Quarterly Publication

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran

2 Ph.D. Candidate, Information Technology Management, Islamic Azad University, South Tehran

3 Assistant Professor, Islamic Azad University, South Tehran

Abstract

Currently, blockchain in the oil and gas industry is still at the experimental stage, and many people in the oil and gas industry do not acknowledge this technology.  Blockchain technology can bring many opportunities, such as reducing transaction business costs and increasing transparency to the oil and gas industry. However, due to the blockchain being an emerging technology, organizations need to investigate the maturity stages to increase this technology's readiness and adoption. The capability Maturity Model (CMM) is one of the common models in information technology. This model is widely adopted as a public maturity model in business processes, industry, and IS / IT organizations. The blockchain technology maturity model is classified into five levels of emerging, identified, defined, operational and mature to identify the applications of this technology toward flourishing and providing the ultimate solution to most of the organization's problems. Therefore, this qualitative research has been designed to identify maturity levels to provide a conceptual model of maturity levels of blockchain technology in grounded theory. First, the initial factors extracted through reviewing the research background; then, by conducting semi-structured interviews with 12 blockchain technology experts, the data were collected. It is noted that the interview was stopped as the duplicated and identical data, based on grounded theory research strategy The meanings and characteristics of the blockchain maturity model challenges presented in three stages of coding: identification, classification, and finally, create the research model.The reliability of the interviews has confirmed by the reliability methods of Test-Retest and intra-subject agreement. The results of data analysis indicate that experts at the emerging level to primary educating and technology monitoring, at the identified level, to recognize the applications of this technology and regulation, at the defined level, to develop a roadmap, proof of concept (POC), and  Feasibility, At the operational level, the stakeholder resistance, and at the matured level, the entry new members, the consortium, and increasing attention to maturity requirements, is spotlight with more frequency than other indicators and elements.




Keywords:
Blockchain, Blockchain capability maturity model, Blockchain maturity levels
 


 


Currently, blockchain in the oil and gas industry is still at the experimental stage, and many people in the oil and gas industry do not acknowledge this technology.  Blockchain technology can bring many opportunities, such as reducing transaction business costs and increasing transparency to the oil and gas industry. However, due to the blockchain being an emerging technology, organizations need to investigate the maturity stages to increase this technology's readiness and adoption. The capability Maturity Model (CMM) is one of the common models in information technology. This model is widely adopted as a public maturity model in business processes, industry, and IS / IT organizations. The blockchain technology maturity model is classified into five levels of emerging, identified, defined, operational and mature to identify the applications of this technology toward flourishing and providing the ultimate solution to most of the organization's problems. Therefore, this qualitative research has been designed to identify maturity levels to provide a conceptual model of maturity levels of blockchain technology in grounded theory. First, the initial factors extracted through reviewing the research background; then, by conducting semi-structured interviews with 12 blockchain technology experts, the data were collected. It is noted that the interview was stopped as the duplicated and identical data, based on grounded theory research strategy The meanings and characteristics of the blockchain maturity model challenges presented in three stages of coding: identification, classification, and finally, create the research model.The reliability of the interviews has confirmed by the reliability methods of Test-Retest and intra-subject agreement. The results of data analysis indicate that experts at the emerging level to primary educating and technology monitoring, at the identified level, to recognize the applications of this technology and regulation, at the defined level, to develop a roadmap, proof of concept (POC), and  Feasibility, At the operational level, the stakeholder resistance, and at the matured level, the entry new members, the consortium, and increasing attention to maturity requirements, is spotlight with more frequency than other indicators and elements.




 




Received: 23 August 2020
Revised: 03 September 2020
Accepted: 14 September2020




 
 

