Evaluation of blockchain technology in the three dimensions of sustainability and sustainable development goals: a systematic literature review

Abstract

It is argued that technologies of the Industry 4.0 can impact on sustainable development. This paper aims to evaluate blockchain technologies in order to understand their impact on the dimensions of sustainability and drive in which marks of the sustainable development goals it has the capacity to contribute to its achievement. A systematic literature review was carried out and it was found that there is a predominance of applications on the economic and environmental dimensions in private sector, while social results are largely linked to public administration challenges. It was found that blockchain can support the achievement of sustainable development goals, with the exception of poverty, quality education, gender equality and partnerships for the goals, which were not found in the literature. Finally, there are some barriers to the implementation of blockchain as a support tool for sustainability such as low dissemination and high cost, energy consumption and processing time.