We are pleased to announce that the next Recordkeeping Roundtable event will be an exploration of blockchain technology, its applications and implications.

Many people regard bitcoin and its foundational technology blockchain as the most exciting online innovations we have seen since the invention World Wide Web. Banks, governments and others are clamouring to use it as a basis for new, simple and low cost ways of doing business. Others see its potential for breaking down barriers of entry to marketplaces and the commons, bringing about a potentially fairer society in which value can be exchanged without the need for intermediaries.

At its core, blockchain is about recordkeeping. Applications built on blockchain technology are about recordkeeping. Blockchain offers a model for peer to peer business in which trust is not required, and integrity and longevity of evidence of business is guaranteed.

What does this all mean for recordkeeping professionals? Are our models and tools now hopelessly out of date? Or will these new modes of business be better implemented and managed if we apply what we know in this new world? Could blockchain technology find its way into the creation of independent archives for communities without the means to protect and manage records for the long term using existing methods?

In this session we will offer simple explanations of the philosophy and technology of blockchain, explore some of its most interesting and widely adopted applications, and consider the legal/governance issues that it raises.

Panel:

• Peter Van Garderen

Peter Van Garderen is the former president of Artefactual Systems and the original developer of the open-source Archivematica and ICA-AtoM software systems which are used to manage hundreds of archival holdings worldwide. Peter now works as an independent information management consultant and continues to develop and research technologies that impact how records are managed and used. He acquired his first Bitcoin in 2011.

http://vangarderen.net // https://www.linkedin.com/in/petervangarderen

Peter will by joining us live by Skype.

• Payal Kapur

Payal is a qualified lawyer, having practiced law in India and Dubai before moving to New Zealand where she did her LL.M. She is presently with Allen Legal Sydney, as a consultant. With a background in Economics, Political Science, Corporate and Commercial Law and Human Rights Law, Payal is keen to see how technological changes play out in the politico-economic scenario, in keeping with the law. In her spare time, Payal writes poetry and hopes to acquire some Bitcoin!

https://au.linkedin.com/in/payalkapur

• Hugo O'Connor

Hugo is a computer Science undergraduate with an interest in crypto-systems, social justice, history, cocktails, film, identity, social business, and entrepreneurship. Co-founder at Bit Trade Australia, a fixed-price bitcoin exchange. Co-founder and developer at Bit Trade Labs. Hugo will be demonstrating a prototype distributed identity system utilising blockchain technology.

http://hugo.net.au/

Moderator: The Recordkeeping Roundtable's Cassie Findlay