Establishing the relationship between the strategic factors influencing blockchain technology deployment for achieving SDG and ESG objectives during infrastructure development: an ISM-MICMAC approach
Smart and Sustainable Built Environment
ISSN: 2046-6099
Article publication date: 22 March 2024
Issue publication date: 23 April 2024
Abstract
Purpose
Implementing blockchain in sustainable development goals (SDGs) and environmental, social and governance (ESG)-aligned infrastructure development involves intricate strategic factors. Despite technological advancements, a significant research gap persists, particularly in emerging economies. This study aims to address the challenges related to SDGs and ESG objectives during infrastructure delivery remain problematic, identifying and evaluating critical strategic factors for successful blockchain implementation.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employs a three-stage methodology. Initially, 13 strategic factors are identified through a literature review and validated by conducting semi-structured interviews with six experts. In the second stage, the data were collected from nine additional experts. In the final stage, the collected data undergoes analysis using interpretive structural modeling (ISM)–cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC), aiming to identify and evaluate the independent and dependent powers of strategic factors driving blockchain implementation in infrastructure development for SDGs and ESG objectives.
Findings
The study’s findings highlight three significant independent factors crucial for successfully integrating blockchain technology (BT) into infrastructure development for SDGs and ESG goals: data security (F4), identity management (F8) and supply chain management (F7). The study unravels these factors, hierarchical relationships and dependencies by applying the MICMAC and ISM techniques, emphasizing their interconnectedness.
Originality/value
This study highlights critical strategic factors for successful blockchain integration in SDG and ESG-aligned infrastructure development, offering insights for policymakers and practitioners while emphasizing the importance of training and infrastructure support in advancing sustainable practices.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the Indian experts from academia, industry and research who helped in getting the responses.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Declaration of competing interest: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Citation
Singh, A.K. and Kumar, V.R.P. (2024), "Establishing the relationship between the strategic factors influencing blockchain technology deployment for achieving SDG and ESG objectives during infrastructure development: an ISM-MICMAC approach", Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 711-736. https://doi.org/10.1108/SASBE-12-2023-0405
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited