Blockchain and Web 3.0


Book Description

Blockchain is no longer just about bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general. Instead, it can be seen as a disruptive, revolutionary technology which will have major impacts on multiple aspects of our lives. The revolutionary power of such technology compares with the revolution sparked by the World Wide Web and the Internet in general. Just as the Internet is a means of sharing information, so blockchain technologies can be seen as a way to introduce the next level: sharing value. Blockchain and Web 3.0 fills the gap in our understanding of blockchain technologies by hosting a discussion of the new technologies in a variety of disciplinary settings. Indeed, this volume explains how such technologies are disruptive and comparatively examines the social, economic, technological and legal consequences of these disruptions. Such a comparative perspective has previously been underemphasized in the debate about blockchain, which has subsequently led to weaknesses in our understanding of decentralized technologies. Underlining the risks and opportunities offered by the advent of blockchain technologies and the rise of Web 3.0, this book will appeal to researchers and academics interested in fields such as sociology and social policy, cyberculture, new media and privacy and data protection.







Semantics Empowered Web 3.0


Book Description

After the traditional document-centric Web 1.0 and user-generated content focused Web 2.0, Web 3.0 has become a repository of an ever growing variety of Web resources that include data and services associated with enterprises, social networks, sensors, cloud, as well as mobile and other devices that constitute the Internet of Things. These pose unprecedented challenges in terms of heterogeneity (variety), scale (volume), and continuous changes (velocity), as well as present corresponding opportunities if they can be exploited. Just as semantics has played a critical role in dealing with data heterogeneity in the past to provide interoperability and integration, it is playing an even more critical role in dealing with the challenges and helping users and applications exploit all forms of Web 3.0 data. This book presents a unified approach to harness and exploit all forms of contemporary Web resources using the core principles of ability to associate meaning with data through conceptual or domain models and semantic descriptions including annotations, and through advanced semantic techniques for search, integration, and analysis. It discusses the use of Semantic Web standards and techniques when appropriate, but also advocates the use of lighter weight, easier to use, and more scalable options when they are more suitable. The authors' extensive experience spanning research and prototypes to development of operational applications and commercial technologies and products guide the treatment of the material. Table of Contents: Role of Semantics and Metadata / Types and Models of Semantics / Annotation -- Adding Semantics to Data / Semantics for Enterprise Data / Semantics for Services / Semantics for Sensor Data / Semantics for Social Data / Semantics for Cloud Computing / Semantics for Advanced Applications




The Blockchain and the New Architecture of Trust


Book Description

How the blockchain—a system built on foundations of mutual mistrust—can become trustworthy The blockchain entered the world on January 3, 2009, introducing an innovative new trust architecture: an environment in which users trust a system—for example, a shared ledger of information—without necessarily trusting any of its components. The cryptocurrency Bitcoin is the most famous implementation of the blockchain, but hundreds of other companies have been founded and billions of dollars have been invested in similar applications since Bitcoin’s launch. Some see the blockchain as offering more opportunities for criminal behavior than benefits to society. In this book, Kevin Werbach shows how a technology resting on foundations of mutual mistrust can become trustworthy. The blockchain, built on open software and decentralized foundations that allow anyone to participate, seems like a threat to any form of regulation. In fact, Werbach argues, law and the blockchain need each other. Blockchain systems that ignore law and governance are likely to fail, or to become outlaw technologies irrelevant to the mainstream economy. That, Werbach cautions, would be a tragic waste of potential. If, however, we recognize the blockchain as a kind of legal technology that shapes behavior in new ways, it can be harnessed to create tremendous business and social value.




Engineering


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The Brickbuilder


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Global Perspectives on Sustainable Library Practices


Book Description

Libraries as social and service-based institutions are constantly seeking innovative and effective ways to meet the needs of their users and maintain relevance amidst alternative information sources. They are constantly adjusting to meet the needs of users, contribute to the personal development of users, and alight with national development. All of these have placed a burden on libraries to engage in sustainable practices both to increase their capacity to drive current developmental endeavors and to sustain future relevance. Global Perspectives on Sustainable Library Practices provides a rich and robust knowledge resource that brings together diverse sustainable library practices that will revamp library operations towards optimally meeting the current objectives of libraries as a developmental institution as well as sustaining value for future operations and service transactions. Covering topics such as access efficacy, green space development, and library service delivery, this premier reference source is an essential resource for librarians, library administrators, educators and administration of both K-12 and higher education, students of library sciences, pre-service teachers, researchers, and academicians.