How top universities in the UK could be £70k better-off every year with Blockchain-based diplomas
The sustained growth of new technologies is pressuring organisations to digitally transform themselves in order to remain competitive. We hear every day about how solutions such as cloud storage and big data have improved productivity and increased bottom lines around the globe, yet emerging technologies like Blockchain have yet to prove how beneficial they can be. In this article, we shall investigate the value of using Blockchain as a mean to store encrypted university diplomas. Globally, leading institutions like University College London [1] in the United Kingdom and TAG Innovation School [2] in Italy are already exploring the use of the technology for fraud-proof storage of their qualifications.
The nature of the Blockchain guarantees that information stored can never be tampered with, and is always available on-demand without breaching privacy. The widespread practice of degree fraud (it was recently uncovered that the new Prime Minister of Italy never attended New York University despite his claims [3]), becomes impossible. Beyond this clear benefit, it is also argued that the technology can streamline many costly administrative processes within universities. For example, processing requests to verify diplomas would no longer have to be dealt with manually. But how much can this technology really help universities save? Is it delivering unfounded hype, or real value?
The Registry is the office responsible for the awarding and certification of university degrees. An employer wishing to verify the academic credentials of a future hire relies on it. When sending a verification request today, the Registry will typically process it manually in the university’s database. Depending on the Registrar’s workload, this process can take from minutes to weeks. A UK-based prestigious university we have contacted hires 3 full-time employees to process, on a daily basis, all external verification requests. The average salary of these employees is estimated at around £31,000 per year [4]. The total annual expenditure for the 3-man verification team is therefore £93,000.
Whilst Blockchain technology will never fully replace a Registry, it can help automate or even eliminate some of its tasks. Once a system like Gradbase is in place, the registry would only have to issue its new degree diplomas on the Blockchain (30 mins estimated time) a few times a year, and from then on have minimal involvement in their verification. This would allow the certifications team to be cut from three employees to one, and thus annual certification costs cut to £31,000. However, as part of its business offer, Gradbase awards £2 to the university for each verification request from employers that go through the Gradbase platform. Taking once again the case of our leading UK university which receives on average 5,000 requests per year, the university can gain £10,000. The total yearly cost to the university therefore becomes £21,000.
In this case, the university can save over £70,000 per year. This result holds true for a medium-sized university (15,000 students), however it is clear that the larger the university, the higher the cost savings will be for the institution.
We have so far only considered how Blockchain can reduce the financial costs of universities. Yet, Blockchain provides universities with non-financial benefits too. As this technology can effectively prevent the use of fake diplomas, it safeguards the university’s reputation against fraud. Reputation is a pivotal attribute of an institution, which translates into its ability to attract students, talent, and funding. Reputational damage could therefore affect the proficiency of the university and indirectly affect its finances. Moreover, their graduates will be a lot more competitive on the job market, and will have an advantage over others whose records can only be checked the old-fashioned way.
If you are interested in finding out how your organisation can save time and money by issuing its verifiable claims on the Blockchain via Gradbase, please get in touch at contact@gradba.se.
References
[1] Nasdaq, “Pilot Project Verifies Academic Credentials on the Bitcoin Blockchain” https://www.nasdaq.com/article/pilot-project-verifies-academic-credentials-on-the-bitcoin-blockchain-cm911182
[2] TAG Innovation School, “Blockchain: che cosa è, come funziona e quali sono le applicazioni nel sistema educativo” https://innovationschool.talentgarden.org/blockchain-che-cosa-come-funziona-sistema-educativo/
[3] The Guardian, “Doubts raised over academic credentials of proposed Italian PM” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/22/italy-giuseppe-conte-cv-new-york-university
[4] Groh, Emmanuel, “Blockchain Proof of Certification - Cost-Benefit Analysis in Higher Education”, Bachelor’s Thesis at WHU University, Germany. Available upon consent of the author.
