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Blockchain and Smart Contracts for Insurance: Is the Technology Mature Enough?

Author

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  • Valentina Gatteschi

    (Politecnico di Torino, Dipartimento di Automatica e Informatica, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy)

  • Fabrizio Lamberti

    (Politecnico di Torino, Dipartimento di Automatica e Informatica, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy)

  • Claudio Demartini

    (Politecnico di Torino, Dipartimento di Automatica e Informatica, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy)

  • Chiara Pranteda

    (Reale Group Innovation Team, Via Corte d’Appello 11, 10129 Torino, Italy)

  • Víctor Santamaría

    (Reale Group Innovation Team, Príncipe de Vergara, 125, 28002 Madrid, Spain)

Abstract

Blockchain is receiving increasing attention from academy and industry, since it is considered a breakthrough technology that could bring huge benefits to many different sectors. In 2017, Gartner positioned blockchain close to the peak of inflated expectations, acknowledging the enthusiasm for this technology that is now largely discussed by media. In this scenario, the risk to adopt it in the wake of enthusiasm, without objectively judging its actual added value is rather high. Insurance is one the sectors that, among others, started to carefully investigate the possibilities of blockchain. For this specific sector, however, the hype cycle shows that the technology is still in the innovation trigger phase, meaning that the spectrum of possible applications has not been fully explored yet. Insurers, as with many other companies not necessarily active only in the financial sector, are currently requested to make a hard decision, that is, whether to adopt blockchain or not, and they will only know if they were right in 3–5 years. The objective of this paper is to support actors involved in this decision process by illustrating what a blockchain is, analyzing its advantages and disadvantages, as well as discussing several use cases taken from the insurance sector, which could easily be extended to other domains.

Suggested Citation

  • Valentina Gatteschi & Fabrizio Lamberti & Claudio Demartini & Chiara Pranteda & Víctor Santamaría, 2018. "Blockchain and Smart Contracts for Insurance: Is the Technology Mature Enough?," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-16, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jftint:v:10:y:2018:i:2:p:20-:d:132474
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    12. Antonio Fusco & Grazia Dicuonzo & Vittorio Dell’Atti & Marco Tatullo, 2020. "Blockchain in Healthcare: Insights on COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-12, September.
    13. Kumar, Devinder & Singh, Rajesh Kr & Mishra, Ruchi & Daim, Tugrul U., 2023. "Roadmap for integrating blockchain with Internet of Things (IoT) for sustainable and secured operations in logistics and supply chains: Decision making framework with case illustration," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    14. Oskar Juszczyk & Khuram Shahzad, 2022. "Blockchain Technology for Renewable Energy: Principles, Applications and Prospects," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-24, June.
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    16. Sachin Kumar Mangla & Yiğit Kazançoğlu & Abdullah Yıldızbaşı & Cihat Öztürk & Ahmet Çalık, 2022. "A conceptual framework for blockchain‐based sustainable supply chain and evaluating implementation barriers: A case of the tea supply chain," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(8), pages 3693-3716, December.
    17. Qingfeng Zhu & Rui Zong & Mengqi Xu, 2023. "Three-Party Stochastic Evolutionary Game Analysis of Supply Chain Finance Based on Blockchain Technology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-20, February.
    18. Narciz Balasoiu, 2021. "The Block Chain Technology – A Catalyst of the Fintech Revolution," RAIS Conference Proceedings 2021 0060, Research Association for Interdisciplinary Studies.
    19. Khan, Nida & Kchouri, Bilal & Yatoo, Nissar Ahmad & Kräussl, Zsofia & Patel, Anass & State, Radu, 2022. "Tokenization of sukuk: Ethereum case study," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    20. Yue Su & Kien Nguyen & Hiroo Sekiya, 2022. "A Comparison of Blockchain Recovery Time in Static and Mobile IoT-Blockchain Networks," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-20, November.
    21. Horst Treiblmaier, 2021. "Exploring the Next Wave of Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology: The Overlooked Potential of Scenario Analysis," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-13, July.
    22. Wang, Yang & Chen, Peng & Wu, Bing & Wan, Chengpeng & Yang, Zaili, 2022. "A trustable architecture over blockchain to facilitate maritime administration for MASS systems," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    23. Samir Yerpude & Kiran Sood & Simon Grima, 2022. "Blockchain-Augmented Digital Supply Chain Management: A Way to Sustainable Business," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-17, December.
    24. Vasiliy Elagin & Anastasia Spirkina & Andrei Levakov & Ilya Belozertsev, 2020. "Blockchain Behavioral Traffic Model as a Tool to Influence Service IT Security," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-12, April.
    25. Giuliano Sansone & Flavio Santalucia & Davide Viglialoro & Paolo Landoni, 2023. "Blockchain for social good and stakeholder engagement: Evidence from a case study," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(5), pages 2182-2193, September.

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