Blockchain technology has great potential to radically change our socio-economic systems by guaranteeing secure transactions between untrusted entities, reducing costs, and simplifying many processes. However, employing blockchain techniques in sustainable applications development for smart cities still has some technical challenges and limitations. Blockchain Technologies for Sustainable Development in Smart Cities investigates blockchain-enabled technology for smart city developments and big data applications. This book provides relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest empirical research findings in the area. Covering topics such as digital finance, smart city technology, and data processing architecture, this book is an essential reference for electricians, policymakers, local governments, city committees, computer scientists, IT professionals, professors and students of higher education, researchers, and academicians.

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through Finance, Technology and Law Reform Achieving the SDGs requires a fundamental rethink from businesses and governments across the globe. To make the ambitious goals a reality, trillions of dollars need to be harnessed to mobilise finance and accelerate progress towards the SDGs. Bringing together leaders from the World Bank, the financial and business sectors, the startup community and academia, this important, topically relevant volume explains what the SDGs are, how they came about and how they can be accelerated. Real-world case studies and authoritative insights address how to direct investment of existing financial resources and re-align the global financial system to reflect the SDGs. In depth chapters discuss how financial institutions, such as UBS Wealth Management, Manulife Asset Management and Moody’s Rating Agency are supporting the SDGs. The opportunities arising from Blockchain, Big Data, Digital Identity and cutting-edge FinTech and RegTech applications are explored, whilst the relevance of sustainable and transparent global supply chains is underscored. Significant attention is paid to law reform which can accelerate progress of the SDGs through SME Financing, Crowdfunding, Peer-to-Peer Lending and tax restructuring. To achieve the ‘World We Want’, much needs to be done. The recommendations contained within this book are critical for supporting a fundamental shift in thinking from business and governments around the world, and for building a more just and prosperous future for all.

The pressing challenge of aligning cutting-edge technologies with environmental sustainability has emerged as a pivotal issue. As the demand for green investment strategies intensifies, the need for a comprehensive understanding of how to integrate blockchain and digital twins into financial practices becomes increasingly urgent. The disconnect between these innovative technologies and sustainable finance practices is a gap that, if left unbridged, hampers progress toward a more environmentally responsible financial future. Harnessing Blockchain-Digital Twin Fusion for Sustainable Investments emerges as the solution to this critical problem. This book serves as a transformative guide, offering a deep dive into the synergy of blockchain and digital twins, providing real-world applications, case studies, and strategy frameworks. Tailored for academia, finance professionals, technologists, policymakers, and company leaders, this book bridges the gap between cutting-edge technologies and sustainable finance practices. It not only contributes to ongoing research but also acts as a catalyst for innovation, empowering individuals to make informed decisions in an evolving financial landscape with a heightened commitment to environmental responsibility. Embark on a journey with this groundbreaking resource, where technology meets sustainability, and discover how to reshape finance for a greener and more innovative future.

Handbook of Blockchain, Digital Finance, and Inclusion, Volume 2: ChinaTech, Mobile Security, and Distributed Ledger emphasizes technological developments that introduce the future of finance. Descriptions of recent innovations lay the foundations for explorations of feasible solutions for banks and startups to grow. The combination of studies on blockchain technologies and applications, regional financial inclusion movements, advances in Chinese finance, and security issues delivers a grand perspective on both changing industries and lifestyles. Written for students and practitioners, it helps lead the way to future possibilities. - Explains the practical consequences of both technologies and economics to readers who want to learn about subjects related to their specialties - Encompasses alternative finance, financial inclusion, impact investing, decentralized consensus ledger and applied cryptography - Provides the only advanced methodical summary of these subjects available today

Handbook of Blockchain, Digital Finance, and Inclusion, Volume 1: Cryptocurrency, FinTech, InsurTech, and Regulation explores recent advances in digital banking and cryptocurrency, emphasizing mobile technology and evolving uses of cryptocurrencies as financial assets. Contributors go beyond summaries of standard models to describe new banking business models that will be sustainable and will likely dictate the future of finance. The volume not only emphasizes the financial opportunities made possible by digital banking, such as financial inclusion and impact investing, but it also looks at engineering theories and developments that encourage innovation. Its ability to illuminate present potential and future possibilities make it a unique contribution to the literature. - Explores recent advances in digital banking and cryptocurrency, emphasizing mobile technology and evolving uses of cryptocurrencies as financial assets - Explains the practical consequences of both technologies and economics to readers who want to learn about subjects related to their specialties - Encompasses alternative finance, financial inclusion, impact investing, decentralized consensus ledger and applied cryptography - Provides the only advanced methodical summary of these subjects available today

