Blockchains in HR Presentation in Conference Organized by U of South Asia (Lahore, Pakistan)

If there is a silver lining to the current COVID-19 pandemic, it might be that more research is being shared around the world in cost-effective ways. Panelists from 10 countries presented their work on digital business topics that may impact their careers in the near future. The Conference, organized by Dr. Aamir Abbas Chaudhry dealt with Multidisciplinary Research & Perspectives for Innovative Higher Education, with the theme "Career Savvy". Academics based in Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Oman, Pakistan, Romania, Sri Lanka, the UK, and the USA collaborated in this, two-day academic event, free online to the general public (advanced registration required). The registration and summary webpage can be found here.


My presentation started at 9:10 am of Pakistan, which is nine hours ahead of the USA's Eastern time; in other words, I attended the event opening at midnight and started my 30-minute presentation around 12:10 am.

This presentation is about how blockchains (also known as “distributed ledger technologies” or DLTs) are being used for Human Resource (HR). Among the HR applications that are currently available, we find educational credential verification, employment screening, worker payments, automatic contracts, and incident (e.g., harassment or bullying) logging or reporting. I included a basic explanation of how blockchains are the motor that has powered the diffusion of cryptocurrencies, as well as some of the limitations and weaknesses that have thus far precluded more extensive adoption. It was based on a couple of articles that I have developed since 2018, the most recent of which will be published as an encyclopedic entry in the Encyclopedia of Electronic HRM, due this Fall (De Gruyter, Germany: https://www.degruyter.com/view/title/543647).

My work on this topic has been published and presented in recent months both locally and internationally (a recording and ancillaries can be found here: http://drolivaslujan.blogspot.com/2018/11/).