Edtech and blockchain startup ODEM partners with GE for blockchain certification issuance

ODEM, the creator of the On-Demand Education Marketplace, has joined forces with GE GeniusLink, a unit of General Electric Co., to provide the company with blockchain-based tools and technology to support GeniusLink management of experts and on-demand consultants. GeniusLink will verify the professional qualifications of its high-impact consultants by using ODEM’s blockchain certificates to ensure that short-term talent successfully fulfills client expectations, said ODEM Chief Executive Officer Richard Maaghul. ODEM will deploy its Platform in the first quarter of 2019 to provide training allowing GeniusLink to augment and validate the qualifications of its on-demand talent for clients.

Founded in 2017 by William Bayrd and Richard Maaghul, ODEM is creating the first of its kind global, decentralized education market place and platform to deliver complete end-to-end custom education programs and experiences. On the ODEM platform, anyone can list, discover, and book unique education experiences around the world. “Our partnership with GeniusLink represents a powerful endorsement of ODEM and blockchain technology’s potential to provide business solutions,” says Maaghul. “We’re delighted to work with GeniusLink in pursuit of ODEM’s mission to make education more accessible, affordable, transferable and verifiable.”

ODEM is developing the ODEM Platform on the Ethereum blockchain to streamline the organization and delivery of academic courses and certification. The Platform empowers students to customize their education through interaction with educators and employers. ODEM plans to roll out the Platform in Q1 2019.

Certificates of academic-or-professional achievement issued on a blockchain generate a tamper-proof digital signature. The signature can be cross-referenced with the issuing organization’s digital signature, allowing certificate holders to control their records and real-time cryptographic proof of validity.

“The talent equation is shifting,” said Dyan Finkhousen, Director, Open Innovation and Advanced Manufacturing, GeniusLink. “Which means the most competitive organizations are engaging crowdsourced and freelance talent to get business done. Doing so requires a level of trust on both the part of the client and expert. Platforms like ODEM’s provide an extra vote of confidence in those newfound geniuses—offering a secure digital fingerprint to attest their true skills and accomplishments.”

The GeniusLink Expert Operating System helps clients solve business problems and execute priorities more effectively by creating a secure, digital pathway to experts and outcomes.

The new blockchain technology will enable the creation of a decentralized repository to secure academic and professional records in a format that is globally verifiable and transferable. It will also allow self-permissioned peer-to-peer sharing of educational records and qualification with institutions, recruiting firms, and potential employers.
Finally, it will help to facilitate the linking of academic records as students and existing members of the workforce to add accomplishments over a lifetime of learning.