FACULTY OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

Bachelor of Information Science (HONS.)

Information System Management
(IM245)

Management of Records Repository

(IMr454)

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT :
Article Review
(Revitalizing blockchain technology potentials for smooth
academic records management and verification in low-income
countries)

Muhamad Ikmal Aizzat Bin Mohd Aseri 2022786027

Group
D1IM2454B

Prepared for
Madam Noor Rahmawati binti Alias

17 November 2022
 INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT:
Article Review
(Revitalizing blockchain technology potentials for smooth
academic records management and verification in low-income
countries)

By:
Muhd Ikmal Aizzat Bin Mohd Aseri 2022786027

Faculty of Information Management

Universiti Teknologi Mara
Cawangan Kelantan

17 November 2022
 Acknowledgment

Praise to Allah, in our preparation, we had to take any kind of help and guidance for some
respected persons, who deserve massive thankful. As the completion of this assignment gave
me so much pleasure, I would like to expression my finished task to Madam Noor Rahmawati
binti Alias , course instructor of Management of Records Repository (IMR454) on UiTM
Machang for giving a decent guideline for assignment throughout kindness consultations
with audio notes. I would like to elaborate and delivery gratitude to all those who have
directly and indirectly guided this task successful regarding in this field.

Furthermore, special thanks to Madam Noor Rahmawati binti Alias, who introduced the
subject IMR454 at UiTM Machang to our classmates. We are very supposed like to know
much about this course and how to improves knowledge with a good managing. Many
people, especially my classmate have made a good and positive comment suggestions on my
paper which gave me an inspiration to improve the quality of the assignment.

Lastly, I would say thank you again for teaching us about this course. We were glad on you
because you are good instructor of this program. I hope that we can had more time to consult
with you to gain an idea for my improvement on this subject.

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 Table of Contents
Acknowledgment..................................................................................3

1.0 Bibliographic Citation (APA).........................................................5

2.0 Intended Audience..........................................................................5

3.0 General Problem Area....................................................................6

4.0 Objective or Purpose......................................................................7

5.0 Any Terms Defined........................................................................8

6.0 Expected Results.............................................................................9

7.0 Illustrations...................................................................................10

8.0 Major Findings.............................................................................11

9.0 Relevance to the course IMR454..................................................12

Conclusion..........................................................................................13
1.0 Bibliographic Citation (APA)

Alnafrah, I., & Mouselli, S. (2021). Revitalizing blockchain technology potentials for smooth

academic records management and verification in low-income countries. International

Journal of Educational Development, 85, 102460.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102460

2.0 Intended Audience

Regarding the issuing and verifying of academic records management credentials, this
research article is intended for students, graduates, as well as educational institutions.
However, the author of this research article pointed out that low-income nations have
inadequate institutional systems and governance procedures. These shortcomings are
compounded by inadequate national standards and constraints that are imposed on low-
income countries. In addition, the higher education systems in countries with low resources
are typically weak and very susceptible to the political and economic circumstances in which
they are situated. Such a requirement to improve the issuance, maintenance, and
documentation of academic records for students both during and following graduation is an
immediate requirement. This is especially true in the context of the increasing accessibility of
learners and lecturers between institutions located in different countries. All of this audience
which in turn necessitates the safe and secure exchange of academic records are really
important to growth up the institutional academic.

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3.0 General Problem Area

Many students have been required to begin their education from the beginning, while
others have been attempted to wait several years until their academic records can be approved
because access to their academic records at their property academic institutions in their
countries can be complicated situations even impossible. This is the primary focus of the
general problem with this article state for the paper-based problems and digital based
problem. It poses a threat to the academic prospects of students attending universities in low-
income nations and can have a negative impact on the reputation of those colleges. In
conclude, this circumstance has an effect on the role that education interacts in the
development process in these countries and people because the unreliability of certificates
that are issued in these countries prevents students from continuing their education at other
institutions and obtaining qualifications. This type of situation has an impact on the role that
education carries in the development process in these states. As a result of this issue, the
higher education system in nations with low incomes is plagued with a great deal of difficulty
with the forging of credentials. In the absence of this, it will be difficult for nations that have
recently been involved in armed conflict, such as Syria, Ukraine, and others, to handle the
academic records of their students and teachers. For instance, the administration of academic
records within the Syrian higher education system is challenged by a variety of issues and
deficiencies related with the process of establishing, preserving, verifying, and validating this
information.
4.0 Objective or Purpose

This assessment was carried out with the intention of the author introducing the
blockchain technology, which has to be adapted and acknowledge the potential of blockchain
technology for use in higher education academic in low-income nations in order to prevent
any faked certificates. Consider the use of blockchain technology as an alternate approach to
fixing the issues plaguing the higher education system in nations with low incomes.
According to the data presented in this article, the practice of digitizing academic records is
being suggested as a means of facilitating easier access as well as an expedient verification of
the records credibility. Their solution to the issue of forged credentials consisted solely of
quite straightforward actions. For instance, Damascus University has begun, and is in the
process of completing, a project to digitize student documentation across all of its colleges
and institutes. The initiative is now active. All of the academic records of students who enroll
at Damascus University after the year 2016 have been converted to digital format.

The objective following:

 To make as an alternative to the current system of producing and validating

certifications and academic records, blockchain technology is proposed.
 To create or establish a centralized blockchain-based network for managing student
records in low-income nations.
 To create a hybrid blockchain-based platform and additional services that gathering
people from outside the education sector and other countries.

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5.0 Any Terms Defined

The investigation of this research article may provide many of definitions or acronym
that represent the highlighted information by the author. For the main point this article
represents the information regarding to the Blockchain technology. In the blockchain, there
are several consensus algorithms which is Proof of work (POW), Proof of Stake (POS),
Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS).

