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A successful process of design concept evaluation has positive influence on subsequent processes. This study aims to consider the evaluation information at multiple stages and the interaction among evaluators and improve the credibility of evaluation results.

This paper proposes a multi-stage approach for design concept evaluation based on complex network and bounded confidence. First, a network is constructed according to the evaluation data. Depending on the consensus degree of evaluation opinions, the number of evaluation rounds is determined. Then, bounded confidence rules are applied for the modification of preference information. Last, a planning function is constructed to calculate the weight of each stage and aggregate information at multiple evaluation stages.

The results indicate that the opinions of the evaluators tend to be consistent after multiple stages of interactive adjustment, and the ordering of design concept alternatives tends to be stable with the progress of the evaluation.

Updating preferences according to the bounded confidence rules, only the opinions within the trust threshold are considered. The attribute information of the node itself is inadequately considered.

This method addresses the need for considering the evaluation information at each stage and minimizes the impact of disagreements within the evaluation group on the evaluation results.

This paper aims to analyze practices, processes and outcomes related to construction supply chain management (CSCM) in Brazil to identify opportunities and direct actions and strategies to improve the Brazilian sector through blockchain technology (BT).

The study collected empirical data through semi-structured interviews with consumers and distributors to identify how the CSCM functions today. The interviews were structured and analyzed around the following topics: processes, digitalization, quality and weakness of the activities performed. The opportunities for using BT in CSCM were identified by crossing these results with evidence in the bibliography.

The study identified deficiencies, gaps and good practices applied to information management in the sector. Also, it analyzed the features, drivers and barriers of BT from a practical perspective. The findings suggested that BT is feasible and promising, reducing costs and enhancing process transparency. The need to overcome cultural and economic barriers is a challenging task.

This study brings a new perspective on using BT in CSCM, relating it to the demands and particularities of the construction sector in Brazil. The study identifies a limited panorama of chronic CSCM concerns, given BT’s infinite opportunities. And it motivates a gradual transition toward installing a new technological culture based on BT that focuses on priority care for the sector’s chronic deficiencies. The results can guide practical actions for the successful insertion of BT in the CSCM, laying the foundations for significant future research.

Technical advantages embraced by blockchain, such as distributed ledger, P2P networks, consensus mechanisms and smart contracts, are highly compatible with addressing the security issues of transferring and storing judicial documents and obtaining the feedback and evaluation of judicial translation services in cases with foreign elements. Therefore, based on this, a consortium blockchain-based model for supervising the overall process of judicial translation services in cases with foreign elements is proposed.

Some judicial documents are required to be translated when there are language barriers in cases with foreign elements. The purpose of this paper is expected to address security issues, which is ignored, in the process of translating judicial documents.

The experimental results show that the model constructed in this paper can effectively guarantee the security and privacy of transferring and storing translated judicial documents in cases with foreign elements, and realize the credibility and traceability of feedbacks and evaluations of judicial translation services. In addition, the underlying network communications is stable and the speed for processing data can meet the requirements of practical application.

The research in this paper provides an innovative scheme for judicial translation services in cases with foreign elements. The model constructed is conducive to protecting the security of the transfer and storage of judicial documents and improving the efficiency and modernization ability of hearing cases with foreign elements.

This research aims to develop a blockchain smart contract–enabled framework to resolve power imbalance problems in construction payment.

This research adopts a design science research method to develop the blockchain smart contract–enabled framework. The authors then develop a prototype system. Finally, the authors evaluate its performance in solving power imbalance-induced payment problems.

The results show that the prototype system can resolve power imbalance problems in construction payment by allowing project participants to make transparent and decentralized decisions that are self-enforceable by blockchain smart contracts.

This study provides theoretical explanations for how blockchain smart contracts can resolve power imbalances in construction payment; based on that, it proposes a novel blockchain smart contract–enabled method to rebalance the power of stakeholders in construction payment. Thus, it contributes to the body of knowledge on blockchain technology and construction payment.

This study moves beyond a conceptual framework and develops a practical blockchain smart contract system for resolving power imbalances in construction payment, strengthening construction project members' confidence in using blockchain technology.

The proposed blockchain smart contract–enabled solution helps mitigate negative social impacts associated with late payment and non-payment. Furthermore, the research maximizes trust among participants in payment processes to inspire collaborative culture in the construction industry.

