This is how Yo Universitario came about—a platform that allows graduates to digitally validate their degrees with the endorsement of the issuing educational institution, and which can be accessed electronically by third parties with complete confidence and validity from anywhere in the world.
“This offers convenience to graduates, as they can verify their degrees from the comfort of their own homes, avoiding a lot of tedious paperwork,” says Giménez. Meanwhile, the institutions verify the information and provide national and international certification through a digital signature.
According to the computer science graduates, to develop the project, they used “a distributed database system based on blockchain technology and asymmetric cryptography. This makes it possible to unambiguously identify the parties involved, as well as securely store information for access by third parties.”
In particular, they used the Ethereum blockchain because, given the nature of the problem, smart contracts facilitated communication among the various parties involved in the validation of academic credentials.
What is it and how does it work?
The choice of technology stemmed from Giménez and Mariano’s personal desire to learn something new—something disruptive and cutting-edge. It also offered them security and reliability for future operations.
“This technology means users don’t have to rely on us to handle their information; instead, they manage it themselves. Plus, the source code is available—it’s not a black box; it’s transparent,” explains Giménez.
According to the graduates, “blockchain is a distributed database or public ledger in which all information is owned by all members of the network and is transmitted with a digital signature using asymmetric cryptography.”
“This method is based on encryption algorithms that use two different keys to encrypt data: a private key, which is kept secret, and a public key, which is derived from the private key and must be distributed.”
“Information that a user encrypts with their private key can be decrypted—that is, read—by other users only using that user’s public key; conversely, information encrypted with a user’s public key can only be decrypted by that user using their private key.”
“This ensures secure transactions and non-repudiation,” says Giménez, adding, “because a user cannot deny having carried out a transaction, nor can they carry out transactions on behalf of another user without knowing that user’s private key.”
Great teamwork
But to fully understand blockchain technology and the opportunities it could offer them for carrying out the project, they had to study and learn a great deal. “We knew that, in theory, the solution was possible, but its technical implementation required a lot of study and a deep understanding of the technology and the rules of the business.”
Despite the significant challenges and initial doubts, the project was successfully carried out, achieving its stated goals and solidifying the plan to turn the idea into a business venture.
Giménez also highlights the team’s synergy and smooth operation, which are essential qualities for long-term projects and such critical moments. “Our team meetings were always very productive; at each session, we were able to make progress and define our goals more accurately.”