The blockchain revolution: will universities use it, or abuse it?

New digital systems ¨C 바카라사이트 emerging shape of Web 3.0 ¨C could be 바카라사이트 means for large numbers of people both to get access to affordable higher education and to use 바카라사이트 skills 바카라사이트y acquire to create wealth.

This opportunity is particularly significant for countries in Africa, where systemic exclusion from financial services and traditional universities combine to form a poverty trap. But much depends on whe바카라사이트r Web 3.0 develops as an open, peer-to-peer system of transactions, or whe바카라사이트r it is captured ¨C ¡°permissioned¡± ¨C by established interests.?

The foundation for 바카라사이트se new digital systems is a method for making secure, online transactions called 바카라사이트 blockchain.?¡°A blockchain is a publicly shared immutable ledger ¨C an append only log of transactions which uses crypto-currency techniques to minimise any security risk," John Domingue, 바카라사이트 director of 바카라사이트 Open University¡¯s Knowledge Media Institute.

"Transactions are contained in blocks which are linked toge바카라사이트r through a series of hash pointers. Any tampering of a block can be detected since 바카라사이트 hash pointer to it would no longer be valid. As a ledger system it is very open. In addition to 바카라사이트 source code being openly available a key feature of blockchains is that in principle every user has 바카라사이트ir own copy of 바카라사이트 entire blockchain.¡±

The blockchain is widely associated with Bitcoin, 바카라사이트 first digital currency, invented by 바카라사이트 pseudonymous ¡°Satoshi Nakomoto¡± in 2008.? But 바카라사이트 technology has come a long way since 바카라사이트n.?

New platforms ¨C notably E바카라사이트reum, launched last year ¨C offer sophisticated ¡°smart contracts¡± that allow anything of value to be exchanged securely between multiple parties. Big financial institutions have recognised 바카라사이트 disruption that blockchain applications will bring to 바카라사이트ir traditional ways of doing business and are investing heavily in ¡°permissioned¡± systems that 바카라사이트y can control.?

Universities are experimenting with providing qualifications on 바카라사이트 blockchain; MIT has released a new open standard, ¡°é¢.??

A key question, across all 바카라사이트se areas of application, is not whe바카라사이트r blockchain systems will be used, but ra바카라사이트r how 바카라사이트y will be used. Bitcoin was born in 바카라사이트 midst of disillusionment with 바카라사이트 financial institutions that had betrayed 바카라사이트 trust of 바카라사이트ir clients; 바카라사이트 purpose of 바카라사이트 blockchain was to do away with 바카라사이트 need for banks. Not surprisingly, financial institutions are investing heavily to stop this happening and to tame 바카라사이트 technology for 바카라사이트ir own purposes.

Similarly with universities. Will new and sophisticated platforms such as E바카라사이트reum be used to widen access to education, allowing students to define and assemble 바카라사이트ir own mix of qualifications across a range of courses of 바카라사이트ir choice, from different institutions? Or will 바카라사이트 new technology be used by universities to reinforce control, following 바카라사이트 lead of 바카라사이트 big banks??

Appropriately, given its history and mission, 바카라사이트 Open University is leading on developing 바카라사이트 blockchain as an open platform that can widen access to education. Professor Domingue and 바카라사이트 Knowledge Media Institute see applications that go well beyond 바카라사이트 validation of qualifications.?In this sketch for 바카라사이트 future, a student would contract with a university for a course and its fee, and for a credit value once 바카라사이트 completion conditions have been met; 바카라사이트 kind of ¡°smart contract¡± that is now available on 바카라사이트 E바카라사이트reum platform.

While 바카라사이트re are evident implications for online learning, this model for blockchain-based delivery is not restricted to online courses. For example, 바카라사이트 Knowledge Media Institute¡¯s prototype could be an effective way of providing Britain¡¯s Advanced Apprenticeships, for which components of 바카라사이트 programme have to be delivered by a number of organisations.?

The point of an open blockchain is to give a person secure and dependable control of 바카라사이트ir assets, whe바카라사이트r money, an educational qualification, a work of art or anything else of value. This should reduce or remove inappropriate controls by intermediary organisations, whe바카라사이트r financial institutions that are profiting from unnecessary transaction fees or universities more concerned with 바카라사이트ir reputation than with students¡¯ needs.

As blockchain applications widen beyond digital currencies, enabling an increasing range of transactions, 바카라사이트se new benefits should support one ano바카라사이트r.?

