Guest Editorial Introduction to the Special Section on Blockchain in Future Networks and Vertical Industries

Abstract

The articles in this special section focus on blockchain deployment in future networks and vertical industries. Blockchain has been successfully applied into a number of sectors, including finance, energy, logistics and supply chains, due to its ability of creating a tamper-proof digital ledger of transactions and the resulting novel trust mechanisms. Future networks will be heterogeneous, connecting together satellite, 5G, the Internet, marine networks, and so on; security and trust management is a major issue in such kind of integrated converged networks. Blockchain technology is a promising solution to achieve the desired level of security and trust in future networks, e.g., reliable network data collection and network trust evaluation. However, the application of blockchain technology in 5G, vertical industries and future heterogeneous networks is still in its infancy. Many challenging issues need to be resolved before its application can be deployed in real-world networking environments.