As reported by the English-language local news media Trade Arabia on 13 January, the University of Bahrain has started offering diploma courses in distributed ledger (aka blockchain) technology. The editorial also discloses that the University uses the open source software blockcerts in cooperation with Learning Machine, a startup that provides a system for the issuance of provable official records in a blockchain-based format.
The Bahrain Government has repeatedly stressed the importance of blockchain technology for the economic development of the country. They also emphasized the underlying problem of cybersecurity vigilance.
Abdulhussain Mirza, Bahrain’s minister of electricity and water affairs, said:
“Blockchain’s ability to protect user’s data is a true mark of progress, especially due to the fact that it can be applied in different companies from different industries including cybersecurity.”
The effort taken by the university is simply a part of a global digitization technique.
The Blockcerts development team explained:
“Blockcerts provides a decentralized credentialing system. The Bitcoin blockchain acts as the provider of trust, and credentials are tamper-resistant and verifiable. Blockcerts can be used in the context of academic, professional, and workforce credentialing.”
As part of a pilot program, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has already issued blockchain-based digital certificates to over 100 graduates by mid-October 2017. Universities such as Berkley, Cornell and UPenn offer Blockchain, Cryptography, Cryptocurrency & Distributed Ledger Technology and Blockchain & Crypto Economics courses. Masters courses are also offered in cryptocurrency by South Korean Universities.The University of Tel Aviv and the French University of Armenia also provides similar courses.