The blockchain education is undoubtedly booming. Ripple, for example, has donated $50 million for a blockchain research program, which is being adopted by major universities such as Princeton and UCL. The goal of the program is to encourage blockchain research and give the opportunity for exciting new developments and partnerships.
Now, the first Middle East university to issue blockchain diplomas is the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and Learning Machine Technologies, which, at the end of 2018, decided to issue blockchain-based credentials.
The news comes from Unlock Blockchain. In December 2018, all graduating students at KAUST received a digital diploma, verifiable by Blockcerts. The blockchain-based credential technology can be verified any time without any cost. Blockcerts was created by the joint effort of Learning Machine and MIT Media Lab.
Blockcerts is an innovative technology that allows academic credentials to be anchored to any type of blockchain there is: private, public, permissioned. The verification process does not cost anything and is processed immediately. What this means is that any student who receives his or her diploma with Blockcerts can present it to any government, educational or employer institution.
The growing need for digital diplomas is encouraging more and more institutions to lean on digital education and verification processes. For example, the University of Bahrain also partnered with Learning Machine to issue digital diplomas.