A blockchain-based ecosystem framework for data sharing in the Airport Operations Domain

Abstract

Modern organisations use software systems to automate their business processes. However, these organisations co-exist with others in their respective business ecosys- tem which may exist in a particular domain. In a business ecosystem, organisations co-exist due to commonalities and the need to collaborate to provide a common service or product to a particular category of customers. There is a need for creat- ing software ecosystems that closely replicate these business ecosystems to facilitate secure real-time data sharing. In some ecosystems effort has been made to create software ecosystems. However, the methodology of designing and formulating these software ecosystems was found to be unsustainable or not easily applicable to other domains or environments. This research focuses on a framework for the design and set up of software ecosys- tems with real-time data sharing over a blockchain network as a main deliverable. The Airport Operations domain was selected as the case business ecosystem in which this research was conducted. The above aim was achieved through a case study at six international airports. Three methods of data collection were employed: Brain- storming with former passengers at the airport; Observational tours at the airport and a survey targeting personnel from airport operations stakeholder organisations. Information obtained from the case environment was used to identify the critical stakeholders in the airport operations ecosystem. The research produced a number of findings: The main stakeholders in the airport operations ecosystem were identified as AA - the keystone stakeholder - Airline op- eration, ground handler, Immigration department, Air Navigation service provider, security and the Health Unit. Each of these categories of stakeholder organisa- tions was studied to identify their value contribution towards the airport operations ecosystem, as well as their gain from it. Currently in the airport operations environ- ment, there are a number of collaborations and communication that occur during the stakeholders’ interactions. However, these are done over channels that do not support direct API integration or real-time data sharing. The interactions and roles of the airport operations stakeholders were also deduced from the data collected. These formed system boundaries between the individual stakeholders’ systems and were translated into API endpoints and functions on the blockchain platform, to build a Core Data Grid. A test implementation of the software ecosystem core API based on blockchain was implemented and can be accessed at https://github.com/Fortunate/AirportSeco. The main contribution drawn from this research is the framework for the setup of the sustainable software ecosystem based on blockchain as a core integration plat- form technology. The sustainability of the SECO framework was evaluated against characteristics and pointers of a sustainable Software Ecosystem. This research can further be implemented to production standard in any ecosystem or domain such as Health, eGovernment, Insurance etc, given the resources and cooperation of the member stakeholders.