Keywords

Main Subjects

Abad, A. (2020, November). Blockchain Applied to the E&P Phase in the Oil & Gas Sector. In First eage Digitalization Conference and Exhibition (Vol. 2020, No. 1, pp. 1-5). European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers.
Yei Sung Kim.Accenture Energy, (2018). Blockchain in Oil and Gas. the Blockchain Benefit [Online] Available at: https://www.accenture.com/acnmedia/PDF-77/Accenture-13584-ACN-RES Blockchain-FBAP-Brochure-2018-final.pdf#zoom=50
Anderson, C., & William, E. (2018). Digital Maturity Model Achieving Digital Maturity to drive Growth. Available at: www2. deloitte. com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/Technology-Media Telecommunications/deloitte-digital-maturity-model. pdf (accessed 16 August 2019).
Andoni, M., Robu, V., Flynn, D., Abram, S., Geach, D., Jenkins, D., ... & Peacock, A. (2019). Blockchain Technology in the Energy Sector: A Systematic Review of Challenges and Opportunities. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 100, 143-174.
Becker, J., Knackstedt, R., Pöppelbuß, J. (2009). Developing Maturity Models for IT Management - A Procedure Model and its Application. Business & Information Systems Engineering 1, 213–222.
Blanco, J. B. (2019). Impact of Blockchain in the Oil and Gas Industry. Cuadernos de Energía, (1), 9-23.
Boneti, C., & Leader, C. (2020). Blockchain Ledger for Persisting and Verifying Oil and Gas Events.U.S. PatentApplicationNo.16/193,497. https://patents.google.com/patent/US20200162260A1/en.
Brantley, J. (2017). Blockchain Can Help Transform Supply Chain Networks in the Chemicals and petroleum industry. IBM Cross Business Unit White paper.
Brilliantova, V., & Thurner, T. W. (2019). Blockchain and the Future of Energy. Technology in Society, 57, 38-45.
Businesswire, (2020). OOC Oil & Gas Blockchain Consortium Announces Successful Completion of Produced Water Haulage Pilot Leveraging Blockchain Technology. [Online] Available at: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200603005011/en/OOC-Oil-Gas-Blockchain-Consortium-Announces-Successful-Completion-of-Produced-Water-Haulage-Pilot-Leveraging-Blockchain-Technology.
Caralli, R., Knight, M., & Montgomery, A. (2012). Maturity Models 101: A Primer for Applying Maturity Models to Smart Grid Security, Resilience, and Interoperability. carnegie-mellon Univ Pittsburgh pa Software Engineering Inst.
External Document © 2017 Info sys Limited, Oil and Gas Industry Blockchain, the Disruptive Force of the 21st Century, Available at: https://www.infosys.com/industries/oil-and-gas/features opinions/Documents/blockchain-disruptive-force.pdf.
Gartner, 2019. Gartner (2019). Hype Cycle for Blockchain Business Shows Blockchain Will Have a Transformational Impact Across Industries in Five to 10 Years [Online] Available at: https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2019-09-12-gartner-2019- hype-cycle-for-blockchain-business-shows [Accessed December 2019].
Herbsleb J, Zubrow D, Goldenson D, Hayes W, Paulk M (1997). Software Quality and the Capability Maturity Model.Commun ACM 40(6):30–40
Kadry, H. (2020). Blockchain Applications in Midstream Oil and Gas Industry. In International Petroleum Technology Conference. International Petroleum Technology Conference.
KPMG, (2017). Blockchain Maturity Model, helping you to Get from Proof-of-Concept to Production.  Available at: https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/nl/pdf/2017/advisory/blockchain-maturity-model.pdf
KPMG, (2018). Scaling Blockchain, Our Blockchain Maturity Model Helps you go Beyond Proof-of-Concept, Together.  Available at: https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/be/pdf/2018/07/ADV-depliant-blockchain-2-uk.pdf
Kvale, S. (1996). InterViews: An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing. London: Sage.
Le Borne, F., Treat, D., Dimidschstein, F., & Brodersen, C. (2017). SWIFT on Distributed ledger Technologies-Delivering an Industry-standard Platform Through Community Collaboration.
Li, X., Jiang, P., Chen, T., Luo, X., & Wen, Q. (2017). A Survey on the Security of Blockchain Systems. Future Generation Computer Systems.
Lu, H., Huang, K., Azimi, M., & Guo, L. (2019). Blockchain Technology in the Oil and Gas Industry: A Review of Applications, Opportunities, Challenges, and Risks. Ieee Access, 7, 41426-41444.
