Abstract
This work builds on the Process Tokenisation Model for the public sector to empirically validate it. Using a Business Process Management approach, we described the Education Credentials use case issued by a public Higher Education Institution. Twelve interviews were conducted with all process actors (university staff, former students, and external organisations). In addition, related documents were analysed to model the AS-IS. The analysis also covered norms and technical standards. The TO-BE was designed using a risk management approach and through the Process Tokenisation Model, including process requirements, blockchain capabilities, sustainable incentives, and tokenisation outcomes. In sum, the Education Credentials proved suitable for tokenisation, being optimal for it. As an outcome, a detailed Education Credentials tokenisation proposal comprising a public permissioned blockchain, a digital wallet, and Application Programming Interfaces (API). Ultimately, the Process Tokenisation Model proved useful and valuable.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
ABPMP: Guide to the Business Process Management Common Body of Knowledge (BPM CBOK) version 4.0 (2019)
Ayub Khan, A., Laghari, A.A., Shaikh, A.A., Bourouis, S., Mamlouk, A.M., Alshazly, H.: Educational blockchain: a secure degree attestation and verification traceability architecture for higher education commission. Appl. Sci. 11(22), 10917 (2021)
Barth, M., Veit, D.: Which processes do users not want online? - Extending process virtualization theory. In: International Conference on Information Systems 2011, ICIS 2011. vol. 2 (2011)
Bosch, J., Tangi, L., Burian, P.: European Landscape on the Use of Blockchain Technology by the Public Sector (KJ-NA-31-332-EN-N (online)) (2022). https://doi.org/10.2760/18007
Dumas, M., La Rosa, M., Mendling, J., Reijers, H.A.: Fundamentals of business process management: Second Edition (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-56509-4
Escobar, F., Santos, H., Pereira, T.: Blockchain and sustainability in the public sector: a risk management perspective. In: Machado, J.M., Prieto, J., Vieira, P., Peixoto, H., Abelha, A., Arroyo, D., Vigneri, L. (eds.) Blockchain and Applications, 5th International Congress, pp. 175–185. Springer Nature Switzerland, Cham (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-45155-3_18
Escobar, F., Santos, H., Pereira, T.: Blockchain in the public sector: an umbrella review of literature. In: Prieto, J., Benítez-Martínez, F.L., Ferretti, S., Guardeño, D.A., Nevado-Batalla, P.T. (eds.) Blockchain and Applications, 4th International Congress, pp. 142–152. Springer International Publishing, Cham (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21229-1_14
Escobar, F., Santos, H., Pereira, T.: The Emergence of a Process Tokenisation Model for the Public Sector: A Position Paper. CAPSI 2023 Proc. 8 (2023). https://aisel.aisnet.org/capsi2023/8
European Commission: What is EBSI (2023). https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/wikis/display/EBSI/What+is+ebsi
Glaser, B.G., Strauss, A.L.: Discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research (2017). https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203793206
Gresch, J., Rodrigues, B., Scheid, E., Kanhere, S.S., Stiller, B.: The proposal of a blockchain-based architecture for transparent certificate handling. In: Abramowicz, W., Paschke, A. (eds.) BIS 2018. LNBIP, vol. 339, pp. 185–196. Springer, Cham (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04849-5_16
Grolleau, G., Lakhal, T., Mzoughi, N.: An introduction to the economics of fake degrees. J. Econ. Issues 42(3), 673–693 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1080/00213624.2008.11507173
Guerreiro, S., Ferreira, J.F., Fonseca, T., Correia, M.: Integrating an academic management system with blockchain: a case study. Blockchain: Res. Appl. 3(4), 100099 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bcra.2022.100099
Kontzinos, C., Kokkinakos, P., Kapsalis, P., Markaki, O., Karakolis, V., Psarras, J.: Leveraging blockchain, analytics and decision support to facilitate qualifications’ verification, recruitment and competency management: the QualiChain project and initial results. Int. J. Adv. Intell. Syst. 13(3 & 4), 2020 (2020)
Koster, F., Borgman, H.: New kid on the block! Understanding blockchain adoption in the public sector. In: Proceedings of the 53rd Hawaii International Conference on System Science (HICSS-53), pp. 1770–1779. University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Maui, HI, USA (2020). https://doi.org/10.24251/HICSS.2020.219
Labarca, C., Arceneaux, P.C., Golan, G.J.: The relationship management function of public affairs officers in Chile: identifying opportunities and challenges in an emergent market. J. Public Aff. 20(3) (2020)
Li, Z.Z., Joseph, K.L., Yu, J., Gasevic, D.: Blockchain-based solutions for education credentialing system: comparison and implications for future development. In: 2022 IEEE International Conference on Blockchain (Blockchain), pp. 79–86 (2022)
Mahmood, M.: Enhancing Citizens’ trust and confidence in government through digital transformation. Int. J. Electron. Gov. Res. (IJEGR) 12(1), 99–110 (2016). https://doi.org/10.4018/IJEGR.2016010105
OECD: OECD Blockchain Primer. OECD (2018). https://www.oecd.org/finance/OECD-Blockchain-Primer.pdf
Overby, E.: Migrating processes from physical to virtual environments: process virtualization theory. In: Dwivedi, Y., Wade, M., Schneberger, S. (eds.) Information Systems Theory, vol. 28, pp. 107–124. Springer, New York, NY (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6108-2_6
Parmentola, A., Petrillo, A., Tutore, I., De Felice, F.: Is blockchain able to enhance environmental sustainability? A systematic review and research agenda from the perspective of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Bus. Strateg. Environ. 31(1), 194–217 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2882
Roth, T., Stohr, A., Amend, J., Fridgen, G., Rieger, A.: Blockchain as a driving force for federalism: a theory of cross-organizational task-technology fit. Int. J. Inf. Manage. 68, 102476 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2022.102476
Tapscott, D., Tapscott, A.: Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies Is Changing the World (2018)
World Economic Forum: Building Block(chain)s for a Better Planet. Tech. Rep. September (2018)
Záklasník, M., Farana, R., Surma, S.: Digitization of University Diplomas in the European Union. In: Silhavy, R., Silhavy, P. (eds.) Software Engineering Research in System Science, pp. 382–390. Springer International Publishing, Cham (2023)
Zarafidis, P., Siassiakos, K., Strotos, D., Deriziotis, P., Askounis, D.: Blockchain in recruitment-Greek public sector analysis and the QualiChain solution. Int. J. Adv. Intell. Syst. 13(3 & 4), 2020 (2020)
Acknowledgments
This work has been supported by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope: UIDB/00319/2020.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Ethics declarations
Disclosure of Interest
The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2025 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Escobar, F., Santos, H., Pereira, T. (2025). Education Credentials’ Tokenisation – A Use Case. In: Prieto, J., Vargas, R.P., Lage, O., Machado, J.M., Bálint, M. (eds) Blockchain and Applications, 6th International Congress. BLOCKCHAIN 2024. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 1256. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-81928-5_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-81928-5_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-81927-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-81928-5
eBook Packages: Intelligent Technologies and RoboticsIntelligent Technologies and Robotics (R0)