databases, email & paper form. Furthermore, blockchain would make it very easy to produce uniquely identifiable certificates that can be used by other institutions and employers for candidate / student verification.
Blockchain in record management
Blockchain use can also be extrapolated to different units, from a student’s journey during their undergraduate degree is captured from recruitment to commencement, and the subsequent transition into alumnus of the institution. With a fully-fledged blockchain network dealing with student records, it would mean that there could also be integrations to supply & logistics systems, financial systems, customer relationship management systems and others.
For example, regarding the transition from student to alumnus, the university blockchain network would record the requirements for commencement, clearance from the university (including returning of the student id), as well as inclusion as an alumnus, the unique certificate key for the degree / program & issuance of the alumnus id. All this data could then be readily available on the blockchain network.
The information would be traceable from beginning to end by interested parties such as a subsequent institution, potential employer or even the Alumni Association when reaching out to members.
The data can be fairly anonymized, but the ledger entries would be permanent and unchangeable; a perpetual and decentralized proof of having gone through an institution.
Silver Bullet
However, blockchain is not a silver bullet that would operate by itself, it would involve a combination of ideas and services that can take advantage of the blockchain to realize improvements in these different units. Blockchain use is not without its fair share of issues. Blockchain has been used nefariously via bitcoin on the infamous “Silk Road” website and there have been cases of bitcoin exchanges – based on blockchain – having bitcoin worth millions of dollars disappear. This has cast a shadow on the progress of the technology, however with initiatives such as the High Performance Computing Consortium, IBM Blockchain and others, we as members of the educational sector can play our part and further research into application of blockchain technology; both within our institution and the society at large to accrue its benefits.
About the author
Eric Charchi is a 2009 graduate of IST. He is a former Senior ICT Officer-Webmaster at USIU-Africa.
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