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My experience as a project lead at **OS UNIVERSITY**, the world’s L&D ledger on the Ethereum Blockchain, shows that there are 6 main (groups of) benefits that universities are seeking/interested in when it comes to the opportunity to integrate Blockchain technologies into their operations (list is not ranked):

* **Brand recognition** as a leading pioneer in the field, along with innovators such as MIT and opportunities for academic collaboration on EU and broader international level (e.g. the European Commission has an extensive report[1] on the subject).

* **Improved student satisfaction** by enabling students to participate in distributed learning experiences online and have a digital footprint of their diplomas on the Blockchain[2], so that their accomplishment receives stronger visibility in a highly-competitive job market.

* **Improved cost structure** by transforming part of the learning process online; providing traceability of all participants in courses and degrees; real-time performance information related to studies’ progress (manual input eliminated[3]); automatically suggesting suitable candidates for newly formed specializations (easier selection process).

* **Optimized income structure** by increasing number of students due to the increased satisfaction; financial benefits given by the business when matching the right learner (opportunity for the business to approach learners) as well as by partnership with businesses[4] to organize internship programs.

* **Increased market scalability** and continuous improvement of the education - adequate to the real live students’ and business’ demands by receiving feedback from learners about feature improvements, rating, information about students hired; unified collaboration space with other universities[5].

* **Anti-fraud protection** by recording encrypted meta-data[6] about all issued credentials in a global decentralized database, which serves as a single source of truth when it comes to inquiries/background checks, etc.

For all of the above mentioned insights, I provide links to relevant video content by industry experts. The list is not exclusive (in fact it is not limited to universities - it applies to schools and other education providers), but it reflects on my observations from my recent participation at UK’s biggest Edtech event - Bett Show 2018, where I was able to meet with key stakeholders from the field of Academia and exchange ideas.

[1] [Blockchain in Education](https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/eur-scientific-and-technical-research-reports/blockchain-education)

[2] [Open Source University: EdTech Blockchain Platform Explainer](https://youtu.be/KR9j-EeTwfI)

[3] [Using Blockchain for student certificates slashes admin costs | GovInsider](https://govinsider.asia/digital-gov/patrice-choong-ngee-ann-polytechnic-campus-ecosystem/)

[4] [OS UNIVERSITY & Job Tiger - a successful partnership in the making](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VPOtCfX2UM)

[5] [Page on youtube.com](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOjx_0JFl)

[6] [Open Source University: Why Blockchain?](https://youtu.be/894Fq9znM1s)