Presentation at the International Workshop Digital Transformation - https://elearning.upt.ro/ro/comunitate/workshop-international-transformare-digitala-editia-1

1. Why to participate in the
EBSI4RO MOOCs
CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode.ro
Prof.dr.ing. Carmen Holotescu
EBSI4RO Team UPT

2. Content
1. Strategies for digital credentials
and micro-credentials in EU
2. Blockchain – the technology of trust
3. EBSI4RO: Connecting Romania
through Blockchain
4. MOOCs EBSI4RO

3. Education in EU
Webinar Del4ALL, Nov 25, 2020 – http://del4all.eu
https://www.del4all.eu/news/2020/12/02/flagship-technology-projects-in-the-eu/

4. Education in EU
From Alex Grech - Blockchain, Self-Sovereign Identity and Credentials, March, 2021 –
https://www.slideshare.net/alexgrech/blockchain-selfsovereign-identity-and-credentials

5. European Digital Credentials for Learning
Oct 25, 2021 - https://europa.eu/europass/en/what-are-digital-credentials

6. Micro-credentials
Dec 14, 2020 - A European approach to micro-credentials - https://ec.europa.eu/education/education-in-the-eu/european-education-area/a-european-approach-to-
micro-credentials_en
Dec 10, 2021 - Commission takes action to improve lifelong learning and employability https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_6476
June 16, 2022 - Council recommends European approach to micro-credentials https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/06/16/council-
recommends-european-approach-to-micro-credentials

7. From Early Adopters EBSI Programme Webinar - March 2021 -
https://ec.europa.eu/cefdigital/wiki/display/CEFDIGITAL/EBSI+Early+Adopters+programme+kick-off+webinar

8. https://github.com/trottier/original-bitcoin
Blockchain – the technology of trust
The blockchain term, originally block chain, was
first coined in 2009, by (the still unknown) Satoshi
Nakamoto, in the original source code for the
virtual currency Bitcoin: "Nodes collect new
transactions into a block, hash them into a hash
tree"; "when they solve the proof-of-work, they
broadcast the block to everyone and the block is
added to the block chain." (Nakamoto, 2009).
http://www.metzdowd.com/pipermail/cryptography/2008-
October/014810.html
Blockchain technology enables the creation of a
decentralized environment, where the
cryptographically validated transactions and data
are not under the control of any third party
organization. Any transaction ever completed is
recorded in an immutable ledger in a verifiable,
secure, transparent and permanent way, with a
timestamp and other details.

9. Blockchain Advantages and Applications
1. self-sovereignty - users identify themselves and maintain control
over the storage/management of personal data;
2. trust - the technical infrastructure offers secure
operations(payments or issue of certificates);
3. transparency and provenance - to perform transactions in
knowledge that each party has the capacity to enter into that
transaction;
4. immutability- records are written and stored permanently, without
the possibility of modification;
5. disintermediation- no need for a central controlling authority to
manage transactions or keep records;
6. collaboration - ability of parties to transact directly with each other
without the need for mediating third parties.
Grech, A. & Camilleri, A. 2017. Blockchain in Education JRC Report - https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/eur-scientific-
and-technical-research-reports/blockchain-education
https://www.stateofthedapps.com
https://positiveblockchain.io

10. 10

11. 11

12. https://ec.europa.eu/ebsi

13. 13

14. Verifiable Credentials on EBSI
Standards

15. EBSI4RO Connecting Romania through Blockchain
Central scope: to create an extendable and sustainable ecosystem to facilitate and accelerate the awareness, knowledge and
adoption of the Blockchain technologies and European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) by the Romanian citizens,
businesses, institutions and administration; proposals for Blockchain policies in education.
Partners:
1. Executive Unit for Financing Higher Education,
Research, Development and Innovation (UEFISCDI)
• Dr.Cosmin Cioranu
• Elena Stefania Nicolaescu
2. Politehnica University of Timisoara (UPT)
• Prof.dr.ing.Radu Vasiu
• Dr.Diana Andone
• Prof.dr.ing.Carmen Holotescu
• Drd.Victor Holotescu
• S.l.dr.Andrei Ternauciuc
• Conf.dr.Gabriela Grosseck
April 2021 – March 2023
https://ebsi4ro.ro
https://www.facebook.com/ebsi4ro
https://twitter.com/ebsi4ro

16. Objectives of the project
Setup and
operation of an
EBSI node
Communication
and Blockchain
community
strengthening in
Romania, with
the aim to raise
awareness of
Blockchain /
EBSI
Credentialing
System is
implemented for
verifiable digital
qualification
(official diplomas),
but also for
verifiable micro-
credentials
5 Massive Open
Online Courses
(MOOCs) on
Unicampus.ro
1. Blockchain technologies.
Applications in Education
2. EU priorities and programs
3. EBSI open technical
specifications. EBSI Use
cases
4. How to deploy EBSI
applications
5. Developing dApps
from June 2022 – micro-
credentials on EBSI
Node operational
from July 2021
The system will be integrated
with the National Student Enrolment
Registry (Registrul Matricol Unic RMU).
An example for micro-credentials use-
case: the certificates for the teachers
trained in the CRED national project will
be issued on EBSI.

