The convergence of blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and cloud computing is catalyzing a paradigm shift in developing secure, intelligent, and scalable digital infrastructures. This triad of technologies is increasingly utilized to improve performance, transparency, and trust in engineering-driven and socio-technical environments. This study systematically reviews the evolution, integration strategies, and applications of blockchain, AI, and cloud computing in digital ecosystems. The analysis is based on 108 peer-reviewed studies spanning the years 2012 to 2025. A comprehensive literature analysis was conducted to identify trends, synergies, and sector-specific implementations of these systems. The review explores how their integration supports real-world engineering and operational use cases. Blockchain contributes to decentralized architectures, secure data exchange, and identity verification. AI supports adaptive behavior, autonomous decision-making, and predictive analytics. Cloud computing offers the scalable infrastructure necessary for deployment. Key challenges addressed include interoperability, latency, security trade-offs, and resource allocation. Use cases in digital finance, supply chain management, and industrial automation demonstrate the effectiveness of this integration in building resilient, ethically aligned, and high-performance infrastructures. The findings offer valuable insights and technical considerations for engineers and architects seeking to design next-generation cyber-physical systems that are secure, intelligent, and socially responsive. Clinical Trial Number Not applicable.
This paper presents a novel approach to enhancing the security of Internet of Things (IoT) data by integrating Long Range (LoRa) communication with Ethereum-based blockchain smart contracts. Our system collects environmental data from IoT nodes using LoRaWAN and leverages smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain to ensure data immutability, traceability, and trustless validation. We demonstrate the feasibility of our architecture through a full-stack implementation using Dragino hardware, The Things Network (TTN), MetaMask, Web3, and Solidity. Experimental results show that our system is effective for secure, decentralized, and transparent IoT data management.
The use of distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) and blockchains is rapidly expanding across multiple sectors, including finance and governance. Although numerous blockchain frameworks and networks exist to support different use cases, a major challenge remains: enabling seamless communication between these diverse frameworks, protocols, and ledgers. As blockchain adoption accelerates, the need for effective interoperability solutions is becoming increasingly critical to deliver greater value to users. This study explores the design of current blockchain bridges and evaluates common security threats and mitigation strategies within the realm of interoperability. A threat model is introduced to examine the key components, vulnerabilities, risks, and corresponding safeguards involved in blockchain interoperability. Security concerns—such as excessive trust centralization and flaws in smart contracts—are identified and categorized based on the type of bridge component, along with recommended countermeasures. Different interoperability approaches—including relays, Hash Time-Locked Contracts (HTLCs), notary schemes, and smart contract-based solutions—are analyzed in detail. Ultimately, this research aims to help developers better understand the security challenges in blockchain interoperability and highlights the importance of establishing standardized practices in this area.
Yasir Abdelgadir Mohamed, Mohamed Bashir, Akbar Khanan
The exponential growth of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and edge computing nodes has amplified security and sustainability challenges in decentralized environments. Traditional blockchain models, while providing integrity and immutability, are computationally intensive and energy-hungry, making them unsuitable for constrained IoT-edge ecosystems. This paper proposes an energy-efficient blockchain security framework designed to ensure trust, data confidentiality, and low-carbon operation in sustainable IoT deployments. The framework introduces a lightweight consensus algorithm named Proof of Trust and Energy Balance (PoTEB), which integrates device reputation scoring with energy-aware block validation. To further enhance resilience, a hybrid on-chain/off-chain encryption model ensures secure data transmission and adaptive key rotation. Experimental results obtained from Raspberry Pi-based edge nodes demonstrate a 42% reduction in energy consumption compared to Proof-of-Work (PoW) and a 25% latency improvement over Proof-of-Stake (PoS), while maintaining comparable throughput and attack resistance. The proposed framework aligns with Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 9 & 13), fostering responsible innovation and carbon-efficient digital infrastructures.
To address low-efficiency trust management in the Internet of Vehicles (IoV), this paper proposes a hybrid consensus algorithm combining Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) and Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT). By selecting dual primary nodes through DPoS voting and trust values, it enhances consensus security. The three-stage consensus protocol is optimized to a fivestage one, reducing node communication and improving efficiency. Experiments show the algorithm increases throughput by$1.46 \times$on average and reduces consensus delay by$1.54 \times$.
