The global workforce is struggling to resolve widespread fraud regarding the verification of the skills and educational record of employees. This problem begins at the institutional level due to the opaque nature of educational records and the difficulty of determining whether diploma documents are genuine. Academic certificate fraud is a reality, and is done both by counterfeiting and/or with the complicity of educational staff.
Synergy University is one of the leading universities in Russia, with more than 100 programs of study and 60,000 students across 100 regional units. Before the pilot project, student education details, including diplomas, at Synergy University were stored in a closed internal system. It was difficult for potential employers to verify the backgrounds of candidates from Synergy University, and there were cases in which students were provided with fake diplomas, significantly harming the reputation of the University.
The goal of the project was to implement an efficient solution that could improve reliability in the storage and verification of records in order to mitigate corruption and eliminate the option of buying a diploma and/or altering grades.
Synergy University is the first educational institution in Russia to deploy a blockchain-based platform for recording and storing student education information. The project helped the university increase the level of trust and loyalty of students and employers through the decentralized, permanent storage of academic certificates. The deployed blockchain solution ensures the transparent storage and authenticity of diplomas, results of the entrance tests, student grades and other achievements during their time at Synergy University.
Since the data stored on an Exonum blockchain cannot be changed, the authenticity, integrity and non-repudiation of the certificate is guaranteed. The project helped to significantly reduce the labor costs for the archiving, certification and delivery of the documents. Now, more than 60,000 diplomas are recorded on the Exonum blockchain. The date the information was recorded cannot be altered and is publicly verifiable without intermediaries. This design also enables students to receive their official records in a digital format that is tamper-proof and immediately verifiable by others. Employers can also now verify diploma authenticity and applicant qualifications in real time.