Cardano Gets On Track With The Digital Transformation of Ethiopia

Cardano gets on track with the latest digital transformation of Ethiopia as its presence in the region has been called into question on numerous occasions. However, Hoskinson shut down all skepticism as we can see more in our latest Cardano news.

This month, the IOHK team led by Charles Hoskinson was in Africa to meet with entrepreneurs and politicians in a bid to enhance Cardano’s cause. Hoskinson and the team dropped by Ethiopia’s Ministry of Education for a follow-up on the student credential system that was mentioned in August:

“Dropped by the MOE today to discuss the digital transformation of Ethiopia’s educational credentials. Five million students on schedule.”

The credential system was set to overhaul the academic records of 5 million students that put information like grades and attendance on the blockchain to gather the data and to provide a digital identity system. Hoskinson said that this is the initial phase of the program and the goal was to use it as a springboard to launch a national ID system in the country which will see a step up in the numbers to 110 million users:

“It’s our intention to compete amongst others for the whole national ID system, which is about 110 million people.”

Cardano gets on track with enhancing its presence in Ethiopia with its Atala Prism project in the county is ranked the 14^th most influential project in 2021 by the Project Management Institute. He noted:

“As the largest blockchain deal ever signed by a government, the project is demonstrating how crypto assets can help drive positive socioeconomic change across Africa and beyond.”

The PMI described the project as a gamechanger that has the potential to improve the educational outcomes of Ethiopian students. IOHK’s director of African Operations John O’conner said that there was some strong resistance against the project at a government level but the state started realizing that the digital identity and blockchain technology are not as disruptive at first thought. O’Conner said that Atala Prism enables governments to meet obligations of administering documentation while making headways towards further digitalization. Cardano’s presence in Africa was called into question on plenty of occasions but Hoskinson responded by shutting down skepticism and saying that the region has a great promise.

While explaining why IOHK is in Africa, he said that Africa has no allegiances to the system of the past which in any case hasn’t worked out so well. The entire infrastructure is up for grabs in terms of implementing a better way of doing things:

 “You don’t go where the ball is right now. You go to where the ball is going to be.”