Blockchain and the future of distributed computing
Although the blockchain is technically a distributed system, there has been a surprising lack interest from the distributed systems community. Catherine Mulligan explores the implications of the blockchain to distributed systems and explains what needs to be addressed in order to build and maintain them effectively.
| Talk Title | Blockchain and the future of distributed computing |
| Speakers | catherine mulligan (Imperial College) |
| Conference | O’Reilly Velocity Conference |
| Conf Tag | Build Resilient Distributed Systems |
| Location | London, United Kingdom |
| Date | October 18-20, 2017 |
| URL | Talk Page |
| Slides | Talk Slides |
| Video | |
The blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) have drawn considerable attention due to their potential to disrupt traditional business processes. From a very simplistic perspective, a blockchain allows untrusting parties with common interests to cocreate a permanent, unchangeable, and transparent record of exchange and processing. The technology has now moved far beyond its origins in bitcoin; multiple commercial organizations, industrial bodies, and governments are now investigating how to apply these technologies not just to reduce costs but also to remove friction from internal and external markets for both data and security. Although the blockchain is technically a distributed system, there has been a surprising lack interest from the distributed systems community. Catherine Mulligan explores the implications of the blockchain to distributed systems and explains what needs to be addressed in order to build and maintain them effectively.
