Blockchain and libraries at IFLA

Blockchain is a revolutionary technology that has the potential to fundamentally change many industries, notably the publishing industry. This is also a topic of interest with the international library community. Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies (trends.ifla.org/node/428; trends.ifla.org/node/429) have been identified and reported on as emerging issues in the IFLA Trend Report 2016. The IFLA Committee on Copyright and other Legal Matters has also prepared a “Books in Blockchain” briefing on the topic in 2016 (goo.gl/nximQX).

A flash session on blockchain is planned for WLIC2018 in August in Malaysia.