This article is originally written by Aashish Kandel on Steemit

One of the prominent constant of life is change. Advance and change are merely on the doors of perception. Oftentimes, we do not see the change but that in no way means it doesn’t exist out there. It's only the prescience of pioneer vision that everyone lacks to see the changes that are prominent in society. This era where technology is heavily leveraged has been driving the world toward an increasing and revolutionary change.

The only constant in the technology industry is change.
~ Marc Benioff

Since the evolution of the internet, there's always been a change. In the beginning it was just a small collection of computers in a decentralized manner. Then it developed so much that every company started having their own data centers and made it a complete centralized entity. Nowadays, the internet serves various purposes and is already doing great. However, if we look at the internet of today in the long run, we'll find a fault in the system. It's heavily centralized, giving the power to huge data giants which would lead to restrictions of our freedom. The only solution to this problem is decentralization which not only saves privacy, but also opens a door for a whole lot of innovations and opportunities.

What is Open Source University?

Open source University as the name suggest is a decentralized open source project which aims to extend the boundary of education beyond institutional limitation. It brings the power of decentralization to the field of education so that anyone can have access to a whole bunch of study materials from any part of the world. It not only helps learners to learn effectively, but also academia and business to find appropriate learners effectively from all over the world.

From the early 2017, the true potential of a decentralized system has been realized and visible to many people out there. We've seen a lot of decentralized projects that aim to solve a wide variety of problems. Some of them have already been successful, while many of them have started their prototype and are on their way to complete the vision what they have set as a purpose. Open Source University is one of the futuristic projects with the same decentralized notion that has a great aim to revolutionize the education industry. What makes it different from others is that it aims to contribute to the education industry by bringing the learners, businesses and academia together while implementing the features of blockchain and decentralization. Education is something that is now mainly concentrated within institutional borders. Open Source University is the project that’s going to disrupt this.

Academia, business and learners

Open Source University is going to create a decentralized eco system in which all businesses, academia and learners will be able to interact with each other and use the platform for their benefit. It is going to connect all those 3 participants with the help of secure smart contracts such as L2B, L2A, B2A, etc. on top of the Ethereum Blockchain. Here's a look at each of these smart contracts:

L2B Smart Contract:

The OS university database will be used as a distributed database that will include the learners' certifications and acquired skills. There will be a matching algorithm that will match businesses with the right candidates with the relevant required skills and qualifications while minimizing the cost of recruitment, time, precision, restrictions.

L2A Smart Contract:

The distributed database will securely store degree credits and certifications. Learners will be able to easily pick their career paths with the help of course suggestion algorithm which is based on live data business needs. This will provide the learners access to a flexible, fast track education model.

B2A Smart Contract:

OS University aims to build a new generation marketplace for learning and development. There will be a record of content providers and they will be filtered based on their discipline catalog which will be regulated with academic rating and feedbacks from the learners. All information will be securely stored on the Blockchain and there will be effective algorithms to manage and filter the content providers. The payments done on the network will also be securely managed by the smart contracts. That in turn eliminates the need of any middleman.

Education beyond institutional limitation

In this era of active development and research, education has become one of the fundamental needs of everyone in the country. While it is true that everyone must receive education to literally survive in this age, it is also true that most of the times it's very costly or not reachable. Also, the educational institutions are so centralized that it's very hard for anyone to get any knowledge outside these institutional borders. If, however, someone manages to get some education outside those institutional borders (internet, pdfs etc. per say), then it is very unlikely that his/her credibility and knowledge will get them somewhere. That is why, Open Source University has a great potential in the education industry for it aims to provide an equal learning opportunity for everyone. It helps to connect learners with academia directly with the help of smart algorithms so that everyone gets a chance to learn what they desire. Anyone can learn from anywhere in the world with the help of EDU tokens which not only minimize the cost but also ensures security since it is an ERC-20 token on top of the Ethereum Blockchain. Also, their records and obtained certificates are securely stored on the Blockchain so that it ensures the right businesses to get to you and vice-versa.

The revolution of education industry

Here comes the question of how OS University is going to change our lives. The question that has been unanswered for ages until recently. Now, however, we have a very promising answer to the very futuristic question. Open Source University is going to revolutionize the education industry in a way never imagined before. It is going to create a healthy eco system among learners, academia, and businesses so that any entity can easily communicate and engage with the others. The education that is now so focused on schools, colleges, universities, etc. will be heavily decentralized with the help of OS University. The decentralized education will enable everyone to experience a new system of education that will be available to anyone, anywhere, anytime. And hopefully, for the first time in the world, we won't have to see someone's credibility gone to vain just because they couldn't afford the education.

Here's a famous quote written under a bathroom wall,

What if the cure for cancer is trapped inside the brain of someone who can't afford an education?
~ unknown

Hopefully, OS University is going to solve the issue when it comes to being able to afford education. With the help of Blockchain and decentralization, education is going to be a lot cheaper and affordable for anyone.

All in all, Open Source University is a pioneer, innovative, smart-learning platform which aims to revolutionize the education industry. There's a huge opportunity for learners, academia, and business to profit from OS University.

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