Blockchain Technology

One such cutting-edge technology that has significant applications in the field of higher
education is blockchain. Starting to begin, blockchain makes the process of handling students'
degrees simpler by generating a public and private key pair for each student. This allows the
student's academic records to be saved, validated, maintained, and checked from any location
in the worldwide. This means that the technology behind blockchain can contribute to the
reduction of degree fraud, which in turn helps to maintain credentials and guarantees that
they are quickly recognized.

Proof of work (POW)

As put, it another way, miners compete with one another to process network transactions so
that they can earn rewards in the form of transaction fees. The first miner to solve the
problem is granted the privilege of adding a new block to the network.

Proof of Stake (POS)

In accordance with the protocol, the server that creates a block must demonstrate that it has
access to a predetermined minimum number of currencies before it is recognized by the
network as a miner.

Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS)

Based on research article, this agreement technique let token stake holders vote on who
would verify blocks rather than miners verifying transactions on their own.
6.0 Expected Results

The author of this study utilized a questionnaire in order to discover the issues that are
negatively impacting higher education in countries that are plagued by violence and poor
wealth. This article raises issues regarding the manner in which the Blockchain technology
will contribute to the solution of these difficulties. At begin, using blockchain makes it
exceptionally challenging to alter academic data. This is due to the fact that each node in the
network is responsible for maintaining and storing these records. It is important to keep in
mind that the evidence that is shared among the participants in the network is the output of an
encryption key, and not the information about the transactions themselves, in this particular
case. The quantity of human resources needed to deliver educational services, such as issuing,
authenticating, inspecting, and validating academic records, can be reduced with the use of
blockchain technology. In addition to this, it acknowledges the technical and financial
assistance as well as the institutional links that existed among the various participants within
the system. Therefore, the author believes there is still opportunity for future researchers in
the field of adapting the optimization techniques of blockchain-based platforms in low-
income nations with the goal of enhancing the speed of operations by blending a variety of
different workable procedures. This is because the author sees that there is a potential for
improving the rate of operations through the integration of different compromise
methodologies.

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7.0 Illustrations

Figure 1:Smart Contract Solution Scheme

In my opinion as part of their study, they lay out a high-level framework for how
blockchain technology might combat forgery in the higher education sector in developing
nations. Therefore, the lack of standardization connectivity between the Ministry of Higher
Education and Higher education institutions is resolved. The Ministry of Higher Education is
spared the time-consuming task of manually verifying each university's registration. That is a
quality benefit of using the smart contract-based solution. Smart contracts are now being used
to complete this function. This means that no other users on the network may tamper with
your registered in this method.
8.0 Major Findings

In addition to the finding challenges, there are a lot of constraints connected with the
application of blockchain technology in the public and private universities of low-income
nations, which is the complexity of their industry. These potential downsides are in addition
to the obstacles involved with identifying and dealing. According to the author, it was
advised to develop a platform that does not use blockchain since the system's primary focus is
on providing public services to students rather than private services that are provided for the
purpose of making a profit. Intelligence purposes the entire education process, which includes
not only certificates and qualifications, but also existing coursework, information sessions,
and workshops, are not a primary concern in our view in the case of low-income countries
that are currently experiencing conflict and involves unnecessary financial outlays. It has the
potential to propel higher education into the center as a primary driver of global efforts to
transition towards a digitalized environment. The authors of the study recommended
approach may be one that low-income countries in general would be interested in pursuing.
This approach has the ability to activate the development of important that the higher
education system provides by overcoming the problem of trust and legitimacy among the
primary actors in the higher education system on a national and worldwide scale. To
summarize from the respondent's point of view, there will be no need to coordinate with
several governing bodies for students to obtain their academic transcripts and degrees. As a
result, you will spend less money and put in fewer hours. Besides, students will have
complete authority over their own transcripts.

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9.0 Relevance to the course IMR454

Based on what I learned to the course IMR454 which is management of records

repository is we can manage any type of format of records in a proper method. Records
management are important to every organization, and it can help users to store each record
and easy to retrieve. Based on this research, the author likes the way of revolution indicator
that along with excellent management method that called blockchain technology. This is a
term that refers to the use of digital data to manage anything from students to lectures and
beyond. It is of the utmost significance to point out that integrating blockchain technology
into the existing framework of higher education institutions necessitates extensive
modifications and enhancements to the existing information technology infrastructure of
these establishments. Researchers recommend going with an institution-centered solution
instead of student-centered solutions because student-centered solutions, in which the student
is responsible for maintaining his or her own academic credentials, lack credibility. At their
educational campus, they require a facility of sufficient quality that is capable of housing an
unlimited number of systems containing personal information. As an illustration, UiTM
maintains their own student records, which are guarded by information professionals.
Conclusion

Last but not least, a transparent governance structure must be built to standardize how
people are participating on or make decisions. This analysis suggests that smart contracts may
be used to enhance governance. It is in the best interest of all students, graduates, higher
education instructors, and the Ministry of higher education to develop a national blockchain-
based education platform. Due to this, it is anticipated that additional institutions of higher
education located in other countries would join the platform in the future. In a similar
manner, this, in turn, will contribute to greater synergistic ties between the higher education
systems of wealthy nations and those of low-income countries. There is not only the
technological imitative recommended Blockchain technology revolutionary in its own
context, but it is also scalable to provide an alternative for the continuous problem of
certifications verification on an international scale. It has the potential to propel higher
education to the leading edge as a facilitator of worldwide efforts to move toward a more
digitalized world in educational academic record management. This is made possible by the
fact that it possesses the previously stated capacity.

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