Opening the Blockchain Ecosystem in Construction
Contents
Abstract
Construction is undergoing digitalisation through innovations such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain. Various countries attempt to regulate, standardise and mandate such technologies. For example, various institutions, e.g. government, policy, businesses, and industry consortia, actively developed BIM implementation processes and pushed its use. However, in the lower tiers of the construction supply chain, the democratisation of BIM was problematic and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) lagged behind due to limited resources. The digital divide reinforced mistrust in improvement agendas. This paper problematises around leadership necessary for democratising blockchain, an emerging digital technology.
Disruptive innovations such as blockchain happen not only inside firms, but through numerous developments taking place simultaneously in an interconnected ecosystem of firms (Chesborough, 2008). Ecosystem orchestrators provide solutions to lead and bring consensus in the ecosystem. Dhanaraj and Parkhe (2006) defined ecosystem orchestration as deliberate actions undertaken by a central player to create value by connecting firms, facilitating their interactions and setting governing rules. In the decentralised blockchain ecosystem, various actors are candidates for the orchestrator role. After collecting data from semi-structured interviews with a global sample of 25 blockchain experts from construction, engineering and legal we analysed it through deductive and inductive coding to investigate the blockchain ecosystem.
Through the lens of ecosystem orchestration, this paper discusses how construction actors compete in the blockchain ecosystem. Blockchain is an important technology in construction as it links BIM and IoT and has various applications. The fragmented nature of construction procurement showed that main contractors take ownership of blockchain solutions and SMEs struggle to address skills shortages and implement the technology. Government bodies negotiate blockchain standards with technology players. The paper discusses the decentralised paradigm of blockchain and concludes with propositions for rethinking the role of construction actors in leading change for digital construction.
Presentation
Recording of the presentation is available here.
Keywords
Blockchain, Ecosystem, Open Innovation, Orchestration.
