The PhD-project explores the value of blockchain for the wind industry and explores how it may improve its inter- and intra-organizational business processes. Specifically a supply chain-based use case is explored and intended to be developed through the UnWind-project. Topics considered include the technological maturity of blockchain, the characteristics of the wind industry's collaborative supply chain activities and how the blockchain may be adopted by the wind industry. The research will follow the development of a use case in the UnWind-project, in which both the architectural design of the blockchain solution and the implications on the business model of the implicated organizations' business models are considered. Finally, the UnWind use case is intended to be evaluated in relation to technology adoption theory, while contributing new empirical knowledge to elaborate on said theory.
The purpose of the research is to uncover the potential blockchain technology may have on the wind industry, focusing on upstream supply chain activities associated with the wind turbine generator (WTG) including activities on manufacturing, operation and service. The broad perspective is taken because it is the transactions, transformation and information flow associated with WTG-components and their associated business processes that is of interest in the context of blockchain technology. In other words, the interest of the project is on the processes where there is a flow of information, whether it is intra-organizational or inter-organizational.
The term wind industry is used as a way to refer to the supply and value chains that in unison make the WTG and ensures its continued operation. As such, the wind industry include original equipment manufacturers (OEM), multiple tiers of suppliers, maintenance and service organizations as well as non-profit organizations whose focus is on improving the competitiveness of the general industry.
Blockchain facilitates transactions and store the history of said transactions
digitally as a ledger, except the ledger stored on the blockchain is distributed and immutable
Aspects such as transparency, immutability, trust etc. in the wind supply chain will
be affected by and influence the path to implement blockchain in the industry’s
business processes
The PhD is tied to the UnWind-project, which is a project funded by the Danish
Industrial Foundation seeking to unveil the potential of blockchain in the Danish wind
industry
As blockchain is still a new way
The PhD-research is based on developing a blockchain use case for the wind
industry and takes inspiration from design research
The PhD-research has the purpose of answering the research question: “What
value does blockchain have for the wind industry?” To answer the main research
question, a series of sub questions are answered. An ongoing task of the PhD is to follow
the blockchain technology through its development in terms of technological
capabilities and industry adoption in- and outside the wind industry in order to keep of with
best adoption practices. Furthermore, collaboration with the industry is a continuous
task as it provides the research with empirical data and is accomplished through the
association with the UnWind-project and the connections made possible by the
PhDcandidate’s association with the Centre for Energy Technologies
Assessing the maturity of blockchain use cases is essential to understand the
current state of the technology
SQ2 focus on the wind industry, in which the characteristics of the industry’s
supply chain are analyzed, specifically how supply chain innovation progress amongst
supply chain members and intends to add empirical findings to the current theory
SQ3 intends to be answered using the use cases identified in SQ1 as way to
communicate what blockchain can do and through that understand which of the
characteristics of the cases the wind industry knows and find valuable. Another aspect sought
to be understood in the context of SQ3 is how blockchain will affect trust and
governance in the wind supply chain. This is essential as blockchain promises to transform
these dimensions when implemented
A mixed-methods approach is used for gathering data on the understanding and interest in various aspects of blockchain in the wind industry. Qualitative, unstructured and semi-structured interviews as well workshops are carried out to acquire insight on the best direction to continue the blockchain research in. Following this, quantitative data is gathered through a survey with the purpose of identifying patterns on the findings in the qualitative part. The theoretical contribution is an elaboration on blockchain’s impact on trust and governance in supply chain management, while the practical contribution is the identification of industry partners for the UnWind use case. 2.4
SQ4 explores architectural considerations on blockchain
SQ5 focus on the business aspects centered on the changes that will occur in the
business model. Particular focus will be on the added costs and value for supply
chain-based blockchain solutions including the effect on inter- and
intraorganizational business processes. The analysis will be based on the UnWind use case
providing empirical findings of the realized change in a business model transformed
by blockchain, expanding on research done on blockchain’s impact on business
models
Once the above questions are answered it is expected the UnWind use case is in
operation and can be used as a specific example of the value blockchain can bring to the
wind industry. The UnWind use case can be used as a holistically insightful case
study from which it is intended best practices can be drawn with the intend of aiding
future blockchain adoption and expand upon technology adoption theory