Blockchain and the Disruption of Higher Education
Blockchain is disrupting almost every industry. Here's why you need to embrace it.
I recently wrote about why business leaders should embrace blockchain technology (here). As CEO of RMIT Online, I would be remiss if I didn’t heed my own advice and look at how this new technology could benefit higher education’s existing services here in our classrooms and beyond.
Having worked with industry partners to co-create Australia’s first university-backed blockchain short-course to meet the global demand surrounding the rising technology, it’s become clear to me why we should be adopting blockchain in our businesses and why we should be educating tomorrow’s leaders to embrace the technology.
A student’s credentials and qualifications are like the currency of the higher education sector. However, as it is now, this currency is unwieldy and unnecessarily complex.
Blockchain—or distributed ledger technology (DLT)—offers a solution. Placing one’s credentials on the blockchain allows organisations looking to verify university degrees and references to instantly check them for discrepancies, because of the security and inalterability of this technology.
There are several other blockchain-based solutions to solving current issues facing the higher education sector, including improved financing options. Blockchain-based credentials that have financing information embedded can draw government support to those who need it most, thereby potentially freeing government to finance higher education in a manner fit for the 21st century.
While many of blockchain’s uses remain experimental, my hope is that we’ll continue to uncover ways in which we can meaningfully apply it.
3 Reasons Why Business Leaders Should Embrace Blockchain - Helen Souness
