Animoca Brands-backed Open Campus, the community-led decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) building the blockchain-powered financial layer for education, announced Thursday it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Madhya Pradesh and Geeks of Gurukul to digitize the state of Madhya Pradesh’s 50 million student and graduate academic records.

The firm said in a statement that the digitization initiative will be overseen over the next 18 months by a joint steering committee representing Open Campus, the government of Madhya Pradesh and Geeks of Gurukule.

Open Campus will provide the underlying infrastructure to create verifiable digital credentials for the students and graduates of universities in Madhya Pradesh.

The partnership will leverage Open Campus’s ecosystem to issue verifiable credentials, digital IDs, wallets and smart cards to streamline academic record retrieval and enhance the identity verification process.

Employers will gain access to secure blockchain-based records that can be verified quickly, thereby cutting administrative costs, strengthening employer confidence, and helping to improve job-seeking for Indian graduates.

Open Campus will also explore education financing options for the state of Madhya Pradesh’s students and graduates including student loans, scholarships, and upskilling grants.

This financial layer will be integrated with the Open Campus ID onboarding program for students and alumni, while secure data storage, credential issuance, and API integrations for educational financing partners will all be managed on EDU Chain, the education-focused blockchain launched by Open Campus.

“The scale of this digitization effort will transform how qualifications are verified, fostering a trusted job market and unlocking opportunities for millions of young professionals,” said Shri Mangubhai C. Patel, the Governor of Madhya Pradesh.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Ezeldin, president of Open Campus, said by combining Open Campus’s blockchain credentialing with EDU Chain’s financing solutions, they are breaking down barriers to education and employment.

“This project sets a precedent for digital public infrastructure, offering a model for other states across India and nations across the globe,” he added.

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