Blockchain Technology and Recordkeeping. Computers [Special Issue]

Records provide evidence of business processes, activities, and transactions and are information assets. Distributed ledger technologies (DLT), including blockchains, combine the use of cryptography and distributed networks to achieve a novel form of record creation designed for tamper resistance and immutability. Over the past several years, these capabilities have made DLTs, including blockchains, increasingly popular as a general-purpose technology used for recordkeeping in a variety of sectors and industry domains, yet many open challenges and issues, both theoretical and applied, remain. This Special Issue of Computers focuses on exploring the frontiers of blockchain/DLT and recordkeeping. We invite submissions of original research work covering novel theories, innovative methods, and meaningful applications that can potentially lead to significant advances in blockchain/DLT and recordkeeping, including but not limited to: 

- Ontologies, taxonomies and typologies of blockchain/DLT and recordkeeping;

- Archival science theory and the design of blockchain/DLT record systems;

- Creation of authoritative blockchain/DLT records, including:

• Authenticity of records;
• Reliability of records;
• Integrity of records;
• Usability/discoverability of records;

- Using blockchain/DLT as records systems (e.g., in real estate transactions, supply chain management, healthcare);

- Semantic interoperability in blockchain/DLT record systems;

- Data and record quality in blockchain/DLT systems;

- Applications of artificial intelligence and blockchain/DLT for recordkeeping;

- Application of blockchain/DLT to records management functions (e.g., retention scheduling and appraisal);

- Long-term preservation of records and blockchain/DLT;

- E-discovery, digital records forensics and blockchain/DLT;

- Data protection, privacy and blockchain/DLT;

- Distributed records storage and blockchain/DLT;

- Security of records using blockchain/DLT.