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International Conference on Business Informatics Research

BIR 2019: Perspectives in Business Informatics Research pp 30–43Cite as

Blockchain Awareness Among Computer Science Students: A Preliminary Study

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing ((LNBIP,volume 365))

Abstract

The main goal of research was to investigate to what extent computer science students are familiar with blockchain technology (BC). The survey was conducted among the students of Cracow universities. In order to analyze deeply the results of the survey, indicators of the knowledge factor and the usage factor were developed to assess knowledge and usage of BC respectively. The main findings point out to the popular internet portals and conversations with other people as the main sources of information on BC for students. Students are less likely to obtain their information from university classes and lectures, television, radio, and other media. The percentage of active BC users almost doubles the percentage of respondents having specialized knowledge, therefore the relationship between knowledge and usage of BC is rather weak. Traditional banking and trade are the most frequently indicated areas of BC applications by the respondents. The conducted research also shows that BC may be perceived as a tool for social/technology evolution and revolution. The survey results have important implications for universities as they confirm that university curricula are not updated sufficiently quickly to keep up with the emerging technologies.

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Acknowledgments

This research has been financed by the funds granted to the Faculty of Management, Cracow University of Economics, Poland, within the subsidy for maintaining research potential.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computational Systems, Cracow University of Economics, Rakowicka 27, 31-510, Kraków, Poland

    Dariusz Dymek & Mariusz Grabowski

  2. Department of Computer Science, Cracow University of Economics, Rakowicka 27, 31-510, Kraków, Poland

    Grażyna Paliwoda-Pękosz

Authors
  1. Dariusz Dymek
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  2. Mariusz Grabowski
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  3. Grażyna Paliwoda-Pękosz
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dariusz Dymek .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Economics in Katowice, Katowice, Poland

    Małgorzata Pańkowska

  2. University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany

    Kurt Sandkuhl

A. Appendix: Questionnaire (Translated into English)

A. Appendix: Questionnaire (Translated into English)

  1. 1.

    Blockchain technology (BC) is most often associated with the concept of cryptocurrency. Mark one of the following three options against each item: I do not know; I know; I have used it.

Bitcoin; Ethereum; Ripple; Other (please specify)

  1. 2.

    Mark the main sources of information concerning blockchain technology.

Popular Internet portals; Television, radio or other media; Specialized industry-specific Internet sites; Papers and scientific briefings; University classes and lectures; Conversations with other people; Other (please specify)

  1. 3.

    To what extent do the following sentences fit your perception of blockchain technology? Mark one of the following three options against each item: Not applicable to BC; Applicable to BC but not crucial; Crucial for BC.

It is a distributed system; It is a database; It is a register that resembles an accounting book; Used for cryptocurrency transaction processing; Thanks to cryptography the operations are anonymous; Thanks to cryptography data are persistent; Enables databases with a high level of security; Ensures complete data security; Enables data processing with a higher efficiency than that of traditional methods; Thanks to cryptography frauds are not a threat; Used for processing of banking transactions

  1. 4.

    In the concept of BC, saving the content requires its authorization by specific instances. This authorization is based on various algorithms of the so-called consensus. Indicate which of the approaches listed below are familiar to you and to what extent. Mark one of the following three options against each item: Not familiar; Familiar but I have not analyzed its mechanism; Familiar with its algorithm.

PoW (Proof of Work); PoS (Proof of Stake); PoET (Proof of Elapsed Time); Other (please specify)

  1. 5.

    Mark the best description of the BC application for content storage.

Can use any database (including commercially available databases, e.g. relational databases); Requires tailored, dedicated database systems customized to its specific forms of collected and stored content; Does not utilize database systems at all, because it relies on other solutions; I do not know how content is stored in BC

  1. 6.

    Indicate which areas of BC applications other than cryptocurrencies you have heard of. Indicate one or more options:

Traditional banking; Insurance; Healthcare; Administration (central, local); Logistics; Trade; Education; Public transportation; Other (please specify)

  1. 7.

    Which of the BC applications are the most promising according to you?

Public registers in various areas (administration, judiciary, science, medicine) where high level of confidence is desired; Creating of new values (concepts), e.g. cryptocurrencies which can have a revolutionary impact on the society; BC used as one of many available database technologies utilized to solve specific problems in an innovative way; Other (please specify)

  1. 8.

    Characteristics of the respondent

Gender (male/female); Form of study (full-time/part-time); Type of studies (undergraduate, postgraduate)

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Dymek, D., Grabowski, M., Paliwoda-Pękosz, G. (2019). Blockchain Awareness Among Computer Science Students: A Preliminary Study. In: Pańkowska, M., Sandkuhl, K. (eds) Perspectives in Business Informatics Research. BIR 2019. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 365. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31143-8_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31143-8_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-31142-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-31143-8

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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