Deadline Extension: Special Issue on Blockchain-Based Decentralised Solutions

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Call for Papers: Special Issue on Blockchain-Based Decentralised Solutions for Learner Empowerment, Education Reengineering and Public Sector Transformation

Deadline extension: February 28, 2022 (Final deadline)

To be published in the Elsevier Journal Blockchain: Research and Applications
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In an era that every single piece of information is digitised and exploited via innovative technological solutions in a variety of value-adding ways, education and employment credentials are largely resisting the pull of technology, as they are still held in diverse formats in siloed databases, often involving paper documentation and extremely time-consuming manual processes for their verification. The latter come mostly into the foreground when education and employment credentials are requested as a means of ratifying decisions, regarding personnel recruitment by public or private organisations, as well as admission in educational and training programmes.

The emergence of the blockchain holds the potential to revolutionise several aspects of education and employment, most notably the award, management and verification of qualifications. Blockchain technology offers a decentralised peer-to-peer infrastructure, where privacy, secure archiving, consensual ownership, transparency, accountability, identity management and trust are built-in, both at the software and infrastructure levels. Blockchain technology, as a decentralised, permanent and unalterable ledger can help with archiving and trust issues, as well as provide a frictionless method for transactions, whereas computational intelligence found in the technological domains of algorithmic techniques, data analytics and semantic analysis can facilitate decision making and optimise practices and procedures in education and employment.

This special issue explores how learner empowerment, education reengineering and public sector transformation can be achieved via blockchain-based decentralised solutions. These solutions cover a wide range of applications within education and employment, including the storing, sharing and verification of education and employment qualifications. Particular emphasis is given on the assessment of the potential of blockchain technology, algorithmic techniques and computational intelligence for disrupting the domain of public education, as well as its interfaces with private education, the labour market, public sector administrative procedures and the wider socio-economic developments.

Scope

The topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

- Methodologies and decentralised technological solutions for the archiving, management and verification of education and employment qualifications.

- Applications of blockchain technology and decentralisation in lifelong learning for transparent and immutable educational accreditation.

- Applications of blockchain technology and decentralisation in higher education processes for smart curriculum design and student accreditation.

- Applications of blockchain technology and decentralisation in public and private sector recruitment processes.

- Provision of competency management services and skill development services via blockchain-based decentralised solutions.

- Evaluation methodologies and impact assessment of blockchain-based decentralised solutions, algorithmic techniques and computational intelligence.

Manuscript Preparation and Submission Instructions

This journal is a peer reviewed, open access journal. For all articles submitted, Zhejiang University and Zhejiang University Press will cover the OA fee. Authors do not have to pay any open access publication fee.

Authors should follow the guidelines in “Guide for Authors” in the Blockchain: Research and Applications: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/blockchain-research-and-applications/. The papers submitted to this special issue will be reviewed following the standard peer-review procedures of the journal.

All manuscripts should be submitted in electronic form through the Editorial Manager web site: https://www.editorialmanager.com/bcra/default.aspx. When submitting your manuscript through the submission portal, please select the Article Type: “QualiChain”.

Important Dates

Extended submission deadline: February 28, 2022
Final decisions: May 1, 2022

Managing Guest Editor

Dr Alexander Mikroyannidis, The Open University, UK. alexander.mikroyannidis@open.ac.uk

Other Guest Editors

Dr Panagiotis Kokkinakos, National Technical University of Athens, Greece.
Dr Ingo Keck, TIB Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology, Germany.