Digitization and transparency: How Tunisia uses blockchain to verify diplomas 🎓🔗

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Tunisia is integrating blockchain technology into its education system for university diploma verification. This innovation aims to ensure the authenticity and transparency of academic certifications, helping the country combat fraud and counterfeit documents.

Understanding blockchain technology 🤔

Developed in 2008, blockchain is a technology for storing and transmitting information. It functions as a decentralized and secure ledger, allowing data to be recorded transparently and tamper-proof.

This ledger is simultaneously shared among all its users. Each participant holds a copy and can enter information according to specific rules defined by a secure computer protocol. Thanks to this system, transactions—including cryptocurrency transfers such as Bitcoin or Ethereum—can occur without the need for a central authority like a bank.

Public and private blockchains: what are the differences? 🤷🏾‍♀️

• Public blockchains

They are open to everyone and fully decentralized. No authorization or intermediary is required to carry out transactions. The network operates on a peer-to-peer (P2P) basis, ensuring total transparency. Every recorded transaction is final and cannot be modified, making the ledger tamper-proof and accessible to all.

• Private blockchains

Access is restricted to a specific group of users and controlled by a central entity that manages permissions. Unlike public blockchains, private ones are centralized and require authorization for transactions to be recorded. As a result, they do not guarantee user anonymity.

How does blockchain work? 😎

The process of recording transactions on a blockchain follows several steps:

• Transaction initiation: A user (A) sends a transaction to another user (B).
• Block formation: The transaction is grouped with others to form a block.
• Validation and recording: Miners use powerful computers and complex algorithms to verify the validity of the block based on the network’s rules.
• Network consensus: At least 51% of the network nodes must approve the transaction for the block to be validated.
• Adding to the chain: Once validated, the block is added to the blockchain, ensuring authenticity and irreversibility.
• Finalization: User B receives the transaction from A.

Thanks to this process, blockchain guarantees a high level of security and transparency. It also provides an alternative to traditional centralized systems.

A reliable and secure system ✅

Tunisia has officially adopted this system as part of the Unified Arab System for Diploma Authentication, established by the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO). With this technology, each diploma is linked to unique information and securely stored.

As a result, employers and academic institutions can verify diploma authenticity in just a few clicks. This advancement simplifies validation processes and enhances the credibility of the education system.

Adoption following a pilot phase 📜

Before deploying this system nationwide, Tunisia participated in a pilot phase alongside Algeria, Egypt, and Libya. This successful experiment led to an agreement in November 2024 between Tunisia and ALECSO, formalizing the integration of blockchain in university diploma management.

One of the key objectives of this initiative is to effectively combat academic fraud. By registering diplomas on blockchain, Tunisia ensures their traceability and prevents any falsification. Additionally, this technology facilitates the enrollment of Tunisian students in other Arab universities and speeds up mutual recognition of certifications. Consequently, this innovation strengthens employers’ confidence in graduates’ qualifications and improves administrative transparency.

Visible limitations ⚠️

Despite its many advantages, blockchain cannot verify a diploma’s authenticity before it is recorded. In other words, if a fake diploma is entered into the system, it will be securely stored but not validated. To prevent fraud, institutions must ensure document authenticity before registering them.

By embracing blockchain, Tunisia continues to modernize and digitize its education sector. This initiative could inspire other countries and contribute to better international recognition of Tunisian diplomas.

This technological advancement allows Tunisia to ensure reliable and accessible academic certifications, aligning with the new demands of the digital world.

What do you think ?
Do you believe blockchain is the best solution to combat diploma falsification?