Interoperability Benefits and Challenges in Smart City Services: Blockchain as a Solution
, Fatima Asiri 6 and Mehedi Masud 7Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript title is too general.
The abstract demands substantial revision as it fails to accurately summarize the contents of the article. You write: ‘By 2022, IIoT will exceed CIoT in the quantity that reflects the real-life impact of industry 4.0’- as we are already in 2023, concise data, not estimates, are needed.
‘Although many recent articles suggested Blockchain as an interoperability solution’ – needs substantiation.
‘This article contributes… opens research issues and presents the technical challenges raised in the production environment.’- poorly constructed.
Figure 1 needs clarifications as regards the fields/countries covered.
Figure 2 should be removed as it coveys zero info. Why using capitalized words initially as in ‘blockchain interoperability, Blockchain-based’. Replace it/they with the proper words to avoid confusion. E.g., ‘It demonstrates a proof-of-concept for trusted data-sharing between two independent trade finance’. ‘They considered a smooth exchange of information between typical relational’. Etc.
Figure 4 should be clarified in detail. Figure 5 to which specifically transactions refers to? The same with Figure 6. In Section 3 why covering some topics and not others too that are mentioned in Figure 3?
A Discussion section is missing. Most of the time it is unclear whether you refer to your own research or to general approaches.
The conclusion, too short, should clarify the main contribution of the paper and the value added to the field. A more discursive, analytical conclusion is needed, that engages with the theoretical questions in scholarship raised earlier in the paper.
There is some discussion of the limitations of the study however these are not considered in terms of the implications on the study findings. The manuscript has a low integrative value in the hot emerging topics, e.g., smart city digital twins, decentralized governance systems, and metaverse cities. The relationship between Internet of Things sensing infrastructures and computer vision algorithms as regards blockchain-based systems in smart city services has not been covered, and thus such sources can be cited:
Lăzăroiu, G., and Harrison, A. (2021). “Internet of Things Sensing Infrastructures and Data-driven Planning Technologies in Smart Sustainable City Governance and Management,” Geopolitics, History, and International Relations 13(2): 23–36. doi: 10.22381/GHIR13220212. 2
Crowell, B. (2022). “Blockchain-based Metaverse Platforms: Augmented Analytics Tools, Interconnected Decision-Making Processes, and Computer Vision Algorithms,” Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations 21: 121–136. doi: 10.22381/lpi2120228.
Lyons, N., and Lăzăroiu, G. (2020). “Addressing the COVID-19 Crisis by Harnessing Internet of Things Sensors and Machine Learning Algorithms in Data-driven Smart Sustainable Cities,” Geopolitics, History, and International Relations 12(2): 65–71. doi: 10.22381/GHIR12220209
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
Please find the response letter in the attachment
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
In section 1, paragraph 3 must be cited properly, as it is presented without any single citation.
What is TPS in the introduction?
Section 2 must have a detailed comparison table that can illustrate and compare the parameters.
I suggest the authors go through the following citations (as an example) to help to them claim their arguments.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352864818301536
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452414X21001060
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9896971/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452414X22000759
Section 3 can be expanded by adding more applications in the smart cities scenario.
I suggest that authors must add a comparison table in each section, as it will be helpful for the readers to better understand each section.
The authors performed very few experiments. However, interoperability is a very critical challenge to discussed here
Section 8 must be expanded, as currently, it is presenting very limited challenges.
Author Response
Please find the responses in the attached letter.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Authors are missing in the reference list for the newly added sources.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
Thank you so much for your effort.
Reviewer 2 Report
The authors have carefully addressed the comments.
Author Response
Dear reviewer,
Thank you so much for your effort and review.
