Emperor’s New Blockchain: An Overview of the Technology Adoption within the Maritime Industry

Abstract

Prior research on blockchain implementation in the maritime industry has praised the technology beyond its technical limitations perceiving it as a universal solution to overcome a myriad of problems. This thesis explores the blockchain technology adoption concerning the theory of mindfulness by presenting five blockchain use cases. Mindfulness implies that technology is thoroughly investigated when it comes to local contexts and alternative technologies, and it is adopted as the best task-technology-fit solution. However, the key findings in this thesis reveal that the adopters of the blockchain technology have little knowledge about what they are adopting or consciously adopting only the blockchain term and not much evidence of the technology itself. The findings from this study also contradict many exaggerated benefits previously attributed to the blockchain. This thesis dispels blockchain’s myth and stresses out the importance of adopting the technology deliberately for its merits and not based on its hype.