At the start of the 2021 academic year, ESCP Business School is implementing an ambitious and innovative blockchain for education project: graduates of the prestigious business school will now have a 100% digital and tamper-proof version of their precious diplomas.
Let’s meet Anthony Hié, Director of Digital Transformation at ESCP Business School and Luc Jarry-Lacombe, CEO of BCdiploma, a blockchain solution for dematerializing academic documents, on the set of Ecosysteme – B SMART TV.
The threat of fake diplomas
Today, many digital creations are fraudulent! About 33% of the resumes currently available on the internet are fake.
The fake diploma industry is exploding. Authors Allen Ezell and John Bear, in their 2012 book “Degree Mills: The Billion-Dollar Industry That Has Sold Over a Million Fake Diplomas,” calculated that sales of fake diplomas have easily passed the $1 billion mark over the past decade. In their work, Ezell and Bear found that more than half of those applying for a new doctorate have fake diplomas. Recently, BBC News reported that more than 40 fraudulent websites had been shut down in a major crackdown on the sale of fake diplomas.
According to Antony Hié, this business damages the image and reputation of schools and their alumni networks and even prestigious certificate, like the TOEIC certificate.
Anthony Hié, in the next part of the interview, presents the approach of the famous business school. Here are some highlights:
Why did ESCP Business School choose a blockchain solution?
ESCP business school is a leading management and business school. We have more than 7000 students and 6 campuses in Europe. We work a lot on the student experience, i.e. the quality of the student’s journey throughout their studies and beyond. To innovate, we co-build with the students.
The security of diplomas, their ease of access and presentation to recruiters is an important part of this process! The approach offered by blockchain technology and micro credentials is totally innovative and… in the trend.
What does the BCdiploma solution provide?
We chose BCdiploma, the industry leader in Blockchain Digital Credentials: the ease of integration of the system is there and brings immediate benefits.
The partnership with BCdiploma also appealed to us because it simplifies access to documents: diplomas can be accessed in one click, whether from a computer or a smartphone. Our students immediately adopted it! The Mobile First approach has always been very important for ESCP Business School.
Moreover, from our first experiments with BCdiploma for Specialized Masters, we noticed that the students immediately started to put the link of their open badge on their LinkedIn profile: a success!
We also simplify the work of our partners: HR managers who want to check diplomas can simply view them in real-time on the blockchain with all the guarantees of authenticity…, instead of calling ESCP business School. A win for everyone!
The ESCP Business School press release lists the benefits of implementing the solution:
– Simplifying the process for users (students, graduates, HR departments’ access to verification…);
– Securing and optimizing the process of diploma distribution;
– Easy access to information- Becoming a European leader in the digital revolution in higher education in terms of innovation.
Resources
Press release 2019: ESCP EUROPE CERTIFIE SES DIPLOMES PAR LA BLOCKCHAIN