Japanese multinational conglomerate Sony and IT equipment services firm Fujitsu have created an encrypted database for educational proficiency documents, The Asahi Shimbun reports on Feb. 26. The database, which reportedly employs blockchain technology, is used to prevent forgeries of language proficiency documents, which some foreigners purportedly use to receive resident status to study in Japan. Foreigners must submit a Japanese language proficiency certificate to the Immigration Bureau in order to receive resident status to study in Japan. Said certificates can be issued by Japanese educational institutions abroad. Japanese language schools within the country will submit the certificates on behalf of …

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta and training platform TalentSpirit are jointly offering an advanced programme in fintech and blockchain technology, local news outlet The Asian reported on Feb. 26. The new program scheduled for this May is reportedly targeted at management and finance professionals aiming to educate participants on financial technologies growth and its potential impact on the banking and financial ecosystem. The program director, professor Indranil Bose, stated that “a vast majority of firms in the banking and financial sector believe that the lack of adequate fintech talent is an existential threat to their future.” Bose added …

The government of Andorra will implement blockchain technology in the country’s higher education system, Spanish-language news outlet EuropaPress reported on Feb. 21. The Principality of Andorra, a sovereign landlocked state on the Iberian Peninsula, will digitize national higher education by implementing blockchain technology for storing all academic degrees. The initiative is aimed at creating a more secure registry processes, EuropaPress reports. Academic degrees recorded via blockchain tech can not be eliminated or modified, and the tech will also allow for the reduction of “administrative expenses derived from the current analogue process,” the article notes. The access to the blockchain is …

In Malta, all educational certificates will be stored on a blockchain, local English-language local media MaltaToday reports on Feb. 21. The initiative is reportedly the scaling-up of a two-year-old pilot project to include all the nation’s schools, including secondary school certificates issued by the state, church and independent schools. According to the report, the Maltese government signed a two-year contract with software company Learning Machine, to build on the aforementioned pilot project. During the signing ceremony at Castille, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat reportedly claimed that Malta is the first country in the world to put all education certificates on a …

The charity arm of the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, has launched its pilot blockchain-based lunch program in African schools, according to a blog post on Feb. 21. Binance Charity Foundation (BCF) has rolled out its charity campaign “Lunch for Children” in the capital of Uganda, Kampala. According to the program, the organization is set to provide two meals a day during the full year of 2019 to more than 200 students and school staff. The recently launched pilot in Uganda is a part of a larger campaign by Binance that intends to benefit one million students in schools across …

One of the most selective universities in China, Fudan University, has opened a blockchain research center, according to an announcement published on Feb. 15. Per the announcement, Fudan University established the Shanghai Blockchain Engineering Technology Research Center in collaboration with Zhongan Online Property Insurance Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Zhongren Information Technology Co., Ltd. The center will purportedly carry out basic research on blockchain technology, demonstrate its application, as well as provide associated talent training. The establishment of the Shanghai Blockchain Engineering Technology Research Center will further promote the development and growth of the blockchain industry in Shanghai and purportedly facilitate …

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance’s education portal has reached the top three most popular products on Y Combinator-backed exposure platform Product Hunt, the website’s listings revealed on Feb. 18. Product Hunt, which launched in 2013 to showcase up-and-coming products and services to mainstream consumers, currently holds Binance Academy as its third-highest ranking entity. Other cryptocurrency-related offerings include trading tool Robinhood and statistics and passive income generator Earn.com. Binance Academy debuted in December last year as a means of providing cryptocurrency traders with information on Bitcoin (BTC) and the cryptocurrency industry in general. Executives appeared eager to increase technical proficiency among users in …

The Institute of Decentralized Economics (IDE) has opened in London, the United Kingdom on Feb. 14, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph. The think tank, which is dedicated to the study of blockchain-based economic systems and their impact on existing institutions, is backed by fintech company Sweetbridge. It is purportedly designed to investigate the potential of decentralized and autonomous systems and find real use cases. Per the press release, the idea behind the IDE is to “help organizations better understand the economics that underlie the blockchain industry.” The IDE will also study the design and viability of stablecoins …

Prestigious United States public school University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) has launched a 12-week accelerator program for early stage blockchain startups. The launch was reported in an official announcement published on Jan. 28. The Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator is partly sponsored by venture capital fund Berkeley X-Lab Fund and is reportedly the result of cooperation between Berkeley Engineering’s Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, the Haas School of Business and Blockchain at Berkeley. The latter is a student-run organization for blockchain innovation comprised of over 100 Berkeley students — as well as figures from industry and academia — which has …

The Russian Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Education and Science, (Rosobrnadzor) will implement blockchain technology in the country’s main graduation examination, major Russian news agency TASS reports Feb. 5. Starting this year, Rosobrnadzor intends to implement blockchain technology in the Unified State Exam (USE), which is the only form of graduation examinations in schools and the main form of preliminary examinations in universities in Russia. The announcement was made by the head of the Federal Service, Sergey Kravtsov. He stated: “We also talked about the use of blockchain technology in the USE, and this year this technology …

Russia’s Ministry of Education and Science (Minobrnauki) has introduced a blockchain-enabled platform for tracking natural diamonds, government-backed news agency TASS reports today, Jan. 30. The new Russian diamond tracking technology claims to fully guarantee the authenticity of diamond products across all the supply chain, from extraction and polishing to the final owner. Based on emerging IT technologies and blockchain, the new system intends to prevent market participants from losing their financial assets since the diamond market has both natural and synthetic diamonds, as well as fake stones, TASS reports. According to Minobrnauki, the technology has been developed by Russian startup …

The system for managing waiting lists to kindergartens in the the Kazakh capital of Astana will implement blockchain technology in the beginning of February, local news website Elorda Info reports Tuesday, Jan. 29. In Kazakhstan, parents must apply to have their child accepted to a local kindergarten, which results in waiting lists for certain schools. Queues for kindergartens are managed in accordance with federal law under the Standard of State Service. Priority is given to children whose legal representatives are disabled; children without parental care; children from large families; and children with special educational needs. According to Alisher Abdykadyrov, head …