Skip to main content

HOW BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY AND SMART CONTRACTS CAN HELP RID EXAM LEAKAGES



Our generation has made great strides in the advancements of technology and digitization. We are now a seamlessly connected world regardless of geographical locations via our phones and computers. Digitization has come to make processes easier to execute in an efficient manner. In a blink of an eye, information can be shared between individuals in opposite corners of the world. Media, such as voice, videos and pictures can be transmitted faster and cheaply via various channels including email, Whatsapp, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Unfortunately, these advancements have a come at a price as we have seen the benefits of digitization being used for unlawful activities.

On Monday 22nd October, 2018, the Minister responsible for General Education in Zambia, Mr. David Mabumba, announced to the country that due to exam papers being leaked, grade seven, nine and twelve examinations had been suspended. This followed the publication of a story by a local social media tabloid exposing the existence of the leaked exam papers. According to another tabloid, the Grade nine Mathematics exam paper was leaked and had been circulating long before the scheduled examination date. This is not new to Zambia, considering that in 2011, a similar case was reported, where Grade 12 exam papers in various subjects had been leaked. It was alleged that the papers were sneaked out of the examination questions bank as soft (digital) copies using a flash disk. In both instances the leaked papers quickly went into circulation at an unstoppable rate mainly by way of social media.

Obviously the question is “who done it?” Well, we may never know. However, in this article I argue that we should not have to reach the point of asking who did it. Rather, we should have systems in place that will ensure that exam papers are not stolen in the first place. Systems that ensure accountability, trust and data integrity, among other things. Fortunately, there exists a technology which makes such a system possible. It is called BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY.

Blockchain Technology is a consensus-driven digital system in which transactions and their details are recorded in multiple places at the same time, without a central database or administrator. Blockchain is a type of distributed ledger technology (DLT). The ledger can be either public or private/permissible.

In its simplest of implementations the proposed blockchain system can work in a manner such as this: Each and every Ministry in the government has a dedicated number of computers which keep a copy of the examination papers. The Minister responsible for each Ministry, together with their Permanent Secretary (PS) and deputy Permanent Secretary will each have a private key or password which can be used to authorize any activity on the ledger. Other interested parties such as unions and supporting agencies can also be granted voting rights. A pre-determined combination and number of authorizations must be achieved before the state of the document can be altered in any way. In essence, this would imply that, before any amendments can be made to the original document, before it can be downloaded or printed or deleted, a required combination of passwords must be attained.

To make the system even more efficient for this purpose we can introduce smart contracts. A smart contract is a computer protocol that can digitally facilitate, verify, or enforce a contract. Smart contracts allow the performance of credible transactions without third parties or without active involvement of participants. Once a smart contract has been deployed it cannot be terminated. These transactions are trackable and irreversible. Smart contracts can be pre-coded with instructions to execute or not execute depending on which stage the contract is at. This grants advanced levels of control over how, where and when the data can be accessed.

In our scenario of the exam papers, a smart contract can be used to allow the papers to be submitted only up to an agreed date and time, after which, no more papers can be submitted. The next stage would allow the papers to be edited only up to a pre-determined date and time. Beyond this date, the papers will not be accessible for any action i.e. viewing, editing or printing, until such a date and time as agreed by all stakeholders when they will become accessible for downloading and printing.

Keeping in mind that no action can be taken without the prerequisite consensus, it then becomes possible to answer the question “who done it” because the system will keep an unalterable ledger (or record) of who granted authorization and who accessed the exam questions bank. The ledger will be available for viewing to all stakeholders thereby making it transparent.

The benefits of blockchain technology are plentiful. Therefore, this article is by no means exhaustive. The important concept to take away is that blockchain technology allows for improved accountability, transparency, trust and control. It would be known exactly who granted access to a piece of data and who actually accessed it. Furthermore, the use of smart contracts ensures data integrity as no single entity can unilaterally alter the state of data because this would be hard-coded into the smart contract. Some key benefits of blockchain technology are listed below:

1. There is no single point of failure. A distributed ledger has no single point of failure. In this case, even if one of the computers that keep a copy of the data had to crash it would not result in the loss or corruption of that piece of data.

