[AISWorld] Call for Chapter Proposals "Blockchain and the Public Sector"

[Hans J. Scholl]

CALL FOR CHAPTER PROPOSALS

Proposal Submission: September 30, 2019
Full Chapter Submission: January 31, 2020
Title of the Book: Blockchain and the Public Sector: Theories, Reforms, and Case Studies
A Book Edited by Christopher G. Reddick, The University of Texas at San Antonio, USA, Manuel Pedro Rodríguez Bolívar, University of Granada, Spain, and Hans Jochen Scholl, University of Washington, USA
To be published by Springer Nature
http://www.springer.com/series/10796


Introduction

Blockchain has received significant attention in the area of financial technology (FinTech). As disruptive innovation of the Internet era it combines several computer technologies, including distributed data storage, point-to-point transmission, consensus mechanisms, and encryption algorithms (Zhang, 2016). Initially, Blockchain technology has been used to record historical transactions of encrypted digital money such as Bitcoin (Nakamoto, 2008). However, due to its key characteristic of immutability, i.e., an append-only record system, Blockchain technology has further developed beyond virtual currencies combining existing technologies for recording a range of different types of business transactions.

Blockchain is transforming industries by enabling innovative business practices in areas such as remittance, payment, banking, financing, trading, manufacturing, supply chain management, legal service, among others. Recently, public administrations have been introducing Blockchain technologies to areas, in which actors must reliably record decentralized transactions, in particular, in environments where not all parties, whether humans or machines, can be fully trusted. Blockchain technology has been portrayed as a universal, evolving, open and transparent, robust infrastructure that cannot be easily corrupted (Ølnes & Jansen, 2018). Given the trustworthiness and security, the use of Blockchain can help increase citizens’ trust in government information. It might enable the coordination of transactions and information exchanges within the emerging “Internet of Things”, or, it also might have uses in digital identification and voting systems (Pilkington, 2016).

However, while many potential benefits in digital government have been identified, it is important that researchers begin discussing challenges, benefits, regulations, frameworks, taxonomies, and applications of Blockchain technologies in the public domain.

Objectives

This edited book will have high-quality chapter contributions from leading scholars and practitioners on the theoretical, empirical, experimental, and application-oriented research on Blockchain and other distributed ledger technologies (DLT) and the public sector. There will be submissions presenting cases and applications of Blockchain addressing challenges; and/or presenting information frameworks or taxonomies for government transparency, accountability and security; and/or describing the role of Blockchain architectures and applications to comply with societal needs and public values; and/or describing experiences in designing, implementing and using Blockchain and smart contract applications to solve real world problems.

Intended Audience

This book will be a convenient source of information on the need to define Blockchain and the need of transforming governments to foster public policies with the aim at creating greater value. In this regard, the book will provide the most up-to-date information on important developments regarding Blockchain in government around the world.

This book should prove valuable to many different stakeholders such as academics, researchers, policy-makers, public managers, international organizations and technical experts in understanding how Blockchain can enhance public service delivery.

Therefore, this book will focus on understanding how to define Blockchain by improving transparency, efficiency, cybersecurity, and governance in government. This book will also provide insightful analysis about the organizational issues that public managers and politicians have to deal with the introduction of Blockchain technologies to achieve better public service delivery.

The chapters of this book will be written by international experts and practitioners on the implementation and study of Blockchain technologies in different countries. More concretely, contributions from academics and researchers on Blockchain are welcome to answer the research questions posed in this book proposal. Also, consultants and experts in Blockchain could contribute to the book with their experience in the implementation of Blockchain technologies into government. Public managers and politicians can contribute with their point of view about their experiences in management and in the organizational issues that can help the creation of public value through Blockchain. Finally, researchers of other fields of knowledge different from public administration or computer science will be much value to define the concept and scope of Blockchain. In any case, the book will emphasize the need to consider the contexts of government initiatives.

Recommended Topics and Themes

Prospective authors are encouraged to submit proposals on one of the following topics, or suggest other potential topics:
•Blockchain technologies as support infrastructure in Digital Government
services.
•Blockchain in reorganizing and replacing public registries.
•Blockchain in public procurement.
•Applications of Blockchain and smart contracts.
•Transaction process changes via Blockchain.
•New taxonomies of Blockchain technologies in Digital Government.
•New models for digital currencies that exploit Blockchain and smart
contracts.
•Socio-economic implications of Blockchain technology.
•Accountability, information disclosure and integrity issues using
•Blockchain technologies in the public sector.
•Changes in information governance models using Blockchain technologies.
•Trust models and trust in public sector management.
•Legislative and statutory changes as prerequisites for Blockchain implementations
•Regulation and law enforcement in Blockchain technologies.
•Blockchain and network big data (for example, big data analytics).
•Blockchain and the Internet of Things.
•Encryption and other technologies in Blockchain.
•Data consistency in Blockchain.
•Information privacy versus “right-to-know” in Blockchain.
•Blockchain in next generation mobile communication networks.
•Blockchain and smart cities.
•Technical and other vulnerabilities of Blockchain architectures

Submission Procedure

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before September 30, 2019, a 2-page chapter proposal clearly explaining the  mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter and how it fits within the edited book. Authors of accepted  proposals will be notified by October 15, 2019 about the status of  their proposals and sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected  to be submitted by January 31st, 2020. All submitted chapters will be subject to peer review.

Paper Requirements

Papers accepted must be copyedited by an English copy-editor to make  sure that an author's raw text, or copy, is correct in terms of spelling  and grammar and is easy to read so that readers can grasp his or her  ideas. In addition, papers must follow APA style for writing and  reference citations.  This book is scheduled to be published by Springer Nature, publisher of the Public Administration and Information Technology (http://www.springer.com/series/10796) book series. This publication is anticipated to be released in 2020.

Important Dates and Deadlines

September 30, 2019 Proposal Submission Deadline
October 15, 2019: Notification of Proposal Acceptance
January 31, 2020: Full Chapter Submission
March 15, 2020: Reviewer Comments
April 15, 2020: Revised Chapter Submission along with Response to
Reviewer Comments
May 15, 2020: Notification of Chapter Acceptance
May 31, 2020: Final Chapter Submission along with signed Copyright
Agreement
June 15, 2020: Final Deadline

Inquiries and chapter proposal submissions can be sent electronically (Word
document) to:

Christopher Reddick
e-mail: chris.reddick at utsa.edu<mailto:chris.reddick at utsa.edu>

References
Nakamoto, S. (2008). Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system.
Ølnes, S., & Jansen, A. (2018, May). Blockchain technology as infrastructure in public sector: an analytical framework. In Proceedings of the 19th Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research: Governance in the Data Age (p. 77). ACM.
Pilkington, M. (2016). Blockchain technology: principles and applications. In: Xavier Olleros F, Majlinda Z (eds) Research Handbook on Digital Transformations. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, U.K.
Zhang, E. (2016). Antshares Whitepaper1.0.