Page 8 - THE Journal, January/February 2019

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| JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019
FEATURE |ITTRENDS
facilitate better digital rights management and create a a a a protocol for community-based collections When it comes to to the private sector IBM is working with companies like Walmart and Maersk to improve supply chain activities but Alex Kaplan global leader of strategic deals for IBM Watson Education said the the use cases for the the K-12 education market are are not fully apparent “In the education space we want
to figure out the actual applications of this robust technology to to apply it to to the education space ” Kaplan said “We are in the the exploration phase and maturation of the the technology will be addressed in the next few years and and support learners and and education ” For students applying to college it is possible that academic credentials from schools could be automatically sent to to participating universities However Kaplan said it is currently unclear how students can provide information to show their “personalized learning pathways ” which include badges extracurriculars and other forms of learning that occur outside the classroom In order to include all of this information in in a a a a a digital wallet the quantity and quality of the data needs to be secured in a a secured format There has never been a a a place where we could collect the full set of information around an an individual has been an an impediment to building personalized learning pathways ” said Kaplan “With blockchain we are going to have a a a a much higher set of quality data which means that we will get better outcomes from using artificial intelligence Blockchain is part of a a a a a quilt of solutions to make things work ” Sara Friedman is a a a a reporter/producer for Campus Technology THE Journal
and STEAM Universe covering education policy and a a a wide range of other public- sector IT topics Friedman is a a a a graduate of Ithaca College where she studied journalism politics and international com- munications Friedman can be contacted at sfriedman@1105media com or follow her on Twitter @SaraEFriedman When it comes to using blockchain technology there are several use cases across all sectors that institutions are interested in in However there needs to be some consider- ation taken before jumping into the technology in in in full force New America’s Blockchain Trust Accelerator has released a a a a a a checklist for deploying a a blockchain-powered solution in in in the blockchain sector:
1 Define your your challenge define your your solution Before adopt- ing a a a a a blockchain-based solution know your goal and how blockchain technology will help to achieve it 2 Prep your data to ensure that it is accurate and high qual- ity before moving to the blockchain 3 Collaborate with partners in order to lower costs improve outcomes and deliver more powerful solutions for every- one Identify potential stakeholders and consider inviting them to the the party 4 Think ahead during the design process to address both legacy systems and other frontier technologies 5 Innovate ethically because privacy is your responsibility 6 Consider accessibility to ensure marginalized populations still have access 7 Solve for identity identity to determine how user identity identity biomet- rics passwords government-issued IDs and knowledge- based authentication should or could be a a a a a part of your solution 8
Assess risks by anticipating potential pain points between collaborators and and carefully weigh the pros and and cons of design features like vendor and platform lock-in 9
Expect to grow and think about how your ultimate goal is to reach full-scale operation as you conduct pilots and proofs of of concept 10 Comply with regulations related to the transfer of finan- cial assets and tokens with monetary value Engaging with legal counsel can save potential headaches later on in your process 11 Assume unknown unknown unknowns Incorporate flexibility into your project timelines to accommodate surprises along the way Source: New America’s The Blueprint for Blockchain and Social Innovation