Submission deadline: CLOSED
Publication date: July/August 2019
IT Professional plans a July/August 2019 special issue on research challenges, opportunities, and risks in using blockchain technologies in the era of the Internet of Everything.
Digital systems operation, services, and management (including those over the web) will change significantly as a result of the emergence and popularity of blockchain techniques. By allowing digital information to be distributed but not copied, blockchain created a new backbone for collaboration over the Internet. Originally devised for the digital currency Bitcoin, blockchain is now used in many innovative technologies. The basic mechanism of blockchain is to provide a distributed, authenticated messaging system that tracks all events and is tamper-resistant while maintaining a log of collaboration and transactions. Blockchain technology in that sense is a form of distributed ledger technology (DLT) that acts as an open and trusted record of transactions from one party to another (or multiple parties) and is not stored by a central authority. Instead, a copy is stored by each user running blockchain software and connected to a blockchain network, also known as a node. All nodes have a copy of the ledger and updates to the ledger are propagated throughout the network in seconds, enforcing the approved contract between the collaborators. However, the application of blockchain will exhibit a variety of complicated problems and new requirements, which brings more open issues and challenges for research communities.
The guest editors of this special issue aim to bring together the latest advances, experiences, findings, and developments related to blockchain, DLT, and smart contracts and how these can be useful in service of automated or smart systems in the era of blockchain and Internet of Everything (IoE) convergence.
This special issue aims to collect contributions from researchers and practitioners (from academia and industry) to focus on the new challenges, opportunities, and risks posed by the novel technologies and applications that are based on the blockchain infrastructure. The goal is to improve the state of the art on theory, progress, development, deployment, and the practical usage of blockchain technologies and smart contracts in the era of IoE. Additional topics for this special issue could include:
- blockchain and IoE convergence;
- blockchain for IoE device identification, authentication, authorization, and access control;
- IoE data security using blockchain;
- blockchain and mobile systems;
- vehicular services based on blockchain;
- use of blockchain to support mobile smart services and applications;
- blockchain in crowdsourcing and crowd sensing;
- blockchain in 5G;
- blockchain in edge and cloud computing;
- use of blockchain in smart cities;
- blockchain schemes for decentralization;
- blockchain-inspired or alternative byzantine fault tolerance;
- IoE sensor data storage and management using blockchain;
- IoE sensor data privacy preserving using blockchain;
- IoE device identity management using blockchain;
- IoE data provenance using blockchain;
- IoE supply chain management using blockchain;
- location-aware smart contracts;
- location verification for smart contracts;
- semantic sensor networks and event detection for smart contracts;
- producer ownership of volunteered geographic information; and
- legal risks and social implications of smart contracts on public blockchains.
Only submissions that describe previously unpublished, original, state-of-the-art research and that are not currently under review by a conference or journal will be considered. Extended versions of conference papers must be at least 30 percent different from the original conference works.
Feature articles should be no longer than 4,200 words and have no more than 20 references (with tables and figures counting as 300 words each). For author guidelines, including sample articles, see www.computer.org/publications/author-resources/peer-review/magazines.
All manuscripts must be submitted to ScholarOne Manuscripts (https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/itpro-cs) by the deadline in order to be considered for publication. Submissions are subject to peer review on both technical merit and relevance to IT Pro’s readership.
Articles should be understandable by a broad audience of computer science and engineering professionals, avoiding a focus on theory, mathematics, jargon, and abstract concepts.
Questions?
Please direct any correspondence before submission to the guest editors Jinan Fiaidhi and Jeffrey Voas at it4-2019@computer.org.
For author guidelines and information on how to submit a manuscript, visit www.computer.org/publications/author-resources/peer-review/magazines. For full paper submission, please visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/itpro-cs.
