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Computers
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When Blockchain Meets IoT: Challenges and Potentials
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When Blockchain Meets IoT: Challenges and Potentials

A special issue of Computers (ISSN 2073-431X). This special issue belongs to the section "Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial IoT".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 23435

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Andres Marin Lopez

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Telematics Engineering Department, Politechnical Engineering School, University Carlos III de Madrid, 28911 Leganés, Madrid, Spain
Interests: Internet of Things; cloud computing; computer network security; cybersecurity; blockchain; post-quantum cryptography
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. David Arroyo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Physical and Information Technologies (ITEFI), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), 28006 Madrid, Spain
Interests: cryptography; privacy; smart cybersecurity; blockchain; IT governance; trust management and trustworthiness
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The combination of distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) and the IoT has the potential to revolutionize various industries by providing enhanced data security and transparency. In addition to leveraging DLTs to record and protect digital traces for auditing and pretesting, it is of high importance to use blockchain and DLTs to create new frameworks for device-onboarding and user authentication. DLTs can contribute to create advanced governance schemes for edge computing and Industry 4.0. In this regard, identity plays a core role. First, device fingerprinting and remote attestation can pave the way for new paradigms used in identity management. Second, the association between device–user should be controlled in a way that enables for accountability but also the protection of users’ privacy. Third, efficiency is a must for all proposals to achieve dependable IoT systems for device and identity management. The limited number of sensors and other elements in IoT networks represents in many cases a limitation for the adoption of advanced cryptographic protocols. DLTs and blockchain are applied to the design and implementation of new architectures for the delegation of management, data and control planes in IoT networks.

This Special Issue aims to bring together the latest research on recent developments in the application of DLTs and blockchain in the IoT ecosystem. We welcome novel research articles, comprehensive reviews and survey articles. Extended conference papers are also welcome. They should contain at least 50% new material, e.g., in the form of technical extensions, more in-depth evaluations, or additional use cases.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

  • Lightweight cryptography for the IoT;
  • Post-quantum cryptography for blockchain;
  • Signature schemes for enhanced blockchain security;
  • Blockchain-based auditability and confidentiality;
  • Low-energy blockchain footprint;
  • Independent blockchain federation schemes;
  • Open hardware attestation;
  • New applications for blockchain and the IoT.

Dr. Andres Marin Lopez
Dr. David Arroyo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Computers is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • blockchain
  • IoT, IIoT
  • cryptography
  • cybersecurity
  • cloud computing
  • distributed ledger technology
  • post-quantum resistance
  • data integrity and transparency
  • open hardware

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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26 pages, 2756 KiB  
Article
A Blockchain-Based Electronic Health Record (EHR) System for Edge Computing Enhancing Security and Cost Efficiency
by Valerio Mandarino, Giuseppe Pappalardo and Emiliano Tramontana
Computers 2024, 13(6), 132; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers13060132 - 24 May 2024
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1299
Abstract
Blockchain technology offers unique features, such as transparency, the immutability of data, and the capacity to establish trust without a central authority. Such characteristics can be leveraged to support the collaboration among several different software systems operating within the healthcare ecosystem, while ensuring [...] Read more.
Blockchain technology offers unique features, such as transparency, the immutability of data, and the capacity to establish trust without a central authority. Such characteristics can be leveraged to support the collaboration among several different software systems operating within the healthcare ecosystem, while ensuring data integrity and make electronic health records (EHRs) more easily accessible. To provide a solution based on blockchain technology, this paper has evaluated the main issues that arise when large amounts of data are expected, i.e., mainly cost and performance. A balanced approach that maximizes the benefits and mitigates the constraints of the blockchain has been designed. The proposed decentralized application (dApp) architecture employs a hybrid storage strategy that involves storing medical records locally, on users’ devices, while utilizing blockchain to manage an index of these data. The dApp clients facilitate interactions among participants, leveraging a smart contract to enable patients to set authorization policies, thereby ensuring that only designated healthcare providers and authorized entities have access to specific medical records. The blockchain data-immutability property is used to validate data stored externally. This solution significantly reduces the costs related to the utilization of the blockchain, while retaining its advantages, and improves performance, since the majority of data are available off-chain. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue When Blockchain Meets IoT: Challenges and Potentials)
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25 pages, 9733 KiB  
Article
Blockchain-Powered Gaming: Bridging Entertainment with Serious Game Objectives
by Dimitrios Stamatakis, Dimitrios G. Kogias, Pericles Papadopoulos, Panagiotis A. Karkazis and Helen C. Leligou
Computers 2024, 13(1), 14; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers13010014 - 3 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3042
Abstract
The advancement and acceptance of new technologies often hinges on the level of understanding and trust among potential users. Blockchain technology, despite its broad applications across diverse sectors, is often met with skepticism due to a general lack of understanding and incidents of [...] Read more.
The advancement and acceptance of new technologies often hinges on the level of understanding and trust among potential users. Blockchain technology, despite its broad applications across diverse sectors, is often met with skepticism due to a general lack of understanding and incidents of illicit activities in the cryptocurrency domain. This study aims to demystify blockchain technology by providing an in-depth examination of its application in a novel blockchain-based card game, centered around renewable energy and sustainable resource management. This paper introduces a serious game that uses blockchain to enhance user interaction, ownership, and gameplay, demonstrating the technology’s potential to revolutionize the gaming industry. Notable aspects of the game, such as ownership of virtual assets, transparent transaction histories, trustless game mechanics, user-driven content creation, gasless transactions, and mechanisms for in-game asset trading and cross-platform asset reuse are analyzed. The paper discusses how these features, not only provide a richer gaming experience but also serve as effective tools for raising awareness about sustainable energy and resource management, thereby bridging the gap between entertainment and education. The case study offers valuable insights into how blockchain can create dynamic, secure, and participatory virtual environments, shifting the paradigm of traditional online gaming. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue When Blockchain Meets IoT: Challenges and Potentials)
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23 pages, 1427 KiB  
Article
Ontology Development for Detecting Complex Events in Stream Processing: Use Case of Air Quality Monitoring
by Rose Yemson, Sohag Kabir, Dhavalkumar Thakker and Savas Konur
Computers 2023, 12(11), 238; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers12110238 - 16 Nov 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1639
Abstract
With the increasing amount of data collected by IoT devices, detecting complex events in real-time has become a challenging task. To overcome this challenge, we propose the utilisation of semantic web technologies to create ontologies that structure background knowledge about the complex event-processing [...] Read more.
With the increasing amount of data collected by IoT devices, detecting complex events in real-time has become a challenging task. To overcome this challenge, we propose the utilisation of semantic web technologies to create ontologies that structure background knowledge about the complex event-processing (CEP) framework in a way that machines can easily comprehend. Our ontology focuses on Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) data, asthma patients’ activities and symptoms, and how IAQ can be related to asthma symptoms and daily activities. Our goal is to detect complex events within the stream of events and accurately determine pollution levels and symptoms of asthma attacks based on daily activities. We conducted a thorough testing of our enhanced CEP framework with a real dataset, and the results indicate that it outperforms traditional CEP across various evaluation metrics such as accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue When Blockchain Meets IoT: Challenges and Potentials)
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Review