17. Proposals for Digital Education Strategy in Romania - SmartEDU
https://www.smart.edu.ro/
The first proposals of educational policies related to diplomas/micro-credentials on EBSI
made by the EBSI4RO team – December 2020

18. EBSI Early Adopters: Multi-University Pilot
2 European universities alliances, +18 universities from +15 countries
EBSI4RO participates in the EA Programme – July 2021 – May 2022
https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/wikis/display/EBSI/Early+Adopters+Programme

19. Project Team
19
Apply for a PhD with a Bachelor/Master degree from a foreign country (RO/GR/FR)
Hellenic Distributed Ledger
Technology Infrastructure
The ELEDGER project aims at
establishing a solid pillar for the
development and spreading of the
European Blockchain Partnership (EBP)
initiative in Greece.
Another project goal is to support the
participation and contribution of Greek
stakeholders to the European Blockchain
Service Infrastructure (EBSI).
https://ebsi-diplomas.dev.grnet.gr
EBSI4RO: Connecting
Romania through
Blockchain
fr.EBSI: Ready-to-use
Academic Credentials on EBSI
The EBSI4RO project aims to create an
extendable and sustainable ecosystem to
facilitate and accelerate the awareness,
knowledge, and adoption of EBSI in the
country.
The partners are the Executive Agency
for Higher Education, Research,
Development and Innovation Funding
(UEFISCDI) and Politehnica University of
Timisoara, Romania.
https://ebsi4ro.ro
The fr.EBSI project aims to deliver
verifiable digital diplomas on the EBSI
blockchain, as well as the necessary
tools to universities for a large-scale
use.
This project is led for France by the
University of Lille, with the GIP
Renater, and BCdiploma as technical
operator.
https://www.bcdiploma.com/blog/ebsi-
verifiable-credentials

20. GR
20
Statistics with students for Bachelor/Master/PhD
programmes for the 3 countries
687.121
students (Bachelor’s or
equivalent level)
84.077
students (Master’s or
equivalent level)
31.167
students (Doctoral or
equivalent level)
Sources - Numbers in 2020
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/education-and-training/data/database
FR
RO
22.429
Mobile students from abroad
1.116.575
students (Bachelor’s or
equivalent level)
1.018.120
students (Master’s or
equivalent level)
66.122
students (Doctoral or
equivalent level)
349.414
students (Bachelor’s or
equivalent level)
171.909
students (Master’s or
equivalent level)
21.976
students (Doctoral or
equivalent level)
32.560
Mobile students from abroad
252.444
Mobile students from abroad

21. Objectives
21
To support student mobility by applying EBSI Use Cases in a cross-border scenario to simplify the process of
issuing/verifying Bachelor/Master/PhD Diploma Credentials

22. Holder
The student
Position your university
as a pioneer brand,
reduce friction in
interactions,
increase trust
(transparency) and
security in shared data.
At scale, decrease
administrative costs.
Issuer
The university A
Reduce mistakes and
protect against fraud,
effortlessly interact with
government agencies as
well as reduce friction
and reduce verification
costs.
Verifier
The company /
university B
Reduce friction in
interactions,
increase trust
(transparency) and
security in shared data.
TAO (Trusted Accreditation
Organisation)
The ministry
Reduce
costs
Enjoy mobility
across
borders
Lead
the change
Build a new
trust paradigm
22
Take control of their own
data in a secure way and
easily move with their
own credentials across
Europe.
Ministry of Education,
UEFISCDI, Romania
Ministry of Education, Ministry
of Digital Governance,GRNET
Greece
Ministry of National Education,
France
Politehnica University of
Timisoara, Romania
University of Athens, Greece
University of Lille, France

23. The implemented
cross-border
scenario
Issuer
Verifier
Diploma
Credential
did:ebsi
Diploma
Credential
23
Issuer
Issuer
Holder
Diploma
Credential
Verifier
Student ID

24. 13
Walk through the scenario from Anca’s point of view
Walk-through - Demo
05
https://youtu.be/g_SbCFqr_zE

25. 25
For services requiring student identity or degree verification
Addressing the challenge of student mobility in Europe
• Thanks to walt.id support, and
• Using a DID and Verifiable Identity
Attributes issued by Politehnica
University of Timisoara, Romania.
Using the same personal
student wallet in 3 countries
and 3 universities
01
The WaltID wallet (walt.id) used
for this project has been used
successfully
• Thanks to a successful collaboration
between the 3 teams involved, and
• The constant and professional support
of the EBSI team.
Issuing EBSI compliant
credentials recognized in
other countries
02
The 3 participating countries
have issued Europass diplomas
valid on EBSI
• Provided by the fr.EBSI project team,
• Thanks to walt.id SSI kit libraries.
Allowing a university
department or recruiter to
verify a credential
submitted by a student
03
The open source verification
service is online

26. 26

27. 27

28. The MOOCs were piloted with
Master students at UPT

29. Security enhancing Discord bot using hashconnect for auth
https://devpost.com/software/security-enhancing-discord-bot-using-hashconnect-for-auth

30. Kind invitation:
• Participate in the MOOCs and pilots for diplomas and micro-credentials of “EBSI4RO: Connecting
Romania through Blockchain” – https://ebsi4ro.ro
• Follow EBSI4RO on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ebsi4ro and Twitter -https://twitter.com/ebsi4ro