Blockchain Application to Prevent Fake Diplomas

Thanks to blockchain technology, referred to as 'the world's new trust system', diplomas will now be issued electronically. The foundations of the system that will provide instant access to documents such as diplomas, certificates and transcripts have been laid at Bahçeşehir University

It is stated that the use of blockchain, which will bring innovation to many fields such as education, health and finance, will provide very important opportunities in many areas. The most important element that makes this new technology secure is that records are not stored in a single place but distributed across hundreds or even thousands of computers around the world. This enables secure, fast and free data transfer between users without the need for any structure that could be considered a central authority.

In this context, Bahçeşehir University (BAU) has launched a system that will provide instant access to documents such as diplomas, certificates and transcripts through blockchain. Giving information about the application called CertifyIST, first launched at the university's BAU International University Washington D.C. campus, BAU BlockchainIST Center Director Assist. Prof. Dr. Bora Erdamar said: "Starting with the diplomas of our first graduates in Washington D.C., and immediately afterwards, we have launched an application where all kinds of documents related to all our students' certificates, diplomas and studies can be stored. It will be both a mobile and a website application. In this sense, CertifyIST is the first diploma and blockchain project carried out within a university. So far, very prestigious universities in the world have had projects on this subject."

FAKE DIPLOMAS WILL BE PREVENTED

Talking about the benefits of the application, Assist. Prof. Dr. Erdamar stated that students' documents will be stored easily and securely, and that they will be able to share them with the institutions and people they wish when needed.

Stating that the application will benefit three main institutions and individuals, Assist. Prof. Dr. Bora Erdamar said:

"First, in communication between universities, there is a loss of time when students' lost documents need to be requested again. When you need to get your diploma again, the time involved is about two or three weeks. Our project will therefore have an application that greatly shortens this time. Second, fake diplomas are a general problem in Türkiye and in the world. This is a very important issue. Since this project is carried out on a blockchain basis, with the application we prevent fake diplomas. Thanks to the smart contracts feature within this application, it will not be possible to produce fake diplomas. We prove that only the authorized institution issued that diploma. Therefore, the application will benefit institutions and students in preventing both lost and fake diplomas."

IT WILL ELIMINATE BUREAUCRATIC SLOWNESS

"In today's business world, the traffic of these documents causes a loss of time in bureaucratic terms," said Assist. Prof. Dr. Bora Erdamar, explaining: "In this sense, it will be possible for the institutions applied to for jobs to obtain the documents very quickly and thus speed up the process."

THE SCOPE IS TO BE EXPANDED

Assist. Prof. Dr. Bora Erdamar said: "The most important aim of the CertifyIST application is to grow, first in Istanbul and then across Türkiye, with the participation of other universities, which will make the project known to the world. We will continue the application, which started at Bahçeşehir University's Washington D.C. Campus, with students at our other campuses. We want to do our best to spread the application worldwide, first by adding other universities from Türkiye and then through a consortium to be established with other universities around the world."