Blockchain-Based Proof of Location

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Computer Science, University of Verona, 37134 Verona, Italy
Interests: data management; spatiotemporal information systems; big data and analytics; collaborative and distributed architectures; blockchain technology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, many applications of blockchain technology have been developed, from cryptocurrencies to smart contracts. A blockchain is essentially a temporally ordered list of permanent data blocks. At the core of blockchain technology, there is a decentralized emergent consensus protocol that enables a group of agents to reach an agreement about a global state by accepting data transmitted across an open byzantine peer-to-peer network.

A smart contract encodes a set of public functions that are executed by the platform when a certain event occurs. To be effective, a smart contract has to be able to interact with the surrounding environment. In particular, geographical positions together with time are probably the most important pieces of information that smart contracts need to access. For instance, a smart contract may be required to execute only when an agent is verifiably at a certain location.

The term proof of location (PoL) denotes the achievement of a consensus on whether an object or agent is verifiably at a certain point in space and time. This Special Issue will promote new and innovative studies about how PoL could be integrated and used in smart contracts and how to perform subsequent analyses on them.

I invite you to participate in this Special Issue with contributions related (but not limited) to the following topics:

  • Representing spatial information on the blockchain
  • Indexing spatial information on the blockchain
  • Handling geographic information uncertainty in smart contracts triggered by geospatial events
  • Big geo-data on the blockchain including integration with other distributed decentralized database systems
  • Distributed, peer-to-peer spatial data infrastructure
  • Location-aware smart contracts
  • Location verification for smart contracts
  • Producer ownership of volunteered geographic information
  • Peer-to-peer geospatial data and public participation GIS
  • Trust, reputation, and distributed consensus for geospatial information
  • Geospatial metadata and geo-privacy issues for data on distributed ledgers
  • Spatial applications of distributed ledger technology: for augmented reality, the internet of things, cloud computing, autonomous mobile systems, land ownership registry, environmental resource management, etc.
  • Spatial analysis of public blockchain networks and users

Assis. Prof. Sara Migliorini
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • proof of location
  • presence claim
  • spatiotemporal data
  • blockchain
  • smart contracts

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers

There is no accepted submissions to this special issue at this moment.
Back to TopTop