2. It is trusted. Stakeholders do not have to trust the Minister concerned for them to have confidence that the information about the state of the data is accurate. They trust that all participants will act honestly in order to keep ecosystem healthy and functional.

3. Unalterable information. The information in a blockchain system cannot be easily modified without other participants knowing and consenting to the change. To unilaterally change the information one would have to delete ALL the previous states before the point at which they wish to make changes. Such an act however, would simply render the data corrupted as the states would not agree. The only way to make changes is when the majority of participants agree, or meet a consensus.

4. Realtime tracking. Changes to the state of the data can be tracked as soon as they happen. This makes the entire system transparent to all participants. I should mention, however, that blockchain technology is not a panacea. It is not a magic wand which can be waved over any problem and it will provide a solution. A lot of research must therefore go into deciding whether blockchain-based solution is the answer for a given problem..

There are a lot of possible uses of blockchain technology beyond cryptocurrencies. The technology can be applied to increase efficiency in a wide scope of industries such as health, finance, identity and more. It is encouraging to hear reports that the Ministry of Lands in Zambia has adopted a blockchain-based system in the issuance of title deeds. Hopefully, the government will begin to roll out this technology to other ministries sooner rather than later, in order to achieve e-government more efficiently and effectively.


Japhet Kapambwe Mesa is a Certified Blockchain Expert, cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast and co-founder of Crypto Tamanga community.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

5 WAYS TO EARN, GROW AND SPEND BITCOIN IN ZAMBIA IN 2021

One frequently asked question by newcomers in the Crypto Tamanga community is: HOW CAN I EARN BITCOIN WITHOUT INVESTING. Well, the answer to this is not a straight forward one because a lot of factors come into play. Factors such as, how much time do you to have to burn? Services available in your locality, and general adoption levels of crypto in your locality. To put in context, in Zambia we do not have services that reward users in bitcoin and neither is the adoption to a point where I could readily be tipped or paid in bitcoin. That being said, for future purposes, here are some ways one can earn bitcoin without having to invest your money. Disclaimer: The content in this article is meant for educational purposes only, and must not be taken as financial advice. For financial advice, please seek the services of a registered financial advisor. For one who is a new comer to crypto, the thought of owning the first fraction of Bitcoin is a daunting one. This is mainly because, as a be...

EVENT ALERT (Lusaka, Zambia): (L)earn bitcoin - 05/03/22

 Learn about bitcoin and learn how to earn bitcoin from Anita Posch. Anita Posch is a bitcoin advocate, author of (L)earn bitcoin, host of the Anita Posch show and Founder of Bitcoin for Fairness. Anita's goal is to bring to billions through her educational work. Through her non-profit - Bitcoin for Fairness, Anita raises knowledge and understanding of Bitcoin for people in emerging countries and for disadvantaged people by connecting and boosting profiles of local stakeholders, identifying and working with educators on the ground to expand Bitcoin adoption locally and Bitcoin awareness globally. Join us this Saturday for a presentation on bitcoin at the Confucius hall at UNZA. Entry is free. Doors open at 08:30. Register to attend.

CRYPTOCURRENCY WALLETS: TYPES OF WALLETS

A cryptocurrency wallet is a digital wallet that refers to an electronic device, phone app, computer software or an online service that allows an individual to make electronic transactions. It stores private and public keys and interacts with various blockchains to enable users to send and receive digital currency and monitor their balance, send money and conduct other operations. In this three part series we take a look at the types of crypto wallets and how to secure them. When a person sends you bitcoins or any other type of digital currency, they are essentially signing off ownership of the coins to your wallet’s Public Key. To be able to spend these coins(money) and unlock the funds, the Private key stored in your wallet must match the public address the currency is assigned to. If public and private keys match, the balance in your digital wallet will increase, and the sender's will decrease accordingly. There is no actual exchange of real coins(money). The transaction is s...