Blockchain Interoperability and Its Adoption with Industry 4.0: Challenges and Solutions

Blockchain technology may play a significant role in Industry 4.0, which refers to the incorporation of digital technologies, data across manufacturing and it’s intelligent processing. Due to its fundamental technical security characteristics, recently organisations implement their own blockchains as both private and public networks. According to CoinMarketCap, there are 9508 cryptocurrencies are active in transactions while around 22,932 cryptocurrencies in existence as of March 2023, with a total market capitalization of $1.1 trillion. Similarly, there are huge number of private blockchain protocols already launched in various organisations which has no actual statistics. Each of these blockchains has its own block structure, consensus, smart contract, and authentication mechanism, among other characteristics. For interoperability technologically a common standard is very important. Still, there is no globally accepted standard for interoperability, which is crucial for industrial automation, particularly service interoperability. In addition, blockchain is currently integrating with AI technologies like federated machine learning and reinforcement learning. Significant roles can be played by the interoperability of blockchain technologies and blockchain with conventional centralized servers. An interoperable protocol can reconcile existing blockchain protocols as well as a centralized system to overcome the challenges. In addition, the solution must be scalable, and the ledger must be optimized.

This Research Topic aims to explore high-quality research for secure interoperability between systems, devices, and platforms, targeting a unified system that will make organizations decentralized, autonomous, highly secured, and trustless. We encourage original and high-quality submissions related to any of the following topics (but not limited to).

• Blockchain architecture or framework for a diverse ecosystem, such as a wide range of stakeholders, including manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and service providers, each using their own proprietary systems and technologies.
• Blockchain protocols that can seamlessly integrate various existing systems and technologies into a unified blockchain-based ecosystem.
• Solutions for heterogeneous data formats and block structures in a unified system.
• Integration of multiple data sources and AI-supported servers through a blockchain network.
• off-chain solutions, edge computing, and hybrid architectures that can balance the need for real-time data with the security of blockchain.
• Decentralized solutions for cross-border financial transactions.
• Ensuring transparency and traceability across chains.
• Interoperability of smart contracts for autonomous decision-making.
• Cross-chain smart contract platforms for seamless execution across different blockchains.
• High throughput and scalability solutions for interoperable systems.
• IoT based smart automation system with decentralized control.

Keywords: Blockchain, Iteroperability, Federated Machine Learning, Internet of things, Industrial Autormation

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.