Abstract

This study aims to explore research trends in Blockchain studies in South Korea using dynamic topic modeling and network analysis. To achieve this goal, we conducted the university & institute collaboration network analysis, the keyword co-occurrence network analysis, and times series topic analysis using dynamic topic modeling. Through the university & institute collaboration network analysis, we found major universities such as Soongsil University, Soonchunhyang University, Korea University, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and major institutes such as Ministry of National Defense, Korea Railroad Research Institute, Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute that led collaborative research. Next, through the analysis of the keyword co-occurrence network, we found major research keywords including virtual assets (Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Virtual currency), blockchain technology (Distributed ledger, Distributed ledger technology), finance (Smart contract), and information security (Security, privacy, Personal information). Smart contracts showed the highest scores in all network centrality measures showing its importance in the field. Finally, through the time series topic analysis, we identified five major topics including blockchain technology, blockchain ecosystem, blockchain application 1 (trade, online voting, real estate), blockchain application 2 (food, tourism, distribution, media), and blockchain application 3 (economy, finance). Changes of topics were also investigated by exploring proportions of representative keywords for each topic. The study is the first of its kind to attempt to conduct university & institute collaboration networks analysis and dynamic topic modeling-based times series topic analysis for exploring research trends in Blockchain studies in South Korea. Our results can be used by government agencies, universities, and research institutes to develop effective strategies of promoting university & institutes collaboration and interdisciplinary research in the field.