The growing digitalization of sectors such as education, healthcare, and public administration has driven Device-as-a-Service (DaaS) models. In the Portuguese educational context, the "Escola Digital" program is a clear example of this transformation, scaling the distribution and remote management of devices. With the massification of computer systems, risks of theft, misuse, and unauthorized configurations arise, exacerbated by profiles with low digital literacy (e.g., primary school students). Therefore, an agile and secure mechanism is needed to prevent or mitigate these issues before the operating system boots. Despite several proposals in the literature for device management and protection, existing solutions typically operate after boot, leaving a window open for attackers to exploit. This dissertation addresses this gap by introducing a UEFI module capable of querying and validating (cryptographically) the device’s state on a blockchain infrastructure before boot, reducing the attack surface and simplifying operational response. This dissertation investigates the feasibility of integrating a component into the UEFI firmware capable of communicating with a blockchain infrastructure to enhance device security and control during pre-boot. Specifically: (i) design a module that interacts with the blockchain before the operating system boots; and (ii) explore cryptographic mechanisms to verify the authenticity and integrity of received information.A UEFI module (EDK II) that queries the blockchain to obtain device status and enforce pre-boot lock/unlock policies is proposed and prototyped. The solution utilizes lightweight cryptographic mechanisms (authentication and anti-replay) and a key management and temporal lease scheme. The evaluation considers the impact on boot time, network latency, and on-chain cost. The results demonstrate technical feasibility, with modest boot overhead and reliable enforcement of control policies before the operating system boots.
Dun Li, Dezhi Han, Noël Crespi, Roberto Minerva · 8 authors
Digital twin (DT) technology integrates Internet of Things (IoT), communication networks, and sensor systems through high-fidelity modeling and multi-dimensional simulation, enabling dynamic mapping and real-time optimization of physical objects. However, DT development still faces several challenges, including cross-platform interoperability limitations, excessive latency in real-time scenarios, security vulnerabilities in distributed deployments, and the complexity of accurately modeling multi-modal systems. Blockchain (BC) enhances the security and functional scope of DTs across diverse applications. This survey begins by introducing the core principles of BC and DT, and then investigates the rationale and benefits behind their integration. From a data-centric perspective, we explore how Blockchain-empowered Digital Twins (BCDTs) enhance data storage, secure exchange, privacy protection, and system interoperability. The survey further explores the architecture of BCDT systems, covering network topology, functional modules, platform design, and representative prototypes, offering insights into real-world applications. In addition, we survey how BCDT supports the convergence of key Industry 4.0 technologies, including the Internet of Things, vehicle networks, unmanned aerial systems, artificial intelligence, federated learning, 5G mobile networks, and software-defined networking. Industrial-grade quality BCDT-supported applications are highlighted, providing a solid foundation for further research. Finally, we analyze the challenges faced by BCDT and offer some optimistic suggestions for further research in the field of BCDT.
Mahran Morsidi, Sharul Tajuddin, S. H. Shah Newaz, Ravi Kumar Patchmuthu · 5 authors
Blockchain technology, originally designed as a secure and immutable ledger, has expanded its applications across various domains. However, its scalability remains a fundamental bottleneck, limiting throughput, specifically Transactions Per Second (TPS) and increasing confirmation latency. Among the many proposed solutions, sharding has emerged as a promising Layer 1 approach by partitioning blockchain networks into smaller, parallelized components, significantly enhancing processing efficiency while maintaining decentralization and security. In this paper, we have conducted a systematic literature review, resulting in a comprehensive review of sharding. We provide a detailed comparative analysis of various sharding approaches and emerging AI-assisted sharding approaches, assessing their effectiveness in improving TPS and reducing latency. Notably, our review is the first to incorporate and examine the standardization efforts of the ITU-T and ETSI, with a particular focus on activities related to blockchain sharding. Integrating these standardization activities allows us to bridge the gap between academic research and practical standardization in blockchain sharding, thereby enhancing the relevance and applicability of our review. Additionally, we highlight the existing research gaps, discuss critical challenges such as security risks and inter-shard communication inefficiencies, and provide insightful future research directions. Our work serves as a foundational reference for researchers and practitioners aiming to optimize blockchain scalability through sharding, contributing to the development of more efficient, secure, and high-performance decentralized networks. Our comparative synthesis further highlights that while Bitcoin and Ethereum remain limited to 7–15 TPS with long confirmation delays, sharding-based systems such as Elastico and OmniLedger have reported significant throughput improvements, demonstrating sharding’s clear advantage over traditional Layer 1 enhancements. In contrast to other state-of-the-art scalability techniques such as block size modification, consensus optimization, and DAG-based architectures, sharding consistently achieves higher transaction throughput and lower latency, indicating its position as one of the most effective Layer 1 solutions for improving blockchain scalability.
