Singapore to roll out blockchain-based education certification system nationwide

Starting this year, graduates from 18 educational institutions in Singapore will receive digital certificates that are verifiable on the blockchain.

Apart from helping employers weed out doctored certificates, OpenCerts could lead to efficiency gains, better security, and cost savings. Data doesn’t have to be kept in one location: each certificate’s details are stored in an individual file, and all verifications are done through Ethereum.

With this set-up, the cost of maintaining a blockchain-based digital certificate system could be cheaper than building an equivalent on a centralized database.

OpenCerts is an open-source and government-linked project. It’s reportedly the largest blockchain-related application of its kind launched globally to date. Once all 18 schools fully implement the system, it could create hundreds of thousands of digital certificates in the coming years.

The signing ceremony announcing the nationwide rollout / Photo credit: Ngee Ann Polytechnic

The project is a collaboration among four organizations: SkillsFuture Singapore, Government Technology Agency, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, and the Ministry of Education.

The certificates are designed to be tamper-proof. Once a certificate is created, its data is converted into a hash – or a string of random letters and numbers – and stored on popular decentralized blockchain Ethereum.

Any attempt to change the certificate data – which is essentially a text file – creates a new hash. This means a tempered certificate can be detected by comparing the new hash with the old one.

OpenCerts can completely eliminate the need for schools to issue paper certificates, and the process of checking a certificate’s authenticity is made easier. Instead of ringing an institution to check on each job candidate, employers can simply drag and drop the certificate onto the OpenCerts website and get it verified quickly.

For graduates who are Singaporeans and permanent residents, they have the additional benefit of accessing their digital certificates in an online government repository called Skills Passport.

Going forward, the consortium is looking to implement this for certificates that have been issued. Also, the open-source nature of the technology means that companies can build upon the code base and commercialize it. For example, the verification of certificates using OpenCerts is manual. A startup could come in and integrate the technology directly into the backend systems of customers.

Foreign educational institutions have also expressed interest in adopting the technology. Possible use cases beyond education certificates are being explored.

Here’s a list of the 18 local institutions that will be adopting OpenCerts:

• Institute of Technical Education
• Lasalle College of the Arts
• Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
• Nanyang Polytechnic
• Nanyang Technological University
• National Institute of Early Childhood Development
• National University of Singapore
• Ngee Ann Polytechnic
• Republic Polytechnic
• Singapore Institute of Technology
• Singapore Polytechnic
• Singapore Management University
• Singapore University of Social Sciences
• Singapore University of Technology and Design
• Temasek Polytechnic
• Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board
• SkillsFuture Singapore
• Government Technology Agency