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17 pages, 714 KiB  
Review
Integrating Machine Learning with Non-Fungible Tokens
by Elias Iosif and Leonidas Katelaris
Computers 2024, 13(6), 147; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers13060147 - 7 Jun 2024
Viewed by 705
Abstract
In this paper, we undertake a thorough comparative examination of data resources pertinent to Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) within the framework of Machine Learning (ML). The core research question of the present work is how the integration of ML techniques and NFTs manifests across [...] Read more.
In this paper, we undertake a thorough comparative examination of data resources pertinent to Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) within the framework of Machine Learning (ML). The core research question of the present work is how the integration of ML techniques and NFTs manifests across various domains. Our primary contribution lies in proposing a structured perspective for this analysis, encompassing a comprehensive array of criteria that collectively span the entire spectrum of NFT-related data. To demonstrate the application of the proposed perspective, we systematically survey a selection of indicative research works, drawing insights from diverse sources. By evaluating these data resources against established criteria, we aim to provide a nuanced understanding of their respective strengths, limitations, and potential applications within the intersection of NFTs and ML. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue When Blockchain Meets IoT: Challenges and Potentials)
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25 pages, 752 KiB  
Review
Security and Privacy of Technologies in Health Information Systems: A Systematic Literature Review
by Parisasadat Shojaei, Elena Vlahu-Gjorgievska and Yang-Wai Chow
Computers 2024, 13(2), 41; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers13020041 - 31 Jan 2024
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 11589
Abstract
Health information systems (HISs) have immense value for healthcare institutions, as they provide secure storage, efficient retrieval, insightful analysis, seamless exchange, and collaborative sharing of patient health information. HISs are implemented to meet patient needs, as well as to ensure the security and [...] Read more.
Health information systems (HISs) have immense value for healthcare institutions, as they provide secure storage, efficient retrieval, insightful analysis, seamless exchange, and collaborative sharing of patient health information. HISs are implemented to meet patient needs, as well as to ensure the security and privacy of medical data, including confidentiality, integrity, and availability, which are necessary to achieve high-quality healthcare services. This systematic literature review identifies various technologies and methods currently employed to enhance the security and privacy of medical data within HISs. Various technologies have been utilized to enhance the security and privacy of healthcare information, such as the IoT, blockchain, mobile health applications, cloud computing, and combined technologies. This study also identifies three key security aspects, namely, secure access control, data sharing, and data storage, and discusses the challenges faced in each aspect that must be enhanced to ensure the security and privacy of patient information in HISs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue When Blockchain Meets IoT: Challenges and Potentials)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: An Ethereum-based Blockchain Framework for Secure and Efficient IoT Data Trading with Integrated Dispute Resolution
Author: Yang
Highlights: big data trading model;blockchain;IOT; dispute resolution mechanism;data ownership protection; Ethereum; machine learning

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