A reverse personnel assignment method with duration re-inferring for smart “IOT+ blockchain” project

Abstract

As a decentralized and distrusted distributed ledger technology, blockchain is gradually applied in the IOT. Cost overrun are inherent part of most smart “IOT+ blockchain” projects. In order to guarantee a successful delivery of a smart “IOT+ blockchain” project with the ideal budget, with respect to the minimum cost of the forward problem is still higher than the approved budget, this research proposes a re-verse optimization method of 0-1 mixed-integer, bi-level programming model for reverse-inferring duration and personnel re-assignment. Based on a numerical experiment to a “IOT+ blockchain” construction project, the comparative results show that the reverse optimization method is superior to the forward method in terms of total cost reduction and can further shorten the duration. The result indicates that the reverse optimization methodology can be applied in scenarios which need to guarantee the objective value achieved through the proposed reverse modelling methodology by optimizing parameters and decision variables.