Exploring state-of-the-art research on blockchain adoption in the construction industry: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Blockchain is often considered a potential disrupter in how industries operate, due to its decentralised nature and several other salient features like enhanced security, transparency, traceability, immutability etc. The Construction Industry, though regarded as a late adopter of technologies, is striving to harness blockchain to improve its processes. The subsequent research initiatives, however, are scattered around several application areas, with different levels of maturity. This would prove troublesome for a potential researcher to identify a suitable research gap and carry out impactful research. Addressing this, the study attempts to identify the evolution of blockchain research in the construction industry and its current and future trends through a systematic literature review. The review identified that blockchain research is gaining popularity in construction sector exponentially and is expected to continue that pace. The developed countries are dominating these application oriented researches while developing economies are lacking behind. Research on adopting blockchain in procurement and design and construction processes has been done substantially while newer topics are evolving since the beginning of this decade, focusing on the sustainability initiatives of the sector and fusing other digital technologies with blockchain. It is believed that while procurement and design related researches iterate their findings, these new topics would define the blockchain researches in the years to come. Also, attention should be paid on holistically evaluating the blockchain solutions considering not only the technological aspect but also the sustainability, resilience and the productivity of the industry, which is yet to be observed in the studies.