The effective management of electronic medical records is critical to deliver high-quality healthcare services. However, existing systems often suffer from issues such as fragmented data, lack of interoperability, and weak privacy protections, which hinder collaboration among healthcare stakeholders. This paper proposes a blockchain-based system to securely manage and share medical records in a decentralized and transparent manner. By leveraging smart contracts and access control policies, the system empowers patients with control over their data, ensures auditability of all interactions, and facilitates secure data sharing among patients, healthcare providers, insurance companies, and regulatory authorities. The proposed architecture is implemented using a private Ethereum blockchain and evaluated through a scenario-based comparison with the Prince Sultan Military Medical City system, as well as quantitative performance measurements of the blockchain prototype. Results demonstrate significant improvements in data security, access transparency, and system interoperability, with patients gaining the ability to track and control access to their records across multiple healthcare providers, while system performance remained practical for healthcare workflows.
Luigi Mastromauro, Muslum Ozgur Ozmen, Michel A. Kinsy
The increasing complexity of decentralized IoT and edge environments requires systems capable of real-time topological self-organization, autonomous role assignment, and adaptive resilience under dynamic and unpredictable conditions. However, current approaches often rely on static structures, centralized orchestration, or periodic reevaluation, limiting their scalability and robustness. In this work, we propose AtoNet, a fully decentralized and adaptive algorithm for dynamic topology management in IoT networks. AtoNet leverages behavioral validation, trust-based role assignment, and inter-agent coordination to ensure resilient structure formation and secure, autonomous operation. The system includes real-time event detection, fault tolerance via heartbeat-based monitoring, and local topology reconfiguration triggered by trust decay or network stress. Experimental simulations demonstrate that AtoNet maintains low latency, high throughput, and fast adaptation rates, even in highly volatile or congested scenarios, highlighting its potential applicability in decentralized edge-IoT contexts.
The demand for goods transported by Cargo has existed at all predominant times. A large number of shipments are moved daily based on the demand that exists both in the local and the global market. In the current scenario of cargo shipment, the state of freight is usually monitored throughout the shipment process. This is entirely based on the simple temperature-based regulated storage system called cold-chain. Unfortunately, this temperature-based system does not entirely ensure the preservation of cargo shipments. This paper presents the design of a blockchain-powered Decentralized Application (DApp) to monitor Cargo in heavy goods vehicles. It includes implementing the Ropsten test network, which is integrated with a centralized cloud platform. Moreover, details of a complete evaluation of the architecture in terms of its working functionality were added, and its effectiveness in terms of its performance efficiency and real-time operation. To overcome these limitations, alternative solutions, including adopting Layer-2 scaling solutions such as Polygon or transitioning to Proof of Stake (PoS)-based blockchains for faster and more cost-effective transactions, are recommended. Selective use of Blockchain, where only critical violations are recorded, mitigates the issue of high transaction costs. Routine sensor data is efficiently managed using Google Firestore, ensuring optimal cost efficiency. The system currently relies on Infura for blockchain node access, which introduces external dependencies and potential points of failure. To reduce these risks, the adoption of self-hosted Ethereum nodes is recommended for enhanced control and reliability.
SivaKumar Depuru, Obulareddy Chandana, M. Prakash, Nimsivardhan · 5 authors
Internet of Vehicles (IoV) needs to have effective security and privacy models that can be relied upon to deliver reliable information transfer between vehicles, roadside facilities, and cloud offerings. Although the newly suggested Quantum-Inspired Metaheuristic Framework (QIMF) is a useful tool in terms of trust assessment, adaptive privacy contracts, and secure access, its centralized architecture introduces the issues of scalability, auditing, and collusion/tampering resilience. To address these drawbacks, the present research proposes a framework using BQIMF, a Blockchain-Based Quantum-Inspired Metaheuristic Framework that combines quantum-inspired optimization with distributed ledger technology in decentralized trust maintenance and privacy protection. The model presented proposes that QIMF calculates trust scores and signs privacy agreements by quantum superposition and tunneling, and smart contracts based on blockchain are used in a way that the agreements and access decisions between the IoV ecosystem are recorded permanently. This hybrid solution removes points of failure, facilitates audit trails that cannot be tampered with and allows compliance with privacy policies to be verified. The BQIMF is tested over the CICIoV2024 dataset in various vehicular communication conditions, including denial-of-service, spoofing, and man-in-the-middle attacks in order to validate performance. As demonstrated in experiments, BQIMF has 98.7% accuracy in trust evaluation, 35% lower unauthorized access rate than classical blockchain-only systems, and a low access latency (under 25 ms) despite large network load. These results indicate that blockchain and quantum-inspired optimization have the potential to deliver a scalable, decentralized, and adaptable solution to secure vehicular communication, leading to the deployment of next-generation IoV.
