The blockchain age is dawning. Firms large and small are teaming up with partners and solution providers to deploy blockchain, especially in supply chains, often called the “sleeping giant” use case. But blockchain is still new, and despite early successes in simulated environments, how companies need to collaborate in a blockchain world is unclear.
To help close the blockchain collaboration research gap, this design science study explores the technological and ecosystem business decisions required to deploy an interoperable blockchain solution. The research partially builds a supply chain artifact, and the challenges experienced by the design team prompts further investigation with twenty blockchain experts.
With the discovery that effective and collaborative governance is a key mechanism to remove obstacles in blockchain deployment, the study concludes with a collaborative governance model. Inspired by public policy makers, the framework includes technological rules to assist practitioners as they collaborate in a blockchain world
