Blockchain for Industry 5.0: Vision, Opportunities, Key Enablers, and Future Directions

Industry 4.0 have witnessed a paradigm shift from cyber-physical systems (CPS) that aims at massive automation, to a more customer-driven approach. The shift has been attributed to the design of hyper-cognitive systems, integration of virtual and extended reality, digital machinery prototyping and twin designs, trusted machine boundaries, collaborative robots, and artificial intelligence (AI)-based supply chains. This new wave, termed Industry 5.0, is expected to leverage massive production with user-centric customization outside the scope of Industry 4.0 ecosystems. Industry 5.0 is expected to assist diverse industrial verticals like healthcare, smart farming, drones, smart grids, and supply chain production ecosystems. However, data is shared among multiple heterogeneous networks, spanning different authoritative domains. Thus, trusted and secured data transfer is crucial to synergize and secure the industrial perimeters. Blockchain (BC) is a preferred choice as a security enabler to Industry 5.0 ecosystems owing to its inherent property of immutability, chronology, and auditability in industrial systems. Limited works are proposed that present the vision and holistic view of BC-assisted Industry 5.0 applications. The article presents a first-of-its-kind survey on BC as a security enabler in Industry 5.0. Based on a descriptive survey methodology and research questions, we presented the key drivers, and potential applications, and propose an architectural vision of BC-based Industry 5.0 in diverse applicative verticals. The survey intends to present solutions that would assist industry practitioners, academicians, and researchers to drive novel BC-assisted solutions in Industry 5.0 verticals.