The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, launched
a pilot program in the summer that gave graduates the option to receive their diplomas on their smartphone through an app,
along with the traditional paper version. The Blockcerts Wallet app uses
blockchain technology to provide students easy access to their diploma that is
verifiable and tamperproof.
“From the beginning, one of our primary motivations has
been to empower students to be curators of their own credentials,” said Mary
Callahan, MIT registrar and senior associate dean. “This pilot makes it
possible for them to have ownership of their records and to be able to share
them in a secure way, with whomever they choose.”
Once students download the app, a set of unique numerical
identifiers are created that is used in the digital diploma to prove ownership.
The technology allows students to share their diploma, which can be immediately
verified as authentic, for free with employers or schools.
“It really is transformative. And it could be as big as
the web because it affects every sector,” said Chris Jagers, co-founder and CEO
of Learning Machine, which worked with MIT on the technology. “It’s not just
academic records. It’s being able to passively know that digital things are
true. That creates a whole new reality across every sector.”
