Blockchain technology is one of the hottest topics of recent times its applications are no longer limited to the financial sector alone and have become increasingly evident within worlds that are closer and closer to that in which we live. One example is its application in the field of education, and the central role that it’s starting to play, together with Open Badges. In order to better understand this topic, an initial definition taken from the “Corriere della Sera” newspaper is provided below: “What is it? It could be defined as a sort of public and decentralised register that uses peer-to-peer technology to validate transactions between two parties in a secure, verifiable, and permanent manner. A computer network reaches a consensus on the creation of a new “block” that encompasses all the validated operations, which joins the chain and can no longer be modified. In this manner there can be no doubt about what happened throughout the process: there are no different versions of the same document, and every change is transparent. The blockchain essentially acts as a notary (without the costs) for instantaneously transferring ownership of property (houses, money, cars, stocks, files, etc.) without any intermediaries. […] Consequently, there’s no possibility of corruption, fraud or theft.” Now let’s have a look at its possible applications in other areas, and how blockchain technology can help to humanise work processes and prevent concentrations of power: below are several excerpts from articles written by Massimo Chiriatti, a member of the Ministry of Economic Development’s group of Blockchain experts, and Matteo Bertazzo of Cineca. Together with Marco Bentivogli, Massimo Chiriatti co-authored the Italian Manifesto on blockchain technology: “A tangible asset is exclusive, in the sense that it cannot be available to more than one person at a time. An intangible asset like information, on the other hand, can be copied and transferred at no cost, and made available to several people at the same time. This essential difference between tangible and intangible assets has repercussions upon competitive and industrial models.” The full text is available here. Matteo Bertazzo and Franco Amicucci also contributed to the Manifesto with considerations on its possible applications in the field of training: “Thanks to the partnership between BESTR and Skilla, many Italian companies, like Tim and OVS, have begun using Open Badges as new forms of training certification, and to motivate and engage people for training purposes. The use of blockchain technology among all the new digital forms of formal and non-formal learning will allow for the secure and decentralised recording of the acquired digital credentials, and the creation of a personal training ledger containing the results of each individual’s Lifelong and Lifewide learning. In the corporate environment, starting with large companies with internal corporate academies, the availability of a skills blockchain will finally allow for training results to be traced, and for profiles to be quickly compared and selected, in order to plan the staff’s pathways of growth.” Click here to read the article. Blockchain technology has an enormous appeal: due to the important role that it’s coming to play, and its potential future applications, it’s a phenomenon that simply cannot be ignored. It’s important to get informed and to learn more about it in order to understand its most useful applications and the opportunities it provides for updating our training systems and skills.
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