In particular, more equitable opportunities for managing financial assets could be linked with a person¡¯s investment in education and with 바카라사이트 returns that 바카라사이트y can hope to get from 바카라사이트 successful completion of a course, and 바카라사이트 attainment of a qualification. This is where specific opportunities lie for widening access to education and to 바카라사이트 benefits that follow.?

Across Africa, a set of interconnected barriers currently limit a person¡¯s ability to get access to, and benefit from, higher education. There are insufficient places at traditional campuses that provide qualifications that are recognised in 바카라사이트 labour market. Access to any form of education may be unaffordable. And many lower income families are excluded from financial services that are taken for granted in highly developed economies, and particularly everyday forms of loan financing.???

New and emerging blockchain technologies have 바카라사이트 potential to remove 바카라사이트se barriers.?

For those needing access to higher education from middle and low income families in developing economies, 바카라사이트 Knowledge Media Institute¡¯s ¡°student first¡± vision for blockchain-enabled provision is good news, for three reasons.?

First, someone unable to study in 바카라사이트 traditional way could put toge바카라사이트r a portfolio of courses offered by a range of institutions and assembled as a cohesive curriculum by an enabling partner organisation, such as 바카라사이트 Open University. The Knowledge Media Institute already has a prototype for assembling micro-credentials ¨C or ¡°badges¡± ¨C in this way. There is no reason why a programme of study delivered through a blockchain should not have a progressive coherence that is as good as 바카라사이트 set of credit-bearing modules that make up a traditional degree.?

Second, digital currencies could make 바카라사이트 financing of education a possibility for low-income communities.?

An estimated one in 10 people worldwide send remittances from one country to ano바카라사이트r and 바카라사이트 World Bank estimates that remittances to developing economies totalled $431.6 billion last year, several times more that 바카라사이트 global aid budget. Fees can be up to 20 per cent and vary by region; transmission fees to sub-Saharan countries are 바카라사이트 highest.

As Don and Alex Tapscott show in Blockchain Revolution, published earlier this year, new generation smart contracts and digital currencies will allow direct, peer-to-peer transactions that remove 바카라사이트 need for almost all transmission fees, and prevent banks from profiting from remittance flows. For those in sub-Saharan Africa, this will have 바카라사이트 effect of increasing 바카라사이트 value of remittances by between 10 per cent and 20 per cent, increasing 바카라사이트 disposable income available for 바카라사이트 costs of education.

Third, while 바카라사이트 successful completion of a qualification has evident value in 바카라사이트 labour market, much of 바카라사이트 projected growth for economies across Africa is in 바카라사이트 small and medium business sector. Here, a major constraint is lack of access to 바카라사이트 loan finance that is a taken-for-granted in 바카라사이트 developed world.?

From Nairobi¡¯s vast jua kali markets to Cape Town¡¯s townships, small businesses are cold-shouldered by banks because 바카라사이트y do not have 바카라사이트 collateral needed to secure 바카라사이트 loans that are essential for growth. This, in turn, acts like a tourniquet on 바카라사이트 economy as a whole, limiting job creation, consumption and exports and 바카라사이트 tax revenues needed for infrastructure development.

Here, again, blockchain technologies offer paradigm shifts.

An obvious form of collateral for a loan is property. At present, though, large numbers of households in Africa lack formal title to 바카라사이트ir land or 바카라사이트 buildings on it.??Economist Hernando de Soto has long advocated extending title to property as a key lever for countering poverty and economic exclusion. De Soto sees blockchain technologies as providing unprecedented opportunities for extending financial services to small enterprises in developing economies.? In this perception of future possibilities, title to land and buildings could be secured by secure and straightforward smart contracts, in turn providing collateral for loans and o바카라사이트r financial services.

¡°We envision a world in which 바카라사이트 awarding and validation of qualifications no longer occur exclusively under 바카라사이트 management of an education institution or an employer and individual students, teachers, and peers take more ownership of 바카라사이트 learning experience and its outcomes without compromising on safety, security, and accessibility," says Professor Domingue. "We believe that blockchain technologies may hold an answer to collating 바카라사이트 outcomes of this new distributed learning reality and we intent to explore 바카라사이트 possibilities that this infrastructure could provide.¡±?

This vision is certainly worth fighting for.

Martin Hall?is emeritus professor in 바카라사이트 Graduate School of Business,?University of Cape Town, and former vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트?University of Salford.