Applying Blockchain to Systemic Design: Ensuring Project Authenticity via Quantitative Report Verification

Comparative Analysis of Current Verification Parameters and the Use of Smart Contracts, Notarization, and NFT for Authenticating Environmental Data in Systemic Reports: Research Applications with Case Studies from Italy and Spain In the field of systemic design, which spans a wide range of domains and projects, a common element is the production of documents and reports detailing and analysing the work carried out. However, currently, methods of verification and protection for systemic projects have not been identified, representing a lack of protection for designers and all parties involved. This study, starting from this lack of protection, focuses on the treatment of such reports from the perspective of quantitative data, namely through their verification using blockchain technology. Blockchain has been chosen over other verification methods because it is a decentralized and cost-free technology that offers two main tools for verification: notarization and smart contracts. Notarization is a process that allows the document to be notarized and subsequently frozen with all the information contained within it. In this context, notarization is used to increase the attention of designers to the inserted data because it cannot be overwritten. On the other hand, smart contracts are autonomous programs that execute contracts recorded on the blockchain. These contracts can be used to automate the verification of data contained in project reports. The combined use of notarization and smart contracts on the blockchain provides greater assurance on the documents produced in the field of systemic design. This not only increases confidence in the validity of the documents, avoiding cases of greenwashing and speculation, but also offers greater protection to designers. As a symbol of this verification, a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) is issued. An NFT is a type of cryptographic token that represents a unique object. In this case, the NFT is inserted into a node of the blockchain to attest to the project's verification. This provides tangible and immutable proof of the verification that has taken place. The application of blockchain technology in systemic design offers a new method for the verification and protection of projects and the data contained within them. This aims to increase the authenticity of the data and prevent possible fraud with significantly erroneous information.