Post US embassy complaint, blockchain tech to be used for JNTUH certificates

The State government has decided to implement blockchain technology for certifications from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad (JNTUH), after the US embassy got in touch with it and relayed its worries about the increasing number of visa applications with fake certificates. 

Rama Devi, OSD, emerging technologies (IT department) said, "The US embassy pointed out that some students and employees applying for visas were submitting fake certificates. So we got feedback from the embassy to see if we could secure the certificates."

As of now, the project will be implemented for software-engineering graduates at JNTUH, where Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary of the IT department is the acting vice-chancellor. Devi said the project would be operational in a month, and would slowly be implemented in other universities too.

The state government is planning to replicate the model it implemented at IIIT-Basar as a proof of concept (PoC) and for the SSC Board, Zebi Data India Pvt Ltd, a Hyderabad-based blockchain organisation, had taken up the IIIT-Basar project, and has been using the technology to verify requests sent from external agencies that seek to ascertain the authenticity of certificates issued by the institute. 

The IT department is also coming up with guidelines for fundamental and core research into artificial intelligence (AI). This comes after the Central government allocated a huge sum for research institutions, a sector in which India has been lacking when compared to countries like China. 

Earlier this year, the prestigious Andhra University in Visakhapatnam was among the six universities, under the UGC scanner for alleged ‘sale’ of fake degrees. These universities allegedly provided degrees to students without making them attend classes and write examinations in lieu of money. The Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad had also issued an advisory to colleges urging them to be cautious in recruiting faculty from the six universities which are under the UGC scanner.