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Blockchain For The Construction Industry The 21st century has brought with it numerous technologies triggered by the fourth industrial revolution. These technologies target the financial and commercial sectors and have led to the emergence of big data, the internet of things and fintech such as Blockchain. The concept of Blockchain is grounded on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT); with the two terms being used interchangeably. Put simply, Blockchain technology is a database that is shared on a peer-to-peer network, made up of computers or nodes. Transactions are grouped in blocks at a time and then added to a permanent chain. These blocks cannot be altered once they are added to a chain which makes the transactions publicly verifiable and in theory not hackable. Despite data being copied on several devices, the
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algorithm used ensures there are no conflicts and that all copies present are recognizable. This can be compared to a shared Drop box folder, the difference being that all versions are preserved and a ‘latest version’ of every file is maintained (Turk & Klinc, 2017). Blockchain initially began with the popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin as the underlying technology that runs it. This is referred to as Blockchain 1.0 and was developed for the decentralization of money and payments. Because of the strong bond between cryptocurrency and Blockchain technology, it became challenging to distinguish between the two, leading to the introduction of the term Blockchain 2.0 which refers to Blockchain technology used in the transfer of assets beyond currency. Subsequently, Blockchain 3.0 was also introduced for applications that go beyond
By Valerie Ondari finance, that is, for applications beyond markets. Blockchain 2.0 can play a role in the construction industry. First of all, it can be applied in integrated Building Information Modelling (iBIM) to preserve information on the assigned roles,responsibilities and work that is done by different parties. This can be used as a basis in case of legal disputes as Blockchain-based data stores retain the history of data with all its modifications as well as m e t a d a t a . Furthermore, this data is protected with a digital signature and does not need a centralized trusted authority (which is the case in traditional databases), as parties in the Blockchain are equal members. In summary, Blockchain has the potential to address the limitations that prevent the industry from adopting BIM by introducing elements such as
Issue 004 | December 2021
