Industrial Transformation through Blockchain: From Smart Manufacturing to Secure Healthcare

While blockchain technologies have shown promise across general sectors, their integration within specific industrial and enterprise settings is entering a critical phase. This Research Topic seeks research that precisely demonstrates blockchain's role in advancing real-world industrial solutions. We are especially interested in practical deployments, sector-specific digital infrastructure, and the translation of blockchain innovation into tangible improvements in business operations, manufacturing, wireless communication, agriculture, and healthcare delivery.

The aim of this Research Topic is to present evidence-based advancements and technical insights into how blockchain directly solves challenges in modern industry—improving process efficiency, data integrity, automation, and economic models within focus domains such as manufacturing, healthcare, communications, and enterprise systems.

Topics covered by the Research Topic may include, but are not limited to:

1. Blockchain in Business Process Automation
- Smart contract deployments in traditional industries
- Blockchain-enhanced supply chains
- Interoperability between legacy IT systems and blockchain
- Trust-based digital ecosystems

2. Decentralized Wireless Communication Infrastructures
- Blockchain integration with 5G/6G and edge computing
- Decentralized IoT security protocols
- Blockchain-based spectrum sharing

3. Industrial Blockchain in Manufacturing
- Operational data integrity mechanisms in smart/factory 4.0 contexts
- Decentralized quality control and process orchestration
- Field studies of blockchain-enabled predictive maintenance systems

4. Blockchain for Healthcare Security and Compliance
- Protocols for secure, privacy-preserving patient data exchange in hospital networks
- Blockchain solutions for pharmaceutical traceability and counterfeit prevention
- Integration of blockchain for regulatory compliance and consent management

5. Crypto-Economics and Industrial Finance
- Stablecoin and programmable money systems in B2B payments or trade finance
- Empirical analysis of DeFi solutions for industrial procurement
- Emerging regulations and risk assessments for enterprise crypto adoption

6. AI-Enabled Industry Supported by Blockchain
- Trust frameworks for automated AI decision-making in manufacturing and logistics
- Blockchain-powered datasets for industrial AI training and marketplace models
- Reference architectures for AI model governance using blockchain provenance

7. Blockchain in Agriculture:
- Farm-to-table product traceability and transparency
- Smart contracts for agricultural supply chains
- Blockchain-driven solutions for food safety, certification, and sustainability
- Decentralized platforms for agricultural data management and resource allocation

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Blockchain Applications, Industrial Digitalization, Supply Chain Automation, Blockchain-Enabled Healthcare, Decentralized Manufacturing, Crypto-Economics, Industrial Blockchain, Smart Contracts, Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), Traceability, Operational Efficiency, Digital Twin, Industry 4.0

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.