Building Shared Guardianship through Blockchain Technology and Digital Museum Objects

This article considers the notion of shared guardianship in the context of digital museum objects and blockchain technology, arguing that this technology can contribute to the production of value in digital museum objects that goes beyond the monetary. Shared guardianship is understood to be a process of prioritizing the experience of others and forming a diverse set of stakeholders that transforms understandings around ownership; meanwhile, a blockchain is a type of distributed ledger technology which can be used to identify digital files and so make them feel ownable and authentic. As such, this paper argues that blockchain technology could create a new layer of materiality and value in digital museum objects which could support the formation of shared guardianship. This question will be analysed in relation to the theoretical underpinnings of digital materiality and a case study project at the National Museums Liverpool, UK, which investigated how to implement blockchain technology in the museum context in order to produce collective ownership and meaningful, connected digital objects

From truth to trust: the impact of blockchain traceability on trust in product authenticity

In the global marketplace, customers are increasingly unaware of the source, provenance, and authenticity of products. Early research has shown that the introduction of blockchain technology into the supply chain area can make it more transparent and trustworthy. As a platform that supports distributed, cryptographically secure, auditable transactions, blockchain has expanded from the domain of digital cryptocurrency into the domain of physical asset provenance and ownership tracking and tracing. This research examines blockchain support of trust in product authenticity adopting a two-paper dissertation format. In the first conceptual paper, I develop a conceptual framework on blockchain technology\u27s unique features and characteristics and how it can boost trust in product authenticity. The second paper adopts the conceptual framework to test through a vignette experiment the effects of blockchain traceability, product identification, and the interaction between them on trust in product origin authenticity. Academics can use this research to develop new instruments to inform practice about how blockchain can boost trust in product authenticity. Results from this study can inform managers considering investments into blockchain solutions and unique product identification as a customer product authenticity, brand protection, or anti-counterfeiting strategy

304.2 Using blockchain to engender trust in public digital archives

Archives are special – the homes of our collective memories. Although the archive is still widely perceived as a trusted custodian, archivists are aware that they are working in a world in which digital content is increasingly questioned. Is the archive trusted because of its people and practices or because of the sheer practical impossibility of altering or manipulating kilometres of physical records? What is the digital equivalent? The emerging challenge around trust is particularly relevant in relation to public archives preserving records of contentious histories; terms such as “fake news” and “post-truth” are frequently heard in the context of national and international politics. How do we ensure that researchers continue to trust that the records have not been tampered with, or that a document can be verified as being the same as the archived original? The ARCHANGEL project is breaking new ground by using blockchain to record checksums and other metadata derived from either scanned physical or born-digital records to allow verification of their integrity over decade- or century- long timespans. This data is permanently preserved through peer-to-peer distribution and consensus checking without the need for a trusted third party

Using blockchain to engender trust in public digital archives: iPres 2018 - Boston

"Archives are special – the homes of our collective memories. Although the archive is still widely perceived as a trusted custodian, archivists are aware that they are working in a world in which digital content is increasingly questioned. Is the archive trusted because of its people and practices or because of the sheer practical impossibility of altering or manipulating kilometres of physical records? What is the digital equivalent? The emerging challenge around trust is particularly relevant in relation to public archives preserving records of contentious histories; terms such as “fake news” and “post-truth” are frequently heard in the context of national and international politics. How do we ensure that researchers continue to trust that the records have not been tampered with, or that a document can be verified as being the same as the archived original? The ARCHANGEL project is breaking new ground by using blockchain to record checksums and other metadata derived from either scanned physical or born-digital records to allow verification of their integrity over decade- or century- long timespans. This data is permanently preserved through peer-to-peer distribution and consensus checking without the need for a trusted third party.