Tunisia adopts blockchain-based system for verifying credentials

Tunisia has officially adopted the Unified Arab System for Diploma Authenticity Verification, joining other Arab nations in streamlining degree validation.

Launched on February 28 as part of the country’s digital transformation strategy, the system enables agencies and recruiters to easily verify diplomas from local higher institutions.

The details 

• Before its launch in the country, Tunisia had participated in a pilot of the program alongside Algeria, Egypt and Libya last year. 
• After a successful pilot, Tunisia formalized its adoption of the system by signing an agreement with its developers, the Arab League Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization (ALESCO), in November.
• While the detailed breakdown of how the system works is currently not publicly available, reports say unique information about each credential is collected and stored onchain. 
• This helps to guarantee the security and accessibility of the information stored, allowing for quick verification of credentials. 

Authenticity concerns

• However, as is the case with other blockchain solutions, a decentralized ledger can only keep information shared safe from being tampered with. 
• It cannot validate the authenticity of these credentials before they are put onchain. 
• As such, if bad actors tamper with a certificate before it is fed into the blockchain-based system or feed it with fraudulent credentials, the system is blindsided and cannot determine its authenticity. 
• It instead secures the information fed to it and retrieves it at the validator’s request. 

Key quote 

• Speaking at an event held to promote the use of the Verified Arab System for Diploma Authenticity Verification last week, the director-general of ALESCO, Mohamed Ould Amar, said: 

“The implementation of this unified system will ... combat certificate forgery, thus bolstering the credibility of our educational institutions. This system will also streamline student enrollment in Arab universities through the mutual and rapid recognition of certificates, increasing employers’ confidence in graduates’ qualifications and enhancing transparency in academic and administrative processes.” 

Before now 

• Mauritius is another African country that has developed a blockchain system to verify government-issued credentials and certificates. 
• Its eVerify system, built on Singapore’s Ethereum-based Open Attestation technology, enables certificate verification by checking against a blockchain hash value. 
• When the government issues a certificate, cryptographic proof of the document is scanned and uploaded onchain. 
• A QR code is printed on the document, linking it to a secure digital record. When scanned, the system checks it against the government’s database—if it matches, the document is confirmed as authentic.