#PaiRED: Trust in Digital Ledger Technologies!

The power of distributed ledger technologies for education lies in building trust. Trust framework policy can determine how data is managed, stored and verified. Common Education Data Standards (CEDS) facilitates sharing data between programs, institutions, districts and states. Supported by NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) the vocabulary and data model describe organizations, accreditations, credentials and competencies. It sets an example for how to build trust with distributed ledger technologies. DCC (Digital Credentials Consortium) is a multi-university project focused on storing, displaying and verifying digital credentials. And this is only the beginning.

Implementation of digital ledger technologies in education is at the startup stage. Although it is springing up here and there, it is not yet being widely used. Hiring managers and registrars do not trust digital credentials and are not sure how to evaluate them. The perceived benefits have not yet outweighed the costs. Data ownership can be muddy. There are laws like FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act) and GDPR (General Data Protection Act) that make ownership cloudy. In centralized systems this is much clearer. In decentralized systems the data is controlled by whoever owns the private key associated with the transaction, but this does not necessarily equate to ownership.

Connecting existing relationships builds the foundation for trust. Building ecosystems first can lay a foundation for mutually beneficial support. Building on existing trust is the key to adoption and acceptance. Eventually, the technology will improve and be easier to use. Eventually, the concepts will become more familiar to stakeholders and the benefits more apparent.

Education is not just about learning. It is also about documenting, verifying and sharing evidence that learning has occurred. Distributed ledger technologies are sustainable, transparent and auditable while maintaining security and privacy, making them perfect for consensus and transaction driven data. Data ownership and privacy are imperative to vulnerable populations.