Abstract
Purpose: Rapid advancements in blockchain technology transform various sectors attracting the attention of industrialists, practitioners, policy-makers, academics, and profoundly affect construction businesses through smart contracts and crypto-economics. This paper explores the blockchain innovation ecosystem in construction.
Design/methodology/approach: Through a qualitative study of 23 diverse interviewees, we explored how open or closed the blockchain innovation ecosystem in construction is and who its emerging orchestrators are.
Findings: The data showed that construction aims towards an open innovation blockchain ecosystem, although there are elements of hybridisation and closedness, each system pointing out to different orchestrators.
Practical implications: The study has implications for governments and large companies in construction showing that open innovation initiatives need to be encouraged by policy-makers through rules, regulations and government-sponsored demonstrator projects.
Social implications: The data showed that there is lack of readiness for business model change to support open innovation blockchain ecosystems in construction.
Originality: This is the first study applying the open innovation theory in the construction industry and sheds light into the phenomenon of blockchain suggesting routes for further democratisation of the technology for policy-makers and practitioners.
Design/methodology/approach: Through a qualitative study of 23 diverse interviewees, we explored how open or closed the blockchain innovation ecosystem in construction is and who its emerging orchestrators are.
Findings: The data showed that construction aims towards an open innovation blockchain ecosystem, although there are elements of hybridisation and closedness, each system pointing out to different orchestrators.
Practical implications: The study has implications for governments and large companies in construction showing that open innovation initiatives need to be encouraged by policy-makers through rules, regulations and government-sponsored demonstrator projects.
Social implications: The data showed that there is lack of readiness for business model change to support open innovation blockchain ecosystems in construction.
Originality: This is the first study applying the open innovation theory in the construction industry and sheds light into the phenomenon of blockchain suggesting routes for further democratisation of the technology for policy-makers and practitioners.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Industrial Management and Data Systems |
| Early online date | 24 Nov 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 24 Nov 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Copyright © Eleni Papadonikolaki, Algan Tezel, Ibrahim Yitmen and Per Hilletofth. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and no commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode.
Funding: This work incorporates results from the research project “Toward Blockchain-enabled Construction Supply Chains: Potential, Requirements and Implementation” funded by the Centre for Digital Built Britain, under Innovate UK Grant No. 90066.
Keywords
- blockchain
- Building information modeling (BIM)
- Ecosystem
- innovation
- ecosystem orchestration