open blockchain project full details
Champion:
John Domingue
Professor of Computer Science
Participant(s):Michelle Bachler, Kevin Quick, Robert Herian, Keerthi Thomas, Chris Valentine, Marc Eisenstadt
Share:
Open Blockchain
Investigating The Potential Of Blockchains
A blockchain is a publicly shared immutable ledger � an append only log of transactions which uses crypto-currency techniques to minimise any security risk. Transactions are contained in blocks which are linked together through a series of hash pointers. Any tampering of a block can be detected since the hash pointer to it would no longer be valid. As a ledger system it is very open. In addition to the source code being openly available a key feature of blockchains is that in principle every user has their own copy of the entire blockchain. In fact, there is no central or master copy simply the multiple copies held by the volunteers in the user community. Volunteers are rewarded for their effort through a number of algorithmic processes which can result in payment. Small payments can be attached to individual transactions. Consensus on what types of blocks and transactions can be part of the blockchain is automatically reached according to whether the majority of blockchain holders accept newly proposed blocks. This attribute leads to a system where consensus is hardwired into the software. Without the need for any central control or mediator blockchains allow for leaderless democracy - a new way of governing human behaviour online through "one computer one vote". In this way, a blockchain can act as a provenance protocol for sharing data across disparate semi-trusting organizations.
News
06 Feb 2025
KMi News
20 Mar 2024
KMi News
14 Aug 2023
KMi News
02 Dec 2022
KMi News
11 Oct 2022
KMi News
Antonini, A., Coşar, S., Naja, I., Muhammad Salman, H., Jamie, M., Pasquale, I. and Giacinto, B. (2025). Smartphone as a Sensor in mHealth: Narrative Overview, SWOT Analysis, and Proposal of Mobile Biomarkers. Sensors, 25(12), https://oro.open.ac.uk/104648/.
Nambanoor Kunnath, S., Pride, D. and Knoth, P. (2022). Dynamic Context Extraction for Citation Classification. In: The 2nd Conference of the Asia-Pacific Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics and the 12th International Joint Conference on Natural Language Processing, 20-23 Nov 2022, Virtual. https://oro.open.ac.uk/85520/.
Kunnath, S.N., Herrmannova, D., Pride, D. and Knoth, P. (2022). A Meta-analysis of Semantic Classification of Citations. Quantitative Science Studies, 2(4), pp. 1170–1215. https://oro.open.ac.uk/79616/.
Khare, P. (2020). Identifying and Processing Crisis Information from Social Media. [Thesis] https://oro.open.ac.uk/69594/.
Chamberlain, L., Afroze, J., Cooper, V. and Collins, T. (2019). Representing children's rights from discussion through to illustration and interpretation. The Open University Children’s Research Centre and Amnesty UK International, Milton Keynes. https://oro.open.ac.uk/68276/.
Kear, K., Smith, A., Donelan, H., Mikroyannidis, A., Jones, A., Rosewell, J., Wermelinger, M., Connolly, T., Sanders, C., Peasgood, A., Williams, J., Moss, N. and Third, A. (2019). An Open Networking Lab for practical open education. In: OER19: Recentering Open, 10-11 Apr 2019, National University of Ireland, Galway. https://oro.open.ac.uk/60483/.
Kear, K., Smith, A., Mikroyannidis, A., Jones, A., Rosewell, J., Donelan, H., Wermelinger, M., Sanders, C., Third, A. and Connolly, T. (2018). The Open Networking Lab: an open online course for experiential learning of computer networking. In: Association for Learning Technology (ALT) annual conference 2018, 11-13 Sep 2018, Manchester. https://oro.open.ac.uk/57452/.
Rosewell, J., Kear, K., Jones, A., Smith, A., Donelan, H., Mikroyannidis, A., Peasgood, A., Sanders, C., Third, A., Wermelinger, M., Moss, N., Williams, J. and Connolly, T. (2018). Open Networking Lab: online practical learning of computer networking. In: The Online, Open and Flexible Higher Education Conference: Blended and online Learning: Changing the Educational Landscape, 10-12 Oct 2018, Aarhus University, Denmark. https://oro.open.ac.uk/56857/.
