FAKE DEGREES & HOW BLOCKCHAIN WILL END A MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY.
Blockchain is going to change the world. We all know that. However, we are only now beginning to see exactly how. I doubt that even when Satoshi Nakamoto sat down and wrote his whitepaper in October 2008, he was fully aware of the repercussions of his now legendary statement;
I’ve been working on a new electronic cash system that’s fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party…
No trusted third party.
Now Satoshi was talking about double spends and all sorts of financial chicanery in the financial collapse of a decade ago, but it applies to just about anything you can think of.
Anyone who has sweated their way through four years of university, surviving on a combination of noodles, cheap alcohol,and family handouts, will know the pride felt on that glorious graduation day when you finally hold your degree certificate in your hands. Be careful though. No selfies of you and your champagne altered friends with that precious document.
Believe it or not, that innocent photo you just plastered onto your facebook wall is now being downloaded into photoshop, cleaned up, and used as a template for an online trade in fake qualifications that is worth an estimated $1 billion a year.
For as little as $200, anyone can go online and download a realistic certificate from the university of their choice. Some sites even offer advice on which degrees will offer the best earning potential. Now factor in that only 20% of firms in the UK actually check up on the authenticity of qualifications when hiring, and the scale of the problem becomes clear. Anybody want to have their spleen taken out by a doctor with a dodgy degree?
What has this got to do with blockchain?
No trusted third party.
That immutable ledger is being put to all sorts of previously un-imagined uses. In the field of counterfeit qualifications, Open Source University is one start-up that promises to lead the way in stamping out this shady practice.
Currently in their ICO (Initial Coin Offering) phase, Open Source University call themselves ‘The World’s Education and Career Development Ledger’. Put simply, they are going to leverage blockchain technology to provide a platform that finally connects learners, academia, and business in a useful and integrated manner.
And this has what to do with fake degrees in Bio-mechanical robotics?
Well, just one small part of the platform will consist of a Credentials Wallet in the Learner’s Profile, which, according to the whitepaper will contain a “verified educational, work experience, skills, and qualifications track record”.
In short, Academia gives certificates to Learners, which are then permanently and immutably stored on the decentralized blockchain, and can be accepted with complete trust by Businesses looking to hire.
Sounds great. Will this completely eradicate the online sale of fake qualifications?
Well, it depends on mass adoption of the tech, of course. Blockchain is still in its infancy, and big business is only now dipping its toes in. What is for sure is that fledgling companies, such as Open Source University, are making inroads to tackling some of the inherent problems of trust that we face in our centralized world.
If you are interested in finding out more about Open Source University, any of the following links is a good place to start.
PROJECT: https://os.university/project/
MAIN WEBSITE TOKEN SALE: https://os.university/
WHITEPAPER: https://os.university/static/open-source-university-edu-whitepaper.pdf
TELEGRAM: https://t.me/OSUniversity
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/OpenSource_Uni