Blockchain in the automotive industry

As the automotive industry continues to evolve, there is a growing interest in exploring innovative technologies to address challenges related to transparency, data security, and efficiency. Blockchain technology has emerged as a promising solution with its decentralized and immutable nature. This thesis aims to investigate the potential applications of blockchain in the automotive field and assess its impact on various aspects of the industry. The study, in collaboration with Akkodis, begins with a comprehensive literature review, exploring the fundamental concepts of blockchain technology, its underlying principles, and existing use cases. It then delves into the specific requirements and challenges faced by the automotive sector, such as supply chain management, vehicle identification, ownership transfer, and maintenance records and other examples. Furthermore, the thesis investigates the technical considerations and architectural frameworks necessary for integrating blockchain in the automotive ecosystem. Scalability, privacy, interoperability, and consensus algorithms are analyzed in the context of automotive applications. The research also explores potential blockchain-based solutions to address these technical challenges. To evaluate the practical feasibility and impact of blockchain implementation finally, the work will focus on a pilot project submitted as a study case. This project aims to stress some important considerations about the Blockchain and its practical application on something that is related to the actual state of the art in terms of web 2.0 solutions. The findings of this research contribute to the understanding of blockchain technology's potential in the automotive sector, highlighting its benefits, limitations, and the critical factors influencing its successful adoption. The thesis concludes with recommendations for industry stakeholders, policymakers, and researchers on leveraging blockchain technology effectively to drive digital transformation in the automotive industry, promoting transparency, security, and operational efficiency stressing the fact that this could not be done everywhere and that when such approach is managed, it is often necessary to blend an old paradigm based on the centralization and the imposition of the trust with a totally different new one on which the Blockchain was born and its built based on the decentralization and the trustlessness, especially when dealing with industries and enterprise solutions.