Integrating On-chain and Off-chain Governance for Supply Chain Transparency and Integrity

TL;DR

This paper proposes an integrated on-chain and off-chain data governance framework for supply chains, enhancing transparency and integrity by coordinating stakeholder decision-making and disclosing governance processes.

Contribution

It introduces a novel combined governance framework specifically designed for supply chains, addressing gaps in existing blockchain-based data governance research.

Findings

Developed a proof-of-concept for the integrated governance approach

Demonstrated improved transparency in supply chain data management

Identified challenges and future directions for scaling the framework

Abstract

Integrating on-chain and off-chain data storage for decentralised and distributed information systems, such as blockchain, presents specific challenges for providing transparency of data governance and ensuring data integrity through stakeholder engagement. Current research on blockchain-based supply chains focuses on using on-chain governance rules developed for cryptocurrency blockchains to store some critical data points without designing tailored on-chain governance mechanisms and disclosing off-chain decision-making processes on data governance. In response to this research gap, this paper presents an integrated data governance framework that coordinates supply chain stakeholders with inter-linked on-chain and off-chain governance to disclose on-chain and off-chain rules and decision-making processes for supply chain transparency and integrity. We present a Proof-of-Concept (PoC) of our integrated data governance approach and suggest future research to strengthen scaling up and supply chain-based use cases based on our learnings.