Cardano To Roll Out Blockchain-Based IDs to Millions of Students in Africa

Blockchain firm and Cardano developer Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK) is announcing a partnership with the Ethiopian government aimed at digitizing the country’s education sector.

In a blog post, IOHK’s director for African operations John O’Connor says that the blockchain firm will deploy its decentralized identity solution Atala PRISM to thousands of schools in Africa’s second-most populous country.

The identity solution which is built on Cardano will be used to “digitally verify grades, remotely monitor school performance, and boost education and employment” across Ethiopia.

“This will provide all students with blockchain-verified digital qualifications to reduce fraudulent university and job applications, and increase social mobility by allowing employers to verify all applicants’ grades without third-party agencies.”

The partnership between IOHK and the Ethiopian government will initially benefit 3,500 schools, 5 million students, and 750,000 teachers as part of the country’s digital transformation strategy.

In the future, the blockchain-based national identity system for teachers and students could benefit tertiary educational institutions too.

“The project could ultimately be extended to universities where degrees are also digitally verified on the Cardano blockchain, allowing employers to easily validate the authenticity of applicants’ educational credentials.”

Earlier this month, IOHK founder and CEO Charles Hoskinson hinted at upcoming business opportunities in Africa as the blockchain firm planned for expansion in the continent.

“We’re also on the commercial side really scaling up our commercial division and in Africa in particular we’re definitely going to scale up resources there into the eight figures because there’s a lot of good news coming.”

Contributed by The Daily Hodl.