If you are not that familiar with the concept of blockchain - digital ledger - technology now, then you will be by the end of 2016. This is where the 'smart money' is predicted to flow, from a VC perspective, over the course of the next 12 months.

Whilst unsurprisingly, financial services firms are the early adopters - building pilot systems to process banking and trading transactions - the potential for the technology goes way beyond the banking sector.

This Wall Street Journal article provides first steps for CIO's looking to explore the potential applications for blockchain in their business. As the expression goes 'watch this space'...