Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies have now been used in many sectors thanks to their advantages over traditional methods of finance. In particular, Blockchain has achieved an even greater index of popularity due to its use in industries other than finance.
According to new reports, the University of Malta has decided to integrate blockchain technology into its college election processes. The university claimed that cutting edge technology would help students make their choice in an efficient and transparent manner.
The University of Malta has recently revealed that its students enrolled in the Master’s program Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies have created a dApp to enable students to vote. Students involved in the project are of the opinion that the application will be a step in the right direction towards a faster and easier way of counting the votes.
During such a tumultuous time, the university urged its students to develop a way in which they could vote safely within the confines of their homes. The university students used the decentralized digital identity platform provided by Vodafone, the British telecommunications giant, to carry out this task.
The Vodafone partnership makes the University of Malta the first college on the planet to use decentralized systems to facilitate elections.
Joshua Ellulk, the director of the University of Malta’s Centre of Distributed Ledger Technologies added that the university had benefitted greatly from the Vodafone support. In his words:
“At this time especially, given the current situation, it was important to have a remote voting mechanism in place that enables trust and transparency thanks to the blockchain-based solution. A main challenge to achieve this is onboarding users in a trusted manner – and digital identity platforms such as that provided by Vodafone provide a solution.”
One of the main aims of this venture was to give power back to the voters rather than hoarding all their information within a centralized entity. Individual voters can cast their votes on their application, which will later be verified via the digital identity system. The students made use of Vodafone’s DID platform which was launched to several organizations praising its use cases.
The University has admitted that there has always been a fear of voter manipulation in earlier elections. The most recent election was not threatened at least because of the transparent nature of the blockchain system. Ellul reiterated that the application made it possible for students to cast their votes from home, a step taken to flatten the curve of coronavirus infected patients.
The University of Malta launched its Master’s program last October with a pledge to create professionals adept in the field. Students are taught various areas surrounding blockchain, smart contracts, cryptocurrencies, and other decentralized technologies. Dapps such as the ones used by the university students is one of the examples of Malta’s acceptance of crypto, a sentiment that may or may not last long.
