[AISWorld] Special Issue on Blockchain Innovations: Business Opportunities and Management Challenges - Information and Management (I&M) ***Submission Deadline 20 July 2020***

[Eric Lim]

==Special Issue Call for Papers (CFP): Information and Management (I&M)==
Blockchain Innovations: Business Opportunities and Management Challenges
Links: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/information-and-management/call-for-papers
https://www.journals.elsevier.com/information-and-management/call-for-papers/call-for-papers-blockchain-innovations

==Guest Editors==
Prof. Shun Cai – Department of Management Science, Xiamen University, China– [caishun at xmu.edu.cn]
Dr. Jie (Joseph) Yu – Nottingham University Business School China, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Ningbo, China – [jie.yu at nottingham.edu.cn]
Dr. Eric Lim – School of Information Systems and Technology Management, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia - [e.t.lim at unsw.edu.au]
Prof. Virpi Kristiina Tuunainen – Department of Information and Service Management, Aalto University School of Business, Finland - [virpi.tuunainen at aalto.fi]

==Important Dates==
- Submission opens: 20 May 2020
- Submission deadline:  20 July 2020
- First round review decision to authors: 20 October 2020
- Revised manuscript due: 20 Jan 2021
- Second round review decision to authors: 20 April 2021
- Final revised manuscript due: 20 May 2021
- Final author notification of acceptance: 20 June 2021

==Introduction==
Blockchain was originally conceptualized by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 as the core component to support transactions of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin. Blockchain was meant to serve as an open ledger for all transactions within a network of users to resolve the double-spend problem by combining peer-to-peer technology with public-key cryptography [1-2]. Literally, a Blockchain, as the name suggests, consists of a chain of blocks of information related to e.g. Bitcoin transactions. How these blocks of information could be added to a Blockchain is governed by a stringent set of protocols that dictates how the validity of each block is verified and stored to ensure that the blocks of information cannot be altered or erased without raising any alarms within the network. The program algorithms and the computational infrastructure of creating, inserting, and using the blocks are considered as the Blockchain technology [2].

It has been widely postulated that Blockchain as a technology has the potential to change the way transactions are conducted in business and even in people’s everyday life and redefine how organizations and societies operate. The application of Blockchain technology is not limited to keeping transaction records of cryptocurrencies, but is increasingly being applied to various environments where protecting and managing digital assets and keeping records of them in immutable forms [2-3] is important.

While the Blockchain technology has generated enormous impacts in many aspects of business and our lives, research on the Blockchain technology in the Information Systems discipline is still sparse. In particular, little is known about the technical and organizational factors influencing the technical applications and management decisions in adopting this technology and in how this technology could be utilized in addressing different current and emerging issues. Although we share the enthusiasm for its potential to impact how societies function, we are at the same time, wary of the hype that often comes with new technologies. A look back at earlier research on technological innovations indicates that if there were to be a “Blockchain revolution”, there is still a need to overcome many barriers that could be technological, governmental, organizational, and societal in nature.

The goal of this special issue in Information and Management is to foster investigations in Blockchain innovations and to provide an opportunity to assess if and how our earlier knowledge on managing other types of information systems can provide the basis for understanding novel technological, organizational and societal settings involving Blockchain technology. This special issue is focused on contributions that draw upon and contribute to the stock of knowledge within the IS discipline, and incorporate management-oriented approaches into the Blockchain research.

The special issue welcomes contributions in the following technological and management themes, but is not limited to them:

•	Changes to business systems, models, applications, and value creation processes enabled or induced by Blockchain.  
•	Evaluation and governance of Blockchain for compliances.
•	Blockchain and its implications for managing policy, legislation, ethical, moral, and societal norms.
•	Transparency, anonymity, information and privacy control, and fairness in next-generation Blockchain
•	Societal issues related to the use of Blockchain
•	Financial systems and Blockchain
•	Supply chains and Blockchain
•	Blockchain based knowledge and innovation management

References:
[1] Swan M. Blockchain: Blueprint for a New Economy. O’Reilly Media, Inc., 2015.
[2] Zhao, J. L., Fan, S. & Yan, J. Overview of business innovations and research opportunities in blockchain and introduction to the special issue, Financial Innovation, 2016, 2:28, 2-7.
[3] Iansiti, M. & Lakhani, K. R. The Truth About Blockchain, Harvard Business Review, 2017 January-Febuary, 1-11

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Dr. Eric T.K. Lim 林芷光
Senior Lecturer
School of Information Systems and Technology Management
Partner - Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre (CRC)
Honorary Associate Professor in Information Systems - The University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC)

E: e.t.lim at unsw.edu.au
W: www.unsw.edu.au <http://www.unsw.edu.au/>

Web UNSW: https://www.business.unsw.edu.au/our-people/eric-t-k-lim
Web UNSW Research: https://research.unsw.edu.au/people/dr-eric-tze-kuan-lim
Web UNNC: https://www.nottingham.edu.cn/en/business/people/academic/erictzekuanlim.aspx
Twitter: https://twitter.com/limerictk
LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/erictklim

Research Interests:
FinTech, Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, Cashless Society, Digital Innovations,
Sharing Economy, Big Data, Internet of Things