it resistant to quantum computing attacks. Attacks against the consensus

mechanism can also make the consensus mechanism designed to be

more rigorous and reliable, resulting in continuous innovation of the

consensus mechanism.

In public Blockchains, it is necessary to protect sensitive information

such as transaction data, addresses, and identities while verifying

transactions. In consortium Blockchains, the supervision and authori-

zation tracking need to be considered while protecting privacy. Trans-

action content and identity privacy protection can be achieved through

efcient cryptographic primitives and solutions such as zero-knowledge

proofs, and evidential indistinguishability. Other privacy protection

solutions such as ring signatures, group signatures, hierarchical au-

thority mechanism, efcient homomorphic encryption, secure multi-

party computation, and mixing service are also optional.

The main factors that affect the performance of Blockchain systems is

the transaction verication takes a long time because it requires the

participation of all nodes of Blockchain network. Blockchain practi-

tioners have also proposed some solutions to meet the current scalability

challenges. For example, the scalability problem can be solved by

changing the specic implementation of Blockchain protocols, i.e.

keeping the underlying Blockchain protocols unchanged but trans-

actions are executed off-chain, e.g. Lightning Network and State Chan-

nels. Another solution is Blockchain sharding that each node only

processes partial of transactions, thereby reducing the calculation and

storage of the nodes to improve performance. Furthermore, multi-chain

architecture is also an option. By dividing the original one Blockchain

into multiple chains, the scalability can be improved because each

Blockchain is only responsible for partial of calculation and storage.

In terms of usability, as the maturity of Blockchain application sce-

narios, the market will force Blockchain technicians to develop

Blockchain-related systems, software, and applications that are easy to

use for ordinary users. On the one hand, some large enterprises have

Z. Li et al.

Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 70 (2021) 102124

proposed the concept of Blockchain as a service (BaaS) and developed a

Blockchain service platform to provide other enterprises with the

necessary Blockchain infrastructure. Customer companies can deploy

Blockchain by one-click through BaaS services, saving most develop-

ment and deployment costs. In addition, BaaS service follows unied

operation, maintenance and management, and pay-as-you-go principle,

which makes customer companies reduce most of the initial costs and

operating costs. On the other hand, ordinary users will become more

familiar with Blockchain as it becomes increasingly popular, and en-

terprises will continue to reduce the costs of users to learn and use

Blockchains through multiple ways for occupying the market. For

example, enterprises can provide visual interfaces to encourage users to

chain smart contracts and off-chain legal contracts will become

increasingly clearer, achieving the seamless transition between on-chain

smart contracts and off-chain legal contracts. As for the problems of high

costs and latency of cryptocurrency-based public Blockchains, con-

sortium Blockchain may be the better choice for Blockchain applications

in industry.

The regulatory challenges will prompt Blockchain to embrace regu-

lation and provide prerequisites for the large-scale application of

Blockchain. It will be realized through relevant supervision technology.

For example, tracking of Blockchain nodes and dynamic visualization

can nd out and display the network addresses, account addresses, and

transactions history of all the nodes in Blockchain systems. This will

facilitate the management of Blockchain systems. Besides, the charac-

teristics of the behaviour of nodes in public Blockchain systems can be

identied from a large number of historical data, and the abnormal

behaviour can be predicted and classied based on mathematical

models. Furthermore, the penetrating supervision technology can be

applied in consortium Blockchains to realize the supervision of behav-

iours and businesses across whole systems, thereby meeting the re-

quirements of the supervision on the authenticity and accuracy of data,

and the identication of business nature.

6.3. Future Perspectives

Currently, Blockchain is still in the proof-of-concept stage, which is

still a long way from large-scale application. Generally, the future per-

spectives of Blockchain can be summarized in following four aspects,

namely technology, application, strategy, and legislation. Besides, the

open research questions are also presented in this section according to

the four aspects.

6.3.1. Technology

Currently, there is still a lack of unied standards for Blockchain

because the underlying technologies of Blockchain are still relatively

immature, and most Blockchain platforms and systems still have some

challenges in terms of performance, security and privacy protection. In

the future, Blockchain technology will continue to develop with inno-

vation, and integrate with other technologies, and gradually form the

unied technological and secure standards to promote Blockchain to

apply in more industries. In the form of Blockchain adoption, con-

sortium Blockchains and public Blockchains will continue to integrate,

and the cross-chain interaction between them can further connect the

data of business end and consumer end, thereby facilitating construction

of industrial chain based on Blockchain. For the consensus mechanisms,

Blockchain will evolve from a single consensus mechanism to multiple

hybrid consensus mechanisms, e.g. POW+POS. For encryption and

privacy protection, Blockchain will develop from the current single

encryption methods such as ring signature, homomorphic encryption

and zero-knowledge proof to hybrid encryption methods. For example,

the combination of cryptography theory and other algorithms such as

multi-party secure computing can guarantee the information security

and privacy of individuals and enterprises from the source. Besides, the

integration of data and assets, data and credit will become a new trend.

The integration process of on-chain data and off-chain assets will also be

accelerated, and the transformation and circulation of data and assets

will become increasingly standard and safe. The continuous develop-

ment of Blockchain and the gradual advance of relevant standards such

as national standards, industrial standards and technical standards will

promote the industrial applications of Blockchain.

