University of Sharjah utilizes BSV blockchain to verify academic certificates

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CoinGeek’s BSV conferences are astounding events that cover a wide array of topics related to blockchain, Bitcoin, and almost every sector globally. The first-ever BSV Global Blockchain Convention in Dubai was no different, in fact, more exciting than the previous events, as it witnessed over 1000 attendees and a novel and regional fanbase.

Day 1 of the event showcased a presentation titled “Academic Accreditation & Certification on the BSV Blockchain” by Dr. Mohamed Al Hemairy, the Head of Technology Transfer Office at the University of Sharjah.

Dr. Al Hemairy addressed a common yet fraudulent subject regarding untamed usage of fake certificates and degrees across the world, which largely goes unnoticed, both by choice or by fault. According to a report published by the New York Times in 2015, the fake academic certificate market was worth $1 billion and growing.

Fraudulent academic certificates: Problems and solutions

Pointing out the problems surrounding the issue of fraudulent academic certificates, Dr. Al Hemairy mentioned there are various types of credentials fraud that occurs after responsible institutions issue the academic credentials. The verification process is complicated while forging and manipulating digital certificates is a common practice.

According to Dr. Al Hemairy, there are 2 million fake degrees in circulation in the United States, in addition to more than 300 unauthorized universities. At the same time, there are over 200 unauthorized institutes in the United Kingdom. To curb the malpractice, the United Arab Emirates government announced a new law in 2021 imposing a penalty worth up to AED1 million (US$2.7 million) and up to two years in jail for using and issuing the fake certificates in the country.

In collaboration with the BSV Blockchain Association, the University of Sharjah is currently undertaking a project to handle this problem, aiming to eliminate this unethical practice by moving the process from issuing and verifying all academic certificates onto the BSV enterprise blockchain.

Dr. Al Hemairy then presented solutions to the audience, explaining how the project would tackle and resolve the existing problems. He emphasized that the University of Sharjah uses BSV blockchain as the immutable database and the technology of cryptography to verify academic certificates.

“The feature of immutability, decentralization, is used to verify the academic certificates at a very very low cost. We are using BSV for a number of open-source web development tools and the reason we selected BSV is because of the largest block size in addition to the highest number of transactions per second. More so, the cost of each transaction is very very low,” Dr. Al Hemairy stressed.

He later gave a brief demonstration of the workflow of the BSV-based verification system, where the authorized institute issues certificates and students sign off with their private keys, and records are attested and verified on-chain.

“In cases where employers want to verify academic certificates of potential candidates, this BSV enabled verification system performs the job in just a couple of steps,” Dr. Al Hemairy revealed.

What makes this system better than others?

“We have many advantages that don’t exist elsewhere. The accreditation module and evocation for a certificate after being issued by Ministry is done seamlessly on our system, and it does not exist on any other system at the moment,” he said.

Disclosing private information is another key component. According to Dr. Al Hemairy, “Candidates can keep all their information confidential, but failure of disclosing the required information will not allow his/her certificate to be accredited by the responsible institution.”

“You sign off with the private key, and [a] certificate will be issued, powered by the BSV blockchain,” he concluded.

Watch the BSV Global Blockchain Convention Dubai 2022 Day 1 here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggbZ8YedpBE

Watch the BSV Global Blockchain Convention Dubai 2022 Day 2 here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzJsCRb6zt8

Watch the BSV Global Blockchain Convention Dubai 2022 Day 3 here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzSCrXf1Ywc