Since we're talking about immutable data...sure it can. If you really need to prove provenance of the metadata, surely a checksum is enough?
You just photograph the notepad and release it as an artifact alongside the paper, if you don't feel like typing it up.
Or you skip the notepad and use a tablet and an electronic lab notebook. I know of a few researcher doing this successfully, but for this to work at scale senior scientists and group leaders need to force everyone in their labs to do the same
Absolutely a culture issue rather than a technical one!
Yes the technology was there already 15 years ago (minus a nicer UI and a slightly better UX). Researchers despite all the talk about innovation are surprisingly resistant to change