Insight report on distributed ledger technologies

As highlighted in Lloyd’s Register Foundation’s Foresight Review on Big Data, an increasing reliance on data within engineering presents many safety challenges. Issues such as data theft and corruption or falsification of sensor data or its resulting information present serious threats to the dependability and safety of engineered systems. Furthermore, in the continued drive to improve efficiencies and drive out costs of through-life ownership, practices such as predictive health monitoring of an asset, that rely heavily on data, will become more widespread.

Growing interest in the use of distributed ledgers and blockchain to store, process and assure such data is resulting in an increasing level of investment. Distributed ledgers are a special type of database whose contents are distributed across a network in multiple sites, countries or institutions and use cryptographic techniques to provide a transparent and permanent record of activities between parties within that network. They present an opportunity for extraordinary innovation in meeting the challenges of providing assurance and safety of engineered systems.

This report aims to provide a greater understanding of distributed ledgers and blockchain technologies and their underlying concepts in order to provide more clarity on the applications in which they might be used, with a specific focus on engineered systems. Several distributed ledger systems with differing design philosophies are described in order to demonstrate the range of capabilities of such technologies.

Applications of distributed ledger and blockchain technologies within engineered systems are explored through literature research, interviews with experts and a cross-disciplinary workshop with representatives from industry, academia and government. The report also looks at the challenges that need to be considered in any potential implementation, or might hinder more widespread adoption. 

The report concludes that distributed ledger and blockchain technologies have a potentially wide range of applications related to engineered systems, particularly where a permanent and auditable record of activities is required. Examples include:

• The tracking of food products through a supply chain to provide transparency of their provenance
• The verification of shipping container mass to avoid misloading of ships. 

Such examples demonstrate the scalability of the technology to applications, for instance, in assuring the provenance of engineering system components.

Key challenges associated with the technology itself are also described such as its scalability and interoperability with existing systems. The development of training, technology maturity levels, and road mapping can help address these challenges.

If you wish to use and reference the Insight Report on Distributed Ledger Technologies, please include the following DOI: https://doi.org/10.60743/5xqz-kp47.

Example Citation in Harvard Style:

Lloyd's Register Foundation, The Alan Turing Institute and Pogson, G. (2017) Insight Report on Distributed Ledger Technologies. Lloyd's Register Foundation. doi: 10.60743/5XQZ-KP47.