Impressions from HICSS 51

Impressions from the “51st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences” and from Big Island. On the 4th of January, I presented “Knowledge Blockchains” at HICSS 51.

Following the presentation, we had an interesting discussion about the application of the approach in public and private blockchains as well as implementation aspects. Out of the papers of our minitrack Creation and Appropriation of Knowledge Systems, the paper was chosen by Prof. Smolnik as a nominee for the Best Paper Award in the Knowledge Innovation and Entrepreneurial Systems track. Due to an omission in the printed program I just found this out on Thursday (4th) – much to my delight.

Blockchain Contributions at HICSS 51

Regarding other paper sessions, the following minitracks were most interesting for me – for obvious reasons:

  1. Distributed Ledger Technology, the Blockchain
  2. Blockchain and Fintech
  3. The Digital Supply Chain of the Future

Personal highlights:

Overall, the link of blockchains and cryptocurrencies was part of many discussions, usually referring to Bitcoin as the predominant application. Multiple papers surveyed practitioners; it became clear that currency is the only application at this moment, while other approaches, e.g. for supply chains, are still only applied in the lab, even though the core technology of Bitcoin is now almost 10 years old.

The Big Island of Hawaii

Also, I very much enjoyed the setting of the conference hotel and the diverse nature of Big Island:

Hilton Conference Hotel Hilton Conference Hotel

Hilton Conference Hotel Hilton Conference Hotel

Waipio Valley Outlook Waipio Valley Outlook

Rainforest at Akaka Falls Rainforest at Akaka Falls

Sunset at Mauna Kea Sunset at Mauna Kea (4200 m)

Puu Oo Puu Oo Volcano

Kīlauea Iki Krater Kīlauea Iki Krater

Waipio Valley Waipio Valley