The problem: Traditional university certificates in a digital world
Previously, college transcripts were physical documents printed on paper and signed by hand. These traditional certificates are not only vulnerable to forgery, but also difficult to integrate into digital processes. “Our project uses digital signatures and encryption techniques to help validate and recognize educational qualifications,” says Andreas Wittke, Chief AI Officer Institute for Interactive Systems the TH Lübeck.
The goals of the project: authenticity, standardization and smartness
The experts from TH Lübeck and the HIS eG pursued three goals in the project. First, digital certificates should be forgery-proof and flexible. Secondly, uniform standardization is crucial to make the certificates comparable and machine-readable. This is particularly essential for future crediting procedures. Thirdly, the certificates should be mobile and seamlessly transferable between different systems such as campus management software, digital wallets and Europass. Europass is an instrument that promotes the mobility and transparency of educational and qualification certificates within Europe and was introduced by the European Union.
Practical implementation with “My Education Space”, “Europass” and “HISinOne”
Initially there were only two central authorities that could process standardized digital certificates: the German one “My educational space”project (a platform for storing and managing digital evidence) and the European solution “Europass”. A function was developed in the HISinOne system for the “My Education Space” wallet with which a PDF document with a machine-readable XML attachment in xHochschule format can be created and securely transmitted.
At the same time, an interface to the Europass wallet was developed, which is based on a more modern, structured data format (JSON-LD). This format offers more flexibility in the long term and enables better presentation of certificates in the target systems, even if it initially seems less user-friendly.
A first step into the future of digital certificates
“The implementation was technically very demanding and complex because the technical standards and important interfaces changed during the project period. In my opinion, the work was more than worth it. We were able to implement some of the project results directly in productive operation with HIS eG,” says Andreas Wittke. “All universities have recently been able to use HISinOne, install seals and signatures thanks to our project results and issue valid and secure digital Bachelor/Master certificates. HISinOne is a comprehensive campus management system used at universities to manage processes related to the student life cycle.