Year: 2025
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The real estate industry is crucial for its economic, environmental and social impact, but it lags behind in terms of digitalisation. This thesis examines how blockchain technology can drive digital transformation in the real estate industry—specifically, how it can help redefine stakeholder value propositions and bring about significant improvements to tackle the current challenges facing the industry, such as the reliance on manual processes and intermediaries, process inefficiencies and the widespread global issues of trust, fraud and corruption. The primarily qualitative, multi-method research approach employed here includes two systematic literature reviews and a longitudinal, revelatory study. Consolidating the findings of these three separate publications, this thesis argues that blockchain technology has significant potential, both in terms of applications and the resulting benefits, particularly for increasing trust, efficiency, transparency and cost savings. However, this potential remains mostly unexploited; the current applications are limited in scope, lack large-scale empirical evidence and are mainly focused on land administration. Furthermore, this research indicates that even as an add-on to existing systems, the current strength of blockchain technology lies in fostering innovation through shared value creation, delivery and capture while supporting collaboration and enhancing business processes in real estate. The primary features of blockchains—decentralisation, peer-to-peer networking, verification and immutability—provide the foundations for fair collaboration without the need to appoint a central party. These elements are critical for driving the change process needed for digital transformation. Nonetheless, as blockchain technology becomes more integrated into broader process innovation, its significance with regard to sustaining digital transformation may diminish, as it faces challenges such as the need for specialised knowledge, scalability issues and an increasing shift towards centralisation, despite its decentralised promise. These challenges add to the general barriers in the literature, such as technological immaturity, interoperability and regulatory uncertainty. Overall, this thesis concludes that blockchains represent a useful tool for driving early-stage digital transformation. Unlocking the full potential of this technology requires a fundamental change process supplemented with the necessary resources and capabilities and supportive regulatory changes
Source: Aaltodoc (Aalto University)
Author: Saari, Anniina
Language: English
Subfield: Information Systems
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7020235934