A blockchain-based architecture and smart contracts for an interoperable Physical Internet

Abstract

Transport and Logistics stakeholders utilise Blockchain to interact within their networks in a transparent and secure manner. This creates islands of disconnected communities which prohibits visibility across the entire supply chain. This paper introduces a framework, which aims at unifying multiple proprietary Blockchain systems, offering an opportunity to empower stakeholders across the entire supply chain to collaborate and exchange information seamlessly. The Blockchain Interoperability framework employs smart contracts, which aspire to automate previously cumbersome processes and bring value to the Physical Internet (PI) paradigm. Smart contracts guarantee a trustworthy and distributed process of contract negotiation and execution that significantly reduces time, administrative overheads, and costs which are currently typically spent on manual inter-organisational processes.