Cardano/IOHK Plans to Launch the Ethiopia Student Blockchain Project in ‘Next Two Months’

 

A project the team behind Cardano (ADA) to equip students in Ethiopia with digital identities and credentials is moving forward, with a planned launch of the first phase set to happen “in the next two months.”

John O’Connor, Director of African Operation at Cardano development firm Input Output Global (IOHK), commented on the team’s progress in the African nation, telling Cryptonews.com that,

“We have completed the first pilot and are beginning to train users at the Ministry of Education on functionality and usage.” 

He added that the Cardano team expects the Ethiopian education ministry to have issued “decentralized identities and digital credentials” for at least 800,000 students in the country by “the end of the year.”

Cardano’s work to issue blockchain-based credentials to Ethiopian students originally started in April 2021. 

In October of the same year, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson personally followed up on the project during a visit to Ethiopia where he discussed what he called “the digital transformation of Ethiopia’s educational credentials” with officials from the Ministry of Education. 

“Five million students on schedule,” Hoskinson said about the progress of the project at the time.

Now, IOHK’s O’Connor is saying that the first phase of the roll-out will happen over the next two months, with 800,000 students involved.

“We’re starting with a national, blockchain-based attainment recording system which will digitally verify grades, remotely monitor school performance and boost education and employment nationwide,” O’Connor explained.

He added that further features and functionality to improve the educational experience will likely be added later as the team learns more about how the system will be used in practice.

According to O’Connor, the project is “the largest country-wide blockchain deployment in the world” at this point.

He concluded that,

“We truly believe that this project could light the touchpaper for a wave of third-generation blockchain innovation across Africa and the developing world, bringing vital services to those who have previously been unable to access them.” 

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