Miglani, A., Kumar, N., Chamola, V., & Zeadally, S. (2020). Blockchain for Internet of Energy Management: Review, Solutions, and Challenges. Computer Communications. Journal Pre-proof.
Mingaleva, Z., Shironina, E., & Buzmakov, D. (2020). Implementation of Digitization and Blockchain Methods in the Oil and Gas Sector. In International Conference on Integrated Science (pp. 144-153). Springer, Cham.
Morkunas, V. J., Paschen, J., & Boon, E. (2019). How Blockchain Technologies Impact your Business Model. Business Horizons, 62(3), 295-306.
Mumcular, A. (2020). Blockchain Meets Natural Gas: a Case Study of the University of British Columbia and Xpansiv from an Operations Research Perspective (Doctoral Dissertation, University of British Columbia).
Nakamoto,S.,(2008).Bitcoin:A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, s.l.: s.n. https:// bitcoin .org/ bitcoin.pdf.
Poppelbub J, Niehaves B, Simons A, Becker J. (2011). Maturity Model in Information Systems Research: Literature Search and Analysis. Commun Assoc Inf Syst 29(27):505–532.power & utilities.
Javier Prieto,Ashok Kumar Das,Stefano Ferretti,António Pinto,Juan Manuel Corchado,.(2020). Blockchain and Applications - International Congress. 1st ed. Cham: Springer. Prosume, 2019. Our Applications. [Online] Available at: https://prosume.io/ [Accessed December 2019].
PwC, (2018). Blockchain – an Opportunity for Energy Producers and Consumers? London: PwC Global
Simula, J. (2018). Where Is Your Business on The Blockchain Maturity Model? [Online] Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/where-your-business-blockchain-maturity-model-jaana-simula.
Singhi, V., (2019). Blockchain within the Energy Sector - a Paradigm Shift or Hype? [Online] Available at: https://www.energycentral.com/c/iu/blockchain-within-energy-sector-paradigm-shift-or-hype [Accessed December 2019].
Spenkelink, Ir. H. (2017). Blockchain: with Great Power Comes Great Responsibility (Creating a Blockchain Maturity model) Available at: https://www.compact.nl/en/articles/blockchain-with-great-power-comes-great-responsibility.
Stevens, J. (2014). Electricity Subsector Cybersecurity Capability Maturity Model (es-c2m2) (case study). Carnegie-mellon Univ Pittsburgh Pa Software Engineering Inst.
Stratopoulos, t. c., & Wang, v. x. (2018). Blockchain Technology Adoption. Available at ssrn 3188470.
Trilivas, E. (2019). the Technology Foresight in the Oil and Gas Industry – an Exploratory Overview of the Energy Field.”.International Hellenic University.
Uba, S. A., & Whitfield, I. (2020, April). Exploring the Adoption of BlockchainT in the Oil and Gas Industry Supply Chain: A Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology Model Approach. Design, Manufacturing and Engineering Management advanced Manufacturing and Materials. Research Output: Contribution to Conference › Paper. In 27th EurOMA Conference.
van der Voort, R., & Spenkelink, H. (2018). Blockchain Maturity Model. Research in it-auditing, 46.
Vermeij, J. (2018). Creating an IT Risk Maturity Model for Distributed Ledger Applications (Master's Thesis, University of Twente).
Wang, H., Chen, K., & Xu, D. (2016). A Maturity model for Blockchain Adoption. Financial Innovation, 2(1), 12.
Wang, Q., & Su, M. (2020). Integrating Blockchain Technology into the Energy Sector—from Theory of Blockchain to Research and Application of Energy Blockchain. Computer Science Review, 37, 100275.
Xu, X., Weber,I. & Staples, M., (2019). Architecture for Blockchain Applications. Cham: Springer. Zambo, N., 1994. Smart Contracts. [Online] Available at: http: //www.fon.hum. uva .nl/rob /Courses /Information InSpeech/CDROM/Literature/LOTwinterschool.
Ali Ayazi.Hadi Nilforoushan. (2020). Assessment of the Scope of Oil and Gas Companies' Activities Based on their Readiness to Accept Blockchain Technology. Quarterly Journal of Business Intelligence Management Studies.
Mohammad Rahmati. Saeed Shavalpour. (2017). Blockchain Technology Capabilities in the Oil and Gas Industry.Oil &Gas Exploration & Production. No 150.
Jafarkhani, Elaheh. (2009). Strategic IT Planning: Infrastructure Approach to Information Technology in the Organization. Customer Oriented Journal.