Why is the future of digital credentials not possible without blockchain?

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In the rapidly evolving landscape of digital credentials, the integration of blockchain technology stands out as a real transformative force. As industries shift towards a digital future, the traditional mechanisms of credential management are being redefined. This article digs into the crucial role of blockchain in shaping the future of digital credentials, addressing challenges and unlocking the value in a new era of trust, accessibility, and security.

Credentials Definition and Examples

A credential is a unique documented proof showcasing and attesting an individual's qualifications, achievements, or attributes. They come in various types, such as academic degrees or diplomas, micro-credentials, professional certifications, badges, authority, title or identification confirmation and others. Digital credentials are the same documents issued or stored in an electronic form. ‍

             Micro-credentials use case

In todays evolving environment, where lifelong learning is a necessity, micro-credentials and digital badges are gaining momentum. These smaller, more specialized credentials are perfect for showcasing specific skills, knowledge or experience. They are verifiable, shareable, portable awards that are issued to recipients once they meet a set of given criteria such as passing an exam. Unlike traditional degrees or certifications that cover a broad range of subjects, micro-credentials are designed to be concise, specific, and often more accessible. Micro-credentials aren’t limited to higher education providers.

As educational institutions, employers, and students start to recognize the advantages of this concept (EU expressed its approach yet in 2022), its integration in our lives is expected to become more and more common. Being one of the largest groups under the digital credentials framework, micro-qualifications face a lot of challenges, which might be resolved with the help of blockchain technology.

Challenges of Digital Credentials

Despite an already wide adoption today, digital credentials space is still evolving, facing multiple challenges, some of which are described below.

• Vulnerability to fraud and damage: digital credentials are susceptible to physical manipulation or damage, compromising their integrity, trustworthiness and simply the original form. Imagine, someone can easily forge a PDF-based certificate just with Adobe editing feature.
• Verification challenges: authenticating digital credentials can be cumbersome and even impossible, leading to potential inaccuracies and violating the main purpose of the credentials - being verifiable proof. If a potential employer gets a proof of certain course completion, it is often very hard to verify with an issuer if it is an original certificate issued for this candidate.
• Lack of real-time control: the inability to update credentials’ status in real-time poses challenges in reflecting an individual's current skills/achievement, often misleading an employer. Some courses and licenses have a very specific validity period which often can't be checked. Additionally, if a granted credential or title is revoked for a certain reason, this can't be reflected on the paper or PDF, since there is no control over their lifecycle.
• Lack of shareability: traditional methods often lack user-friendly or just convenient sharing options, there is no one interoperable accessible database where the credentials might be securely stored, accessed by multiple interested parties and trusted. Remember, how we had only 1 original diploma in paper and had to entrust it to various institutions.
• Fragmented process: the credentialing process is often fragmented, causing inefficiencies, delays in issuing and misinformation. The databases are not interoperable, storage and distribution processes are inefficient.

How Does Blockchain Leverage Digital Credentials?

Blockchain-based credentials management solutions address the above challenges by offering a more robust, secure and transparent framework for managing digital credentials.

• Verifiable: blockchain ensures the authenticity and trustworthiness of credentials through independent verification.
• Tamper-proof, hence more trusted: the immutability of blockchain records prevents unauthorized alterations, enhancing security.
• Instantly shareable: blockchain facilitates seamless and immediate sharing of credentials, improving accessibility.
• Transparent & traceable: the transparent nature of blockchain allows for a traceable and auditable credentialing process, explicitly showing every action on the credential.
• Borderless & interoperable: blockchain enables interoperability, breaking down silos between different credentialing systems and geo locations.
• Convenient: the user-centric design of all-in-one platforms blockchain (like DoxyChain) simplifies the credential management process.

Summary

The future of digital credentials is undeniably intertwined with the evolution of blockchain technology. By addressing the challenges inherent in traditional credential management, blockchain offers a revolutionary approach that enhances security, transparency, and trust. Embracing blockchain in the digital credentials space is not a technological advancement; it is a paradigm shift towards a more secure, accessible, and trustworthy credentialing ecosystem. As industries continue to digitize, the symbiotic relationship between blockchain and digital credentials will play a crucial role in shaping the way we recognize and verify qualifications and educational achievements.

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Read our next article here. If you aspire to leverage your digital credentials management and win with competition, we encourage you to explore a DoxyChain solution at www.doxychain.com.

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