Secure Digital Twin Framework Leveraging Blockchain Technology and Event-Sourcing
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Abstract
The construction industry is witnessing a transformative shift with the implementation of digital twin technology (Boje et al. 2020). A digital twin is a virtual representation of a physical asset or system that enables real-time monitoring, analysis, and simulation. Digital twins offer immense potential for improving project planning, design, construction, and maintenance processes in the construction sector. By integrating data from various sources, including sensors, Building Information Modelling (BIM), and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, digital twins provide a comprehensive and dynamic understanding of a construction project's lifecycle (Opoku et al. 2021). However, along with the potential benefits, implementing digital twin technology in the construction industry also brings forth cybersecurity risks. These risks are primarily attributed to the centralization of data and the interconnectivity among various components of the digital twin. The centralized nature of digital twins makes them vulnerable to hacking and manipulation, which can lead to the loss of data integrity, traceability, and availability (Tao et al. 2021). Hackers can exploit vulnerabilities in the digital twin's network infrastructure, software, or devices to gain unauthorized access and manipulate critical data. Such attacks can compromise the digital twin's representation accuracy, leading to erroneous decisions and potentially catastrophic consequences in the physical construction environment (Das et al. 2021). Blockchain technology emerges as a promising solution to address the cybersecurity risks associated with digital twins in the construction industry. Blockchain, a decentralized and immutable ledger system, offers several merits that can enhance the security and integrity of digital twins. Firstly, blockchain provides a tamper-resistant and transparent platform for recording and verifying transactions (Zheng et al. 2018). The decentralized nature of blockchain eliminates the single point of failure, making it difficult for malicious actors to manipulate data stored within the digital twin. Additionally, the transparency of blockchain allows stakeholders to trace and audit changes made to the digital twin, ensuring data integrity and accountability. Furthermore, integrating blockchain with digital twins can enhance data sharing and collaboration while maintaining privacy and security. Smart contracts, automated self-executing agreements built on blockchain, can facilitate secure and transparent interactions among stakeholders involved in the construction project. Several existing examples showcase the successful integration of blockchain and digital twins in the construction industry. For example, Hung et al (2020) discussed using blockchain to enhance data security, integrity, and trust in digital twin systems. They emphasized blockchain's decentralized and immutable nature to ensure data transparency and accountability. Similarly, Yaqoob et al. (20200) investigated the integration of blockchain and digital twins in smart manufacturing, highlighting its potential for secure data sharing, supply chain management, and intellectual property protection. These studies collectively showcase blockchain integration's growing interest and potential in digital twin applications. However, one key limitation is the throughput capacity of existing blockchain networks. Traditional blockchain systems have limited transaction processing capabilities, which may pose challenges when managing the vast amount of data generated by digital twins, especially in scenarios where thousands of IoT devices cause data per second. Digital twins in the construction industry require real-time data processing and analysis to ensure accurate representation and decision-making. However, the current scalability limitations of blockchain technology may hinder the seamless integration of digital twins with blockchain systems. The transaction throughput bottleneck can result in delays and inefficiencies in updating and verifying the data within the digital twin. Therefore, this paper aims to propose a high-performance blockchain architecture integrating even-sourcing technology for digital twin security. Event Sourcing, a design approach that maintains state as a sequence of operations, can enhance blockchain's performance. Both blockchain and Event Sourcing rely on an immutable append-only log, making them compatible (Overeem et al. 2017). The framework leverages Event Sourcing to mitigate data congestion in layer 3, improving latency and throughput. By incorporating Event Sourcing principles, blockchain systems can achieve more efficient and scalable data management. Figure 1 shows the preliminary results that our proposed framework outperforms existing blockchain platform (i.e., Hyperledger Fabric) regarding throughput.
