Kenyan government uses IBM blockchain to prevent diploma fraud

Rage Comment : The Kenyan government is currently working with IBM to establish an unchangeable and transparent education management system to ensure that schools and other educational institutions issue academic certificates on a cloud-based blockchain network, thereby greatly improving the domestic academic fraud situation and dealing a heavy blow to the illegal diploma fraud market. At the same time, the actual application of the IBM blockchain solution also reminds the Kenyan government to act cautiously and consider other safer Bitcoin practical products.

Translation: Flora

The Kenyan government is using blockchain to build an immutable and transparent education management system. The Ministry of Information and Communications Technology is currently working with IBM to ensure that schools and other educational institutions issue academic certificates on a cloud-based blockchain network.

The Association of International Educators (NAFSA), which represents more than 10,000 faculty members and 3,500 educational institutions, said in a new report that academic fraud is becoming a more serious problem for many well-known and prestigious universities and colleges.

The report contains the following part:

"George Gollin, a physics professor at the University of Illinois who has investigated diploma fraud, estimates that about 200,000 fake diplomas are sold each year from illegitimate diploma providers."

In order to reduce the number of fake diplomas and crack down on the fake diploma production market, the Kenyan government is currently working closely with IBM to establish a platform for issuing academic certificates using the blockchain network.

IBM Blockchain

The Ministry of Information and Communications Technology is using IBM’s enterprise-grade blockchain solution, which is being used by leading businesses and financial institutions to help build a more secure and transparent ecosystem.

Nyimbi Odero, innovation advisor at the Kenyan Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, said in a speech at Strathmore University in Nairobi that Kenyan students will no longer be able to fake exam scores or university performance scores. More importantly, Odero mentioned that the efficient blockchain platform will allow companies or other relevant parties to confirm students' relevant certificates and diplomas.

Odero said:

“The Kenyan government, in partnership with IBM, will soon implement a blockchain-based education certificate management system across the country, so if you are a Kenyan student, you will no longer be able to fake your exam results.”

Security Question

IBM's blockchain solutions and products have not yet been tested on a commercial scale. Some large companies or banks have not announced any successful trials or establishments of IBM's blockchain products. Therefore, the Kenyan government must consider other practical products, such as Blockcerts, which are built on the more secure blockchain Bitcoin.

Blockcerts, which just came into people's attention in October, is an open certificate authentication infrastructure built on the Bitcoin network. Blockcerts was inspired by a project of the MIT Media Lab and provides a decentralized certificate authentication system with security as the priority.

The Kenyan government must put security first when it comes to issuing certificates. Private networks like IBM also suffer from the common problems of centralized databases, that is, blockchain platforms are vulnerable to attacks by data thieves.