Skills Blockchain aims to bring blockchain technology to the vocational skills market for the first time, providing a national ledger of achievement that can be mined, verified and distributed securely.
Blockchain is technology built on principles drawn from cryptography, game theory and peer-to-peer networking. It ensures the integrity and security of data by making the ledger available to all participants in the network and creating a process by which a consensus can be reached in changes to the ledger. It is increasing being used to track and validate both physical and digital assets. Current achievement records are largely paper based certificates issued by learning providers and awarding organisations. This does not make it easy for employers to validate certification, or for different types of learning (such as informal learning) to be assessed and recognised. Lack of a centralised database creates issues around the validation of prior learning. By solving these problems and more, Skills Blockchain aims to reduce friction in the labour market, better match employers demand for skills and enable employees to better demonstrate their skills and experience.