Page 39 - U4SSC Blockchain for smart sustainable cities

Table 7: B4C applications in Smart economy 53
Blockchain potential applications in Smart Economy

Energy Blockchain is being applied in traditional business models and in new disruptive
models that are emerging within the energy sector. Blockchain can be utilized
for optimization of grid management and distributed energy networks. These
new models have the potential to cut costs, while increasing energy efficiency,
supporting renewable energy integration, improving resilience and enabling
genuine local markets for energy trading, with optimal supply-demand balancing.
Blockchain is used to enable peer-to-peer (p2p) transactions between citizens
and tracking of energy units, particularly those generated by renewables.
Telecommunication The telecom industry is moving towards hyper-connectivity, where the number
of objects connected to the Internet with IoT and high-speed connections with
5G is increasing dramatically.
Many regulated aspects such as intercarrier automation, mobile roaming
settlement, identity, and mobile payments could benefit from the speed and
transparency of blockchain. Specific blockchain solutions for IoT also offers
opportunities in the smart city context.
Finance The financial sector is the sector most impacted by blockchain technology. The
concept of blockchain was brought to the forefront with the cryptocurrency,
Bitcoin. It is also understandable that economic issues have continued to be
the motor behind many of the developments of the most crucial blockchain
products and services in society today. The cryptocurrencies enable the
transfer of money in real time without any intermediaries. Initial coin offering
(ICO) models facilitate the initial financing of business without the intervention
of any bank. Additionally, token economies enable the building of entirely
new economic ecosystems outside the traditional financial markets. Smart
cities initiatives using blockchain could impact financial inclusion, settlement
management, as well as fees management. These blockchain technologies for
finance are being utilized in the city of Dubai.

Despite the high relevance and potential of blockchain technology applications in smart cities, the
concrete literature reporting blockchain use-cases in cities remains scarce. In the following sub-
54
sections, we will be exploring ongoing projects on blockchain for cities and underscore use-cases to
be able to provide insights to the city managers, who are seeking guidance on the topic.

U4SSC: Blockchain for smart sustainable cities 29