This paper introduces a novel blockchain smart contract integrated method, allowing project stakeholders to resolve power imbalance problems in construction payment through decentralized decision-making.

Deep learning (DL) is on the rise because it can make predictions and judgments based on data that is unseen. Blockchain technologies are being combined with DL frameworks in various industries to provide a safe and effective infrastructure. The review comprises literature that lists the most recent techniques used in the aforementioned application sectors. We examine the current research trends across several fields and evaluate the literature in terms of its advantages and disadvantages.

The integration of blockchain and DL has been explored in several application domains for the past five years (2018–2023). Our research is guided by five research questions, and based on these questions, we concentrate on key application domains such as the usage of Internet of Things (IoT) in several applications, healthcare and cryptocurrency price prediction. We have analyzed the main challenges and possibilities concerning blockchain technologies. We have discussed the methodologies used in the pertinent publications in these areas and contrasted the research trends during the previous five years. Additionally, we provide a comparison of the widely used blockchain frameworks that are used to create blockchain-based DL frameworks.

By responding to five research objectives, the study highlights and assesses the effectiveness of already published works using blockchain and DL. Our findings indicate that IoT applications, such as their use in smart cities and cars, healthcare and cryptocurrency, are the key areas of research. The primary focus of current research is the enhancement of existing systems, with data analysis, storage and sharing via decentralized systems being the main motivation for this integration. Amongst the various frameworks employed, Ethereum and Hyperledger are popular among researchers in the domain of IoT and healthcare, whereas Bitcoin is popular for research on cryptocurrency.

There is a lack of literature that summarizes the state-of-the-art methods incorporating blockchain and DL in popular domains such as healthcare, IoT and cryptocurrency price prediction. We analyze the existing research done in the past five years (2018–2023) to review the issues and emerging trends.

The smart contract provides an opportunity to improve existing contract management practices in the construction projects by replacing traditional contracts. However, translating the contracts into computer languages is considered a major challenge which has not been investigated. Thus, it is necessary to: (1) identify the obstructing clauses in real-world contracts; and (2) analyze the replacement's technical and economic feasibility. This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned objectives.

This study identified the flexibility clauses of traditional contracts and their corresponding functions through inductive content analysis with representative standard contracts as materials. Through a speculative analysis in accordance to design science paradigm and new institutional economics, the economic and technical feasibility of existing approaches, including enumeration method, fuzzy algorithm, rough sets theory, machine learning and artificial intelligence, to transform respective clauses (functions) into executable codes are analyzed.

The clauses of semantic flexibility and structural flexibility are identified from the contracts. The transformation of semantic flexibility is economically and/or technically infeasible with existing methods and materials. But with more data as materials and methods of rough sets or machine learning, the transformation can be feasible. The transformation of structural flexibility is technically possible however economically unacceptable.

Given smart contracts' inability to provide the required flexibility for construction projects, smart contracts will be more effective in less relational contracts. For construction contracts, the combination of smart contracts and traditional contracts is recommended. In the long run, with the sharing or trading of data in the industry level and the integration of machine learning or artificial intelligence reducing relevant costs, the automation of contract management can be achieved.

This study contributes to the understanding of the smart contract's limitations in industry scenarios and its role in construction project management.

Despite rapid growth in blockchains, there was limited discussion about non-technical and technical factors on blockchain governance in the extant literature. This study aims to contribute new knowledge to the literature on potential factors affecting the adoption, governance and scale-up of blockchain technologies in the health-care and energy sectors, presented in a holistic framework.

This study adopts the qualitative case study research methodology to research blockchain governance in practice. The authors contacted a national blockchain consortium to conduct their research on the governance issue of blockchain. Two leading case organizations, one from the health-care industry and another from the energy industry, were deliberately selected for their study for their active role and reputation in the consortium and practical experience in blockchain governance.

The developed framework helps identify potential research gaps or concerns on adopting a blockchain as well as assessing blockchain implementation and governance in other industries. Depending on the circumstances, some of the factors can be either drivers or obstacles to further blockchain development. The different forces may also be more or less evident over time as blockchains develop. The two real-world case studies contribute to the information technology governance literature on blockchain governance.

The results of this case studies will be beneficial for developing theories and empirical models to determine antecedents for achieving consensus and trust in blockchain and testing the relationship between these factors and blockchain governance at different levels. As a result, theories related to the governance of blockchain technologies could be further developed.