Electric vehicles (EVs) are increasingly central to sustainable mobility, yet their integration into smart city infrastructures remains limited by centralized data systems that restrict scalability, threaten user privacy, and heighten exposure to cyber risks. Most prior work has concentrated on technical performance, with little attention to governance requirements such as accountability, regulatory compliance, and citizen trust. To address this gap, this study develops a decentralized EV data management framework based on IOTA’s Tangle, a distributed ledger designed for secure, scalable, and fee-less interactions across vehicles, charging stations, and urban digital platforms. Using a comparative design, conventional blockchain systems are evaluated against IOTA through simulation results. Findings show that the IOTA-based model sustains faster validation, eliminates fees, and supports higher throughput, while also aligning with governance principles reflected in policies such as the GDPR. The study demonstrates how distributed ledgers can advance both technical feasibility and trust in EV ecosystems.
The integration of blockchain technology into healthcare presents a paradigm shift for secure data management, enabling decentralized and tamper-proof storage and sharing of sensitive Electronic Health Records (EHRs). However, existing blockchain-based healthcare systems, while providing robust access control, commonly overlook the high latency in user-side re-computation of hashes for integrity verification of large multimedia data, impairing their practicality, especially in time-sensitive clinical scenarios. In this paper, we propose FAITH, an innovative scheme for \underline{F}ast \underline{A}uthenticated and \underline{I}nteroperable mul\underline{T}imedia \underline{H}ealthcare data storage and sharing over hybrid-storage blockchains. Rather than user-side hash re-computations, FAITH lets an off-chain storage provider generate verifiable proofs using recursive Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs), while the user only needs to perform lightweight verification. For flexible access authorization, we leverage Proxy Re-Encryption (PRE) and enable the provider to conduct ciphertext re-encryption, in which the re-encryption correctness can be verified via ZKPs against the malicious provider. All metadata and proofs are recorded on-chain for public verification. We provide a comprehensive analysis of FAITH's security regarding data privacy and integrity. We implemented a prototype of FAITH, and extensive experiments demonstrated its practicality for time-critical healthcare applications, dramatically reducing user-side verification latency by up to $98\%$, bringing it from $4$ s down to around $70$ ms for a $5$ GB encrypted file.
Shahid Salim, J. V., Giovanni De Gasperis, Diego Valdeolmillos · 6 authors
Smart agriculture is transforming a traditionally static sector by introducing advanced monitoring of crop processes and field conditions. In particular, the integration of the Internet of Things with Distributed Ledger Technology enhances agricultural operations by enabling real-time insights and fostering trust through secure, tamper-proof data management. This paper presents an innovative system that leverages IOTA’s decentralized ledger to securely capture and store realtime data from IoT sensors monitoring key environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity, and soil moisture. By removing centralized control, the system ensures data integrity, transparency, and resistance to tampering. Additionally, the use of smart contracts developed in the Move programming language strengthens the platform by automating data validation and facilitating traceable, reliable interactions. Field implementation demonstrates the system’s potential to improve decision-making, minimize resource waste, and support sustainable agricultural practices. Emphasizing security, scalability, and cost-efficiency, this solution offers a forward-looking approach to precision agriculture.
This paper presents a new method for discovering Connected Things in a universal way. The method is designed to be used in all kinds of networks, from the smallest sensor networks to the largest interconnected cloud networks. The method allows different technologies to identify entities in different ways. It allows for full or partial identification. It does not rely on collecting information into central repositories, whether such repositories reside on central nodes, or are mirrored on distributed nodes, such as in a distributed ledger of blockchain type or similar. Instead, the method presented relies on local governance of local information and interoperability between nodes across the Internet for finding entities.