6.3.2. Application

Due to the high costs of investment on current Blockchain applica-

tions infrastructure, and the immaturity of Blockchain technology, it is

risky to migrate the existing business to Blockchain platforms. Besides,

the prot model based on Blockchain is still not clear, and the high in-

vestment and the obscure prot model cannot make enterprises volun-

tarily adopt Blockchain. Consequently, there is a lack of reliable

application cases of Blockchain at present. As the continuous develop-

ment of Blockchain technology and the gradual advancement of various

standards, Blockchain will become an indispensable part of the new

technological infrastructure in the future, and it will gradually move

from the proof-of-concept stage to the application stage. Furthermore,

the application of Blockchain will no longer be limited to the nancial

eld. The diversied demand of the market and the integration of

Blockchain with other cutting-edge information technologies such as

5G, articial intelligence, big data, cloud computing and Internet of

Things will promote the integrated innovation and converged applica-

tion of Blockchain. Meanwhile, the application paradigm and prot

model of Blockchain are clearer, and the business model of Blockchain is

more mature. These will promote Blockchain to serve the real economy.

6.3.3. Strategy

Strategically, as an emerging technology, the development of

Blockchain has been closely focused on and valued by countries around

the world. Currently, Blockchain is listed as a national strategy by

Germany and Australia through releasing Blockchain-Strategie der

Bundesregierung and National Blockchain Roadmap, respectively. Other

countries, such as the United States, South Korea, France and Japan, are

also promoting Blockchain strategy at the National level. As major

countries in the world increasingly focus on the Blockchain strategy,

governments of the world are bound to speed up the strategic layout of

national Blockchain, especially in the nancial eld. The most obvious

example is the digital money of central Banks of countries. Digital cur-

rencies will play an important role in the global monetary system in the

future. Therefore, digital currencies are currently the top priority of

governments around the world of the Blockchain strategy.

6.3.4. Legislation

At present, relevant laws and regulations on Blockchain supervision

are not well-established, which is not conducive to the development of

Blockchain in the long term. In the future, it is believed that Blockchain

will be further incorporated into the legal supervision and regulation for

sustainable development. Taking ICO as an example, at present, the

regulatory attitudes and polices towards ICOs vary by countries all over

the world. Nevertheless, most countries have reached a consensus that

ICOs must be regulated and supervised, the difference is that some

countries have relatively loose regulation, while some countries are

strict and even completely banned ICOs, e.g. China. However, outright

prohibition may not be a long-term solution because it not only makes it

harder to avoid nancial risks, but also discourage nancial innovation.

A sound regulatory environment and completed regulatory laws and

regulations will reduce the risks associated with the operation and in-

vestment of Blockchain companies and digital assets, and encourage the

participation of traditional organizations, and increase the trust of

consumers and investors, which will promote the long-term develop-

ment of the Blockchain industry. It is believed that countries will further

reach consensus on the regulation of ICOs, as well as other Blockchain-

based innovations and applications in the future.

Z. Li et al.

Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 70 (2021) 102124

6.4. Conclusion

In this survey, we rstly give an overview of Blockchain technology

from architecture, key enabling technologies, and representative ini-

tiatives. Then we analysed the collected Blockchain literature in terms of

three dimensions to illustrate the characteristics and trends of

Blockchain-related research. The current Blockchain applications in

several main industrial elds are also investigated, and the movement

and development worldwide are investigated. Besides, the challenges,

opportunities, and future perspectives of Blockchain applications are

comprehensively discussed to identify the open research issues on

applying Blockchain practically in the future.

The continuous deepening of the digital transformation of

manufacturing industry has put forward higher requirements for data

sharing and security guarantee in the industrial Internet. Traditional

ERP, MES, CRM and other business systems have their own data man-

agement systems. It is increasingly difcult for data integration among

various business systems as the increasing of business systems and the

complexity of enterprise business processes. This leads to the problem of

information islands becoming increasingly prominent. Besides, the

massive multi-source heterogeneous industrial data lacks the necessary

management and processing capacity.

The data resources collected, stored and utilized by the industrial

Internet platform are characterized by large data volume, multiple

types, strong correlation and unequal value distribution. Besides, the

extensive application of industrial big data technology in the industrial

Internet platform makes the industrial data such as platform customer

information, enterprise production information and other sensitive in-

formation are more likely to be leaked. Besides, there are also problems

on dening ownership and use rights in data trading.

The massive equipment access makes the identication and equip-

ment management become the potential vulnerability of industrial se-

curity. In the industry 4.0 era, the highly collaborative production units

involve a variety of production equipment. The trustable identity

identication, identity management and access control are the basis of

multi-party collaboration. It is also the premise of efcient, trusted and

secure information exchange among people and equipment. In addition,

it is necessary to conduct reliable traceability for the whole life cycle

management for the equipment which is difcult to be tampered.

ERP systems of enterprises of the supply chain are not interoperable,

resulting in the lack of interconnectivity of information between enter-

prises and the difculty in the integration of information in the whole

supply chain. SMEs of the supply chain often have difculties on nance.

However, it is difcult and expensive for SMEs to obtain nancing from

Banks or other nancial institutions without the endorsement of core

enterprises.

Blockchain technology provides a new solution for data management

in industrial Internet. Although there are still many problems of Block-

chain in the industrial applications, like performance limitation, privacy

and security protection, etc., it has the potential to promote data

sharing, optimize business processes, reduce operating costs, and

improve efciency of cooperation.

Declaration of Competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing nancial

interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to inuence

the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of

China under Grant [72071048]; Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science

Foundation of China (LY21F010005). It was also sponsored by the K. C.

Wong Magna Fund in Ningbo University.

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