Self-sovereign identity (SSI) embodies the fundamental human right to own and control a digital identity that grants access to public, social, and financial services. The absence of a dedicated digital identity layer in the development of the Internet has rendered SSI a significant challenge in contemporary society. Blockchain technology emerges as a promising solution by enabling the creation of decentralized and automatically verifiable identities. This study contextualizes SSI and analyzes how blockchain technology facilitates the autonomous management of digital identities. It explores nine prominent frameworks in this field—Sovrin, uPort, Jolocom, ShoCard, Litentry, Civic, KILT, Idena, and ION—highlighting their features, functionalities, and compliance with digital identity principles. The research concludes by identifying the challenges and opportunities in implementing these systems for digital identity management, thus contributing to the advancement of this emerging field.

Objetivo: Se introduce la tecnología blockchain, incluidas sus principales características. También se discute el modelo de medicina P6 para la atención centrada en el paciente, y se presentan las aplicaciones de la tecnología blockchain como una capa de seguridad e interoperabilidad para dispositivos médicos IoT y sistemas de información hospitalarios. Metodología: Se realizó una revisión de las publicaciones registradas en las colecciones bibliográficas de IEEE Xplore y Scopus, con un filtro sobre las publicaciones enfocadas en blockchain, IoT y salud. El análisis de los artículos se enfocó en el planteamiento de un escenario de congruencia funcional de estos tres elementos. Resultados: Se presentan las aplicaciones de blockchain e IoT para el cuidado integral de la salud, con una esquematización de la interacción de dicha tecnología entre los sistemas de información hospitalarios y los sensores médicos de IoT para la creación de las condiciones necesarias en la implementación de la medicina P6. Conclusiones: Se identificó la aplicación de la tecnología blockchain como la capa de interoperabilidad necesaria entre sistemas de información hospitalarios, centros de investigación, pacientes, médicos y comunidad interesada; para generar un entorno confiable de flujo de información entre los diferentes actores que dinamice los procesos de investigación y atención en salud.

Context: Self-sovereign identity (SSI) enables the creation of user-centric, privacy-by-design, secure, and decentralized identity-management systems. The aim of this paper is to carry out a bibliometric analysis of the scientific production on SSI during the period 2017-2022. Method: A complete bibliometric analysis of all publications on SSI indexed in Scopus and Web of Science was carried out. A corpus of 143 articles was examined by processing their bibliographic metadata on a bibliometric tool. In order to do this, the Bibliometrix packageand the R programming language were used. Results: A bibliometric characterization of the publications on SSI was obtained for the 2017 − 2022 period. The most important keywords used in these publications were identified, as well as their use tendencies throughout this period. Moreover, the most influential authors in the area and the most relevant publication sources were also identified. Conclusions: The results of the bibliometric analysis show that Lotka’s and Bradford’s laws apply for academic publications on SSI, which means that the most relevant publications in this area are concentrated in a relatively small group of authors and journals. Paul Jenkins, Nitin Naik, Yang Liu and Aijun An were the most impactful authors, and Lecture notes in computer science, Frontiers in blockchain and IEEE were the most influential journals. Finally, the keyword analysis showed that Blockchain, Authentication, Identity management, Electronic document identification systems, and Digital identity are currently the most relevant concepts for SSI. Contexto: La identidad auto-soberana (SSI, por sus siglas en inglés) permite la creación de sistemas de gestión de identidad centrados en el usuario, con privacidad desde el diseño, seguros y descentralizados. El objetivo de este artículo es realizar un análisis bibliométrico de la producción científica sobre SSI durante el período 2017 − 2022. Método: Se realizó una análisis bibliométrico completo de las publicaciones sobre SSI indexadas en Scopus y Web of Science. Se examinó un corpus de 143 artículos mediante el procesamiento de sus metadatos bibliográficos en una herramienta de análisis bibliométrico. Para ello, el paquete Bibliometrix y el lenguaje de programación R fueron usados. Resultados: Se obtuvo una caracterización bibliométrica de las publicaciones sobre SSI durante el período 2017 − 2022. Se identificaron las palabras clave más importantes, así como las tendencias de uso de las mismas en este periodo. Además, se determinaron los autores de mayor influencia en el área y las fuentes de publicación más relevantes. Conclusiones: Los resultados del análisis bibliométrico completo muestran que la ley de Lotka y la ley de Bradford se cumplen en las publicaciones sobre SSI. Esto quiere decir que las publicaciones de mayor alcance e impacto están concentradas en unos pocos autores y revistas. Paul Jenkins, Nitin Naik , Yang Liu y Aijun An resultaron ser los autores más representativos, y Lecture notes in computer science, IEEE Access y Frontiers in blockchain resultaron ser las revistas más influyentes. Finalmente, el análisis de las palabras clave mostró que Blockchain, Authentication, Identity management, Electronic document identification systems y Digital identity son actualmente los conceptos más importantes para la investigación sobre SSI.

This article presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the indexed academic literature on the application of distributed ledger technology (DLT) and blockchain in the tourism industry. Using the bibliometrix library within the RStudio environment, key bibliometric indicators were examined in order to characterize the evolution, structure, and thematic focus of this emerging field of research. The systematic literature review, which adhered to PRISMA guidelines, involved retrieving publications from the Web of Science and Scopus databases. A curated dataset of 100 relevant documents was identified and analyzed in terms of annual scientific production, leading journals, influential authors, and highly cited publications. The results indicate that blockchain technology dominates the literature, with a strong emphasis on its potential to enhance trust, transparency, and efficiency in tourism-related processes. In particular, identity management, secure transactions, and disintermediation emerge as central research themes, reflecting blockchain’s capacity to support decentralized, immutable, and privacy-preserving interactions between tourists and service providers. Overall, the findings reveal a rapidly growing and increasingly structured body of knowledge, highlighting emerging research directions and technological challenges for future studies on DLT applications in tourism.

The drug supply chain is a critical process that involves multiple stakeholders, including pharmaceutical laboratories, logistics companies, pharmacies and patients. Distributed ledger technology such as blockchain can improve security and transparency in the drug supply chain, providing a decentralized and secure record of all transactions made in the process. Also, it allows defining mechanisms that help mitigate the falsification and manipulation of medicines, facilitating public health surveillance and providing a reliable environment for the acquisition and consumption of medicines. On the other hand, the implementation of blockchain tends to guarantee the security and privacy of the data associated with the actors in the supply chain, but one of its greatest challenges faces the limitations of interoperability, that is, the ability for different Blockchains can communicate with each other and share information. Finally, this article presents a bibliometric review of indexed publications in the period of time between 2018 and 2023, characterizing the line of publications in this area, with indicators associated with authors, publication sources and trends in keywords and topics associated.