Holliman, R., Davies, G., Pearson, V., Collins, T., Sheridan, S., Brown, H., Hallam, J. and Russell, M. (2017). Planning for engaged research: a collaborative ‘Labcast’. In: Kucirkova, Natalia and Quinlan, Oliver eds. The Digitally Agile Researcher. London: Open University Press, pp. 88–106. https://oro.open.ac.uk/50411/.
Grand, A., Holliman, R., Collins, T. and Adams, A. (2016). "We muddle our way through": shared and distributed expertise in digital engagement with research. Journal of Science Communication, 15(4), pp. 1–23. https://oro.open.ac.uk/46686/.
d'Aquin, M. (2016). On the Use of Linked Open Data in Education: Current and Future Practices. In: Mouromtsev, Dmitry and d'Aquin, Mathieu eds. Open Data for Education: Linked, Shared, and Reusable Data for Teaching and Learning. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (9500). Springer, pp. 3–15. https://oro.open.ac.uk/46309/.
Mouromtsev, D. and d'Aquin, M.E. (2016). Open Data for Education: Linked, Shared, and Reusable Data for Teaching and Learning. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 9500. Springer. https://oro.open.ac.uk/46308/.
Pontika, N., Knoth, P., Cancellieri, M. and Pearce, S. (2015). Fostering Open Science to Research using a Taxonomy and an eLearning Portal. In: iKnow: 15th International Conference on Knowledge Technologies and Data Driven Business, 21-22 Oct 2015, Graz, Austria. https://oro.open.ac.uk/44719/.
Holliman, R., Adams, A., Blackman, T., Collins, T., Davies, G., Dibb, S., Grand, A., Holti, R., Mckerlie, F., Mahony, N. and Wissenburg, A.E. (2015). An Open Research University. Milton Keynes: The Open University. https://oro.open.ac.uk/44255/.
Zerr, S., d'Aquin, M., Marenzi, I., Taibi, D., Adamou, A. and Dietze, S. (2014). Towards analytics and collaborative exploration of social and linked media for technology-enchanced learning scenarios. In: 1st International Workshop on Dataset PROFIling & fEderated Search for Linked Data co-located with the 11th Extended Semantic Web Conference, PROFILES@ESWC 2014, 26 May 2014, Anissaras, Crete, Greece. https://oro.open.ac.uk/42050/.
Hassler, B., Hennessy, S., Knight, S. and Connolly, T. (2014). Developing an open resource bank for interactive teaching of STEM: perspectives of school teachers and teacher educators. Journal of Interactive Media in Education https://oro.open.ac.uk/39308/.
Mikroyannidis, A., Okada, A., Scott, P., Rusman, E., Specht, M., Stefanov, K., Boytchev, P., Protopsaltis, A., Held, P., Hetzner, S., Kikis-Papadakis, K. and Chaimala, F. (2013). weSPOT: A personal and social approach to inquiry-based learning. Journal of Universal Computer Science, 19(14), pp. 2093–2111. https://oro.open.ac.uk/39263/.
Mikroyannidis, A. (2013). A personalised approach in informal and inquiry-based learning. In: 5th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU 2013), 06-08 May 2013, Aachen, Germany. https://oro.open.ac.uk/39234/.
Rizzardini, R.H., Linares, B.H., Mikroyannidis, A. and Schmitz, H.C. (2013). Cloud services, interoperability and analytics within a ROLE-enabled personal learning environment. Journal of Universal Computer Science, 19(14), pp. 2054–2074. https://oro.open.ac.uk/39235/.
Gaved, M., Heath, T. and Eisenstadt, M. (2006). Wikis of Locality: Insights from the Open Guides. In: ACM 2006 International Symposium on Wikis: WikiSym '06, 21-23 Aug 2006, Odense, Denmark. https://oro.open.ac.uk/6206/.
