Dear Colleagues,

Blockchain innovates in three simple but powerful directions. First, the way records are kept excludes tempering; second, it assures trust in the transactions amongst strangers; and third, it offers transparency and much greater safety/security than the traditional Internet. Blockchain has been called “the next generation of the internet” and alternatively “the Internet of value”, aiming to revolutionize the Internet of today by exploiting its three breakthrough innovations. There are still problems to be solved and challenges to be overcome, but similar ones were faced in the early 1990s when the Internet was in a comparable stage to that of today’s blockchain.

It is the purpose of this Special Issue to cover all aspects of blockchain technology. Authors are encouraged to submit articles that include existing problems/challenges together with suggestions of how they could be dealt with, as well as covering its revolutionary future prospects and their implications for real-life applications upon which the Special Issue editors have placed special emphasis. The list of topics below is indicative but not exhaustive of the papers to be submitted for possible publication in this Special Issue.

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List of Topics
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- Blockchain in 2018 versus the Internet in the early 1990s;
- Blockchain as a disruptive technology;
- Exploiting the advantages of blockchain while avoiding its drawbacks;
- Blockchain security;
- Blockchain exploiting bitcoin technology but not bound by it;
- Challenges to be addressed for blockchain mass adoption;
- Blockchain Breakthroughs
- Smart contracts;
- Supply chain;
- Internet of Things (IoT);
- Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO);
- Blockchain Applications
- Banking;
- Finance;
- Insurance;
- Health care;
- Supply chain;
- Shipping;
- Land registry;
- Certification;
- Blockchain Startups and how they are revolunizing blockchain applications (founders of such startups are encourage to submit papers of their goals and how they expect to add value to blockchain applications).

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Bibliography
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1. Yli-Huumo, J.; Ko, D.; Choi, S.; Park, S.; Smolander, K. Where Is Current Research on Blockchain Technology? - A Systematic Review. PLoS ONE , 2016, 11, e0163477, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0163477.
2. Guang, C.; Xu, B.; Lu, M.; Chen, N.S. Exploring blockchain technology and its potential applications for education. Learn. Environ. 2018, 5, 1, doi:10.1186/s40561-017-0050.
3. Makridakis S.; Polemitis A.; Giaglis G.; Louca S. Blockchain: The Next Breakthrough in the Rapid Progress of AI. Robot. Autom. Eng. J. 2018, 2, 1–12.
4. Schwab, K. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, Crown Business. Available online: https://www.weforum.org/about/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-by-klaus-schwab (accessed on 29 December 2018).
5. Christidis, K.; Devetsikiotis, M. Blockchains and Smart Contracts for the Internet of Things. Ieee Access 2016, 4, 2292–2303, doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2016.2566339.

Prof. Dr. Spyros Makridakis
Dr. Klitos Christodoulou

University of Nicosia,
Institute For the Future (IFF),

Guest Editors