A Distributed Infrastructure for Secure Diplomas: Proof of Concept and First Experiences

Abstract

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are being confronted with a growing number of student applications. This is associated with the verification of documents, which in the case of university entrance qualifications is becoming increasingly complex and error- prone in view of the diversifying education system. Various solutions to this problem have already been proposed, but due to technical, organisational, legal, or financial problems, they have not yet found widespread use. Against this background, this article presents an approach that integrates existing methods and services for digital signatures into a national infrastructure for education and connects them to existing information systems in schools to issue digital diplomas and verify them in HEI application processes. The article describes a technical solution and experiences from a proof-of-concept. First recommendations are given, and an outlook illustrates how the upcoming broad field test will be conducted.