Blockchain and IIoT Enabled Solution for Social Distancing and Isolation Management to Prevent Pandemics

Pandemics have always been a nightmare for humanity, especially in developing countries. Forced lockdowns are considered one of the effective ways to deal with spreading such pandemics. Still, developing countries cannot afford such solutions because these may severely damage the country’s economy. Therefore, this study presents the proactive technological mechanisms for business organizations to run their standard business processes during pandemic-like situations smoothly. The novelty of this study is to provide a state-of-the-art solution to prevent pandemics using industrial internet of things (IIoT) and blockchain-enabled technologies. Compared to existing studies, the immutable and tamper-proof contact tracing and quarantine management solution is proposed. The use of advanced technologies and information security is a critical area for practitioners in the internet of things (IoT) and corresponding solutions. Therefore, this study also emphasizes information security, end-to-end solution, and experimental results. Firstly, a wearable wristband is proposed, incorporating 4G-enabled ultra-wideband (UWB) technology for smart contact tracing mechanisms in industries to comply with standard operating procedures outlined by the world health organization (WHO). Secondly, distributed ledger technology (DLT) omits the centralized dependency for transmitting contact tracing data. Thirdly, a privacy-preserving tracing mechanism is discussed using a public/private key cryptography-based authentication mechanism. Lastly, based on geofencing techniques, blockchain-enabled machine-to-machine (M2M) technology is proposed for quarantine management. The step-by-step methodology and test results are proposed to ensure contact tracing and quarantine management. Unlike existing research studies, the security aspect is also considered in the realm of blockchain. The practical implementation of the proposed solution also obtains the results. The results indicate the successful implementation of blockchain-enabled contact tracing and isolation management using IoT and geo-fencing techniques, which could help battle pandemic situations. Researchers can also consider the 5G-enabled narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT) technologies to implement contact tracing solutions.