In an increasingly digitalized economy and society, the security and accountability of data transactions are critical elements for creating trust and enabling breakthrough innovations in the digital world. In this regard, blockchain technology could be a game-changer, with the potential to revolutionize processes from finance to pharmaceutical industries, from public services to humanitarian work and development aid. The blockchain serves as the base technology for cryptocurrency, enabling open (peer-to-peer), secure and fast transactions. It can be used in many applications that could contribute to sustainable development. This publication explores how blockchain is potentially a key technology in a new technological paradigm of increasing automation and integrating physical and virtual worlds. Similar moments in the past technological revolutions offered windows of opportunity for some developing countries to catch up and others to forge ahead. Therefore, governments of developing countries should seek to strengthen their innovation systems to strategically position themselves to benefit from this new wave of technological change.

Education faces a pressing challenge in the digital era: effectively integrating new technologies and sustainable practices. Despite advances, many institutions need help to adapt, hindering their ability to prepare students for a rapidly changing world. This gap is exacerbated by the need for more cohesive strategies and resources, leaving educators and policymakers grappling with disparate approaches. The result is a disjointed landscape that fails to harness the full potential of digital tools and sustainable principles. Harnessing Green and Circular Skills for Digital Transformation presents a comprehensive solution by exploring innovative methodologies and practical tools. This book equips educators, policymakers, and stakeholders with the knowledge to bridge this gap. It offers a roadmap for implementing circular visions in education, fostering green practices, and leveraging digital technologies for sustainable development. The book provides actionable insights and best practices from around the globe through case studies, empirical studies, and comparative analyses.

Green Blockchain Technology for Sustainable Smart Cities presents a detailed exploration of the adaptation and implementation of green blockchain technology for sustainable and eco-friendly smart city applications. This book covers all aspects of the topic and explores smart cities ecosystem applications of blockchain technology. Novel architectural and business blockchain use case solutions in smart city implementations are at the core of this book, which will be beneficial for all researchers, engineers, graduate students, smart city practitioners, and city administrators who are engaged in green blockchain and smart cities-related technologies. - Covers a wide variety of topics - Offers readers multiple perspectives from a variety of disciplines - Written by an internationally diverse group of experts in their respective fields - Includes a section on use cases as well as current challenges and future directions

How the blockchain—a system built on foundations of mutual mistrust—can become trustworthy The blockchain entered the world on January 3, 2009, introducing an innovative new trust architecture: an environment in which users trust a system—for example, a shared ledger of information—without necessarily trusting any of its components. The cryptocurrency Bitcoin is the most famous implementation of the blockchain, but hundreds of other companies have been founded and billions of dollars have been invested in similar applications since Bitcoin’s launch. Some see the blockchain as offering more opportunities for criminal behavior than benefits to society. In this book, Kevin Werbach shows how a technology resting on foundations of mutual mistrust can become trustworthy. The blockchain, built on open software and decentralized foundations that allow anyone to participate, seems like a threat to any form of regulation. In fact, Werbach argues, law and the blockchain need each other. Blockchain systems that ignore law and governance are likely to fail, or to become outlaw technologies irrelevant to the mainstream economy. That, Werbach cautions, would be a tragic waste of potential. If, however, we recognize the blockchain as a kind of legal technology that shapes behavior in new ways, it can be harnessed to create tremendous business and social value.

Reimagining Digital Learning for Sustainable Development is a comprehensive playbook for education leaders, policy makers, and other key stakeholders leading the modernization of learning and development in their institutions as they build a high value knowledge economy and prepare learners for jobs that don't yet exist. Currently, nearly every aspect of human activity, including the ways we absorb and apply learning, is influenced by disruptive digital technologies. The jobs available today are no longer predicators of future employment, and current and future workforce members will need to augment their competencies through a lifetime of continuous upskilling and reskilling to meet the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This book features curated insights and real-world cases from thought leaders throughout the world and identifies major shifts in content formats, pedagogic approaches, technology frameworks, user and design experiences, and learner roles and expectations that will reshape our institutions, including those in emerging economies. The agile, lean, and cost-effective strategies proposed here will function in scalable and flexible bandwidth environments, enabling education leaders and practitioners to transform brick-and-mortar learning organizations into digital and blended ecosystems and to achieve the United Nation’s ambitious Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Chapter 18 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.