09 Oct Malta could soon have the first Blockchain University
Malta could soon have the first Blockchain University. This concept is the brain child of Joshua Broggi, a researcher at the University of Oxford and one of the founders of Woolf University, who’s aim is to operate entirely with blockchain technology in order to save on operating costs by automating all administrative procedures. The cryptographic design of the blockchain and the immutable log technology will concurrently ensure the safety and validation of the qualifications obtained at the university. “Malta provides an educational framework based on the British tradition and, after Brexit, will remain both a member state of the EU and a member of the Commonwealth”.
Broggi declared that they “will use a blockchain to create efficiency by managing student fees, strengthening regulatory compliance for accreditation and automating a series of processes”.
The original plan to finance Woolf University foresaw an ICO, but the blockchain university received enough private funding so as to not need public backing.
The university will offer both online and on-site courses, structured in a way that will encourage teaching from anywhere in the world through a series of customized course-work exercises.
Broggi says that students and teachers will, for example, check-in, thus initiating a series of smart contracts that will validate the frequency and completion of assignments, payments to teachers and assign microcredits to students.
The project has already attracted the attention of many professors from prestigious universities such as Cambridge University, George Mason University, Kyoto University, King’s College London and the University of Leipzig.
Malta has quickly gained a reputation in the blockchain community as a country who is welcoming and eager to advance technology with appropriate regulatory support, and Broggi claims that this situation makes Malta “an ideal partner for a university without borders”.
Joseph Muscat, the Maltese prime minister, has, in recent years, worked towards turning his country into a “Blockchain Island“, an action in support of the island’s economy that has also convinced Binance and OKEx to transfer their operations to the former British colony.