EXAMINING BLOCKCHAIN AND SMART CONTRACTS IN CONSTRUCTION:DRIVERS, IMPACT, BARRIERS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Abstract

In 2021, a PwC survey named Blockchain technology as one of the top three technology trends in Singapore. With the recent development of this novel technology in industries such as finance, logistics and supply chain locally as well as the growing optimism that comes with more opportunities and applications in the near future, Blockchain is looked upon as a positive force of change in numerous industries, including the construction sector. In particular, Smart Contract which is a software program that can be executed on Blockchain also holds promises. However, there is limited study of Blockchain and Smart Contracts as well as the potential applications and use cases in the local construction industry. Moreover, as the local construction industry progressively adopts technologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Internet of Things (IoT), it is said that such technologies can potentially be combined with Blockchain and Smart Contracts to unleash their full potential and bring about a new way of doing things.

Hence, this research seeks to understand Blockchain and Smart Contracts, assess how Blockchain and Smart Contracts can be capitalised in the construction industry through potential applications and use cases, assess how they can be integrated into unlocking the potential of other technologies, investigate the barriers in adopting Blockchain and Smart Contracts, and finally propose some feasible strategies that can tackle the barriers and promote effective adoption of the technology.

The findings from this study provide valuable information for companies and players in the local construction industry to gain awareness of the opportunities, barriers and strategies to tackle the barriers that come with Blockchain and Smart Contracts adoption.