Blockchain diploma authenticity verification system using smart contract technology

Blockchain technology and smart contracts have huge potential which has not been exploited fully yet. The main objective of this paper is to showcase the powerful attributes of blockchain technology and smart contracts, showcasing our unique and powerful use case of document verification in the field of higher education using the Ethereum protocol. Our smart contract use case will take advantage of the main attributes of blockchain technology to solve the problem of document forgery. These amazing attributes are immutability, censorship resistance, extreme robusticity, transparency, and neutrality, in addition to near-perfect availability and decentralization. Ethereum enables developers to create decentralized applications without having to invest in expensive infrastructure. Document forgery has a very long track record in the education sector and academia. In this digital age, it has become frighteningly simple and inexpensive to acquire fake university diplomas, certificates, and many other types of credentials. This has a long-term negative effect on higher-level education because it damages the healthy competitive environment of students and the reputation and credibility of institutions. The most problematic version of the diploma which is the most susceptible to forgery is physical diplomas. Even with relatively expensive and difficult-to-replicate security elements, such as holograms and special security markings, these are not efficient enough to keep bad actors away from trying to forge them and replicate them. The more complex methods we use for preventing physical document forgery, the more knowledge and experience does the verifier needs beforehand due to the complexity and the unique nature of anti-forgery methods and materials one has to look for during examination. The verification process of continually evolving and changing physical forgery prevention stamps, materials, holograms and others are expensive to automate the verification procedure and introduces additional human labor cost (training staff, hiring new employees, hiring trainers and forgery specialists). Therefore the best prevention method for replication is to build a system that makes it infeasible to even try to commit forgery. Usually, when an employer asks for the diploma, the student sends an electronic photocopy of the document to them or scans it. This completely nullifies the effect of holograms, watermarks, special UV active materials, and all other physical security elements. Even with the use of centralized electronic document verification systems, data manipulation is still possible, in addition, such a system introduces the concept of having to trust a third party for verification and single point of failure, in addition to lack of transparency, immutability, and data availability. An ideal solution would be one that is trustless, transparent, immutable, and always accessible. Blockchain technology offers the optimal solution to document forgery. In this article, we will showcase our Ethereum smart contract solution and all of the crucial aspects of document integrity.