Contents -- About the Author -- About the Technical Reviewer -- Introduction -- Stage I: Terminology and Technical Foundations -- Step 1: Thinking in Layers and Aspects -- The Metaphor -- Layers of a Software System -- Application vs. Implementation -- Functional vs. Nonfunctional Aspects --...

Blockchains can be used as ledger systems that are verifiable, auditable, transparent, and run on a network of personal computers. Although best known as the computational underpinning of Bitcoin, they have applications beyond digital currency.They could transform contexts where verification of...

Technological innovation and consequential decentralisation are driving forces in the ongoing evolution and increasing openness of digital infrastructures and services. One of the most discussed and allegedly disruptive innovations is the distributed database technology referred to as...