Securing sensitive medical data in IoT-based healthcare systems is increasingly critical due to growing cybersecurity threats and the emergence of quantum computing. This paper addresses these challenges by proposing a decentralized architecture that integrates blockchain technology and postquantum cryptography (PQC) to ensure data integrity, privacy, and resilience. The solution employs the Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT) consensus algorithm to maintain a tamper-resistant ledger of data locations, while encrypted medical records are distributed across Raspberry Pi nodes. Communications between sensor nodes and storage servers are protected using PQC primitives such as CRYSTALS-Kyber and Falcon. The methodology includes a lightweight protocol designed for resource-constrained environments and a storage scheme that optimizes scalability and energy efficiency. Experimental results validate the scalability and effectiveness of this architecture in real-world healthcare settings, demonstrating its potential as a secure and sustainable framework for electronic medical data management.
Edison A. Arteaga López, Gustavo A. Ramírez González, Carlos Alberto Astudillo
This paper proposes an ecosystem based on the Internet of Things (IoT) and integrated with Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT), specifically IOTA, applied to the tourism sector with a focus on the hotel industry. In developing countries, particularly in Latin America, the hotel industry has been hindered by a lack of technological adoption, which has limited its growth and competitiveness. This paper presents a methodology to enhance the interoperability, security, and traceability of tourism data through the integration of IoT and DLT. The study explores a novel technological architecture, presents preliminary results from a prototype implementation, and outlines future research directions.
IoT devices constitute an important component of Industry 4.0 paradigm, but are greatly hindered by their inherent resource constraints. Resource sharing is therefore an essential operating requirement for these devices but lack of privacy and heavy reliance on centralized architectures pose a serious risk for stable functioning. Use of decentralized and high availability platforms like distributed ledgers can provide divergent and distributed networking conditions but leaves any inter-device interactions completely exposed to third party view. To resolve this, we utilize an innovative combination of smart contracts alongside a zero-knowledge proof generator, known as Tornado Cash, to align IoT devices on a distributed resource exchange platform with privacy guarantees. In concert with public-key cryptography, our solution provides a framework for resource constrained IoT machines to interact through the blockchain for resource exchange purposes with strong privacy guarantees for both devices. Absolute anonymity is ensured by the protocol’s inherent architecture, meaning that participant devices do not reveal any sensitive information and consequently it becomes nontrivial to breach the privacy of either participant. Performance evaluations performed by testing ZeKSA against a competing & comparatively vulnerable protocol yield promising outcomes in terms of blockchain metrics like gas usage & incurred transaction costs.
The generation and exchange of diverse e-health records, such as Personal Health Records (PHRs) and Electronic Medical Records (EMRs), have become increasingly critical in supporting comprehensive clinical decision-making across healthcare institutions. While significant progress has been made in securely and efficiently sharing these records, current solutions often struggle to handle multiple types of e-health data simultaneously. Moreover, a patient-centric approach, which balances ease of use for patients with the need to ensure their privacy, remains a critical challenge that requires further exploration. In this paper, we propose a decentralized, IoT-enabled e-health data-sharing model leveraging blockchain and cloud technologies, designed to support both PHRs and EMRs. Our model incorporates advanced security features, including zero-knowledge proof, elliptic-curve cryptography, and decentralized access control, to ensure a practical, secure, and privacy-preserving system. We simulate a real healthcare environment to demonstrate its practical feasibility, and performance evaluations show our system’s superior efficiency and enhanced security compared to existing solutions.
Blockchain holds promise for reshaping insurance operations by enhancing transparency, automation, and trust. However, existing blockchain-based insurance prototypes often face limitations in transaction speed, cost efficiency, and scalability. This pilot study investigates a decentralised insurance platform implemented on the Algorand network, aiming to address these challenges. We focus on parametric insurance for flight delays, leveraging smart contracts and oracles to manage policy issuance, coverage activation, and claims. We conduct both sequential and stochastic simulations to evaluate performance under controlled and realistic transaction patterns. Our results show that average confirmation times drop from tens or hundreds of milliseconds, as seen in previous systems, to as low as 20 ms in sequential tests and approximately 6.60 ms in stochastic scenarios. Moreover, transaction fees remain minimal, improving cost-effectiveness by approx. $99.53 \%$ for claim operations compared to existing studies. The system sustains an average throughput of 44.44 TPS, with faster policy issuance and claims processing than comparable Ethereum-based solutions. These findings suggest that Algorand’s Pure Proof-of-Stake consensus and our architectural approach significantly enhance operational efficiency, supporting the feasibility of largescale decentralised insurance services. While scaling the experiment, exploring complex policies, and refining DAO governance structures are needed, this work provides a solid foundation for real-world adoption. This research supports blockchain-driven transformation in insurance markets and can serve as a step forward in Insurance 4.0.