Blockchain-Envisioned Disaster Relief Networks: Architecture, Opportunities, and Open Issues

Natural or man-made disasters pose significant challenges for delivering critical relief to affected populations due to disruptions in critical infrastructures and logistics networks. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)-aided disaster relief networks (UDRNs) leverage UAVs to assist existing ground relief networks by swiftly assessing affected areas and timely delivering lifesaving supplies. However, severe challenges in mutual coordination, trust, and security hinder the deployment of UDRNs. This paper leverages the promising blockchain technology to address collaborative, trust-free, and traceable disaster relief services. Specifically, we first present a general blockchain-oriented UDRN architecture incorporating space, air, and ground layers. Subsequently, we propose to optimize the blockchain-based UDRN system, including (i) a series of smart contracts for transparent and automated relief assignment; (ii) a dynamic contract audit mechanism to prevent known/unknown contract vulnerabilities; and (iii) a transaction forensics strategy with on/off-chain cooperation for traceable relief services. Through a prototype implementation, experimental results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of our approach in terms of threat awareness latency and vulnerability detection rate. Lastly, we outline key open research issues crucial to this emerging field.