This study aims to evaluate blockchain as an e-government governance model. It assesses its alignment with legal frameworks, emphasizing robustness against disruptions and adherence to existing laws.

The paper explores blockchain’s potential in e-government, focusing on legal, ethical and governance aspects. It conducts an in-depth analysis of blockchain’s integration into data governance, emphasizing legal compliance and resilient security protocols.

The study comprehensively evaluates blockchain’s implementation, covering privacy, interoperability, consensus mechanisms, scalability and regulatory alignment. It highlights governance’s critical role in ensuring legal compliance within blockchain paradigms.

Ethical and legal concerns arising from blockchain adoption remain unresolved. The study underscores how blockchain challenges its core principles of anonymity and decentralization in e-government settings.

The framework outlined offers potential for diverse technological environments, albeit raising ethical and legal queries. It emphasizes governance’s pivotal role in achieving legal compliance in blockchain adoption.

Blockchain’s impact on legal and ethical facets necessitates further exploration to align with its core principles while addressing governance in e-government settings.

This study presents a robust framework for assessing blockchain’s viability in e-government, emphasizing legal compliance, despite ethical and legal intricacies that challenge its fundamental principles.

This study aims to give a glimpse of the existing blockchain applications across industries and add to a complete knowledge of the blockchain’s properties.

Systematic literature review is used as the research strategy for this investigation and other aspects of the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses framework have been incorporated to create a scholarly publications evaluation of the blockchain-based application in the financial arena and its future. The research looks at 86 studies published between 2018 and 2022.

There has been a steady but noticeable increase in the study of blockchain’s potential in many application domains over the past few of years. This rising tendency illustrates the newness and potential of blockchain technology, as well as the increasing attention from academics. According to the findings, blockchain is an appropriate solution for processing transactions using cryptocurrencies; nevertheless, it still has significant technical issues and limits that require to be exploring and solving before it can be considered a viable option. It is therefore, necessary to have a high level of reliability for payments and confidentiality, in addition to maintaining the anonymity of nodes, to stop assaults and efforts to disrupt transactions in the blockchain.

This study has several important theoretical and practical implications. First, it adds to the body of knowledge on blockchain and Fintech, focusing on the transaction side. While much blockchain research has focused on how the technology may affect strategic choices, this study has shed light on its potential from the perspective of financial reporting. Second, by highlighting the importance of the demand for the prompt identification of losses, this work adds to the body of knowledge on the factors that influence transaction frauds involving paper money. Additionally, by establishing the link between transparency and virtual transactions, the author backs up the asymmetric responses of investors to different investment possibilities. It looks at the evolution of financial technology (Fintech) and shows how it can be used to take the advantage of unique opportunities.

The study is different and novel from the previously published literature on this topic mainly because of its comprehensiveness, as it revolves around all industrial and commercial areas. The three main lines of research have been outlined, namely, classifying the many blockchain-based innovations that will alter the financial landscape in many industries; identifying whether these industries are a good fit for blockchain’s wealth creation potential; and directing researchers by outlining prospective study pathways.

Poor cash flow management and lack of profitability have plagued the construction industry for decades. In response, the UK Government published the project bank account (PBA) payment strategy in 2012 to mitigate main contractors unfairly withholding liabilities. However, PBAs suffer from adoption challenges, such as systems fragmentation and a lack of incentives for main contractors to adopt them effectively. This study aims to investigate how to reduce systems fragmentation in construction by integrating PBA procedures with existing management workflows to increase payment automation, resulting in improved cash liquidity and better incentives for using PBAs.

A PBA blockchain decentralised application is developed, presented and critically evaluated. Blockchain is the technology used because of its permissionless, license-free, open-source and immutability properties. It is a suitable general-purpose technology layer for building and testing applications without the limitations associated with centralised technologies, such as high proprietary fees, vendor lock and intellectual property restrictions.

The research demonstrates how a blockchain application can integrate siloed construction workflows such as cash flow scheduling, supply chain management and payment executions, reducing the management workload for implementing PBAs in construction projects. Furthermore, the proposed application is open-source and replicable, and its user interface is available for external testing here: https://console.atra.io/app/bf26f846-7f16-4f80-90a0-c5488ab6edd3.

PBA is a suitable test case because it enforces an auditable, transparent and neutral account, which are inbuilt properties of blockchains; thus, both systems are harmonious to integrate. PBA is mandated in UK public sector construction projects; therefore, the research has a solid practical foundation.