Trust is a central issue for the People function in the wake of the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica debacle, the introduction of GDPR, rising fears about invasion of privacy, cyber attacks, and abuses of social media. In an article for The Curve Magazine, Peter Williams, financial journalist and editor of The Learning Technologies Awards Newsletter, interviewed leading experts in the field who say that blockchain is rapidly making inroads against this background.

Adriana Hamacher, Editor of Blockchain News, says that HR is already on the blockchain, recording job candidates' specifications in a bid to streamline the recruitment process. Blockchain offers many advantages for similarly data-driven areas of L&D, making learners' personal training history more portable between jobs and giving them ownership of their own learning data and certifications. Others point to drawbacks with blockchain, including its association in public mind with the shadowy world of cryptocurrencies and the need to increase understanding of how it can best be deployed.

The Curve is a quarterly magazine sponsored by Lumesse Learning with the aim of "looking round corners" at innovative and near-time technologies impacting the learning space. Since its introduction, it has gained plaudits and a wide audience among learning professionals. With Curve 7 it has undergone a complete redesign and doubled in size.