Addressing some of bill of lading issues using the Internet of Things and blockchain technologies: a digitalized conceptual framework

Abstract

This paper proposes a multi-layer integrated IoT-blockchain conceptual architecture to solve the issues of the traditional bill of ladings, namely double-spending, duplicated documents, masqueraded information, and fraud and hacking threads related to the complexity of traditional format and fragmented supply chain activities. We formulate the tasks and functions of each IoT-blockchain layer and illustrates how the proposed conceptual architecture can overcome several inefficiency and security issues in the status quo. The proposed conceptual architecture can link IoT and blockchain technologies with port community systems’ practices to reduce potential risks behind issuing the bill of lading.