Malta University Students Utilises Blockchain Technology For Voting Amidst Lockdown!

Malta University Students Utilises Blockchain Technology For Voting Amidst Lockdown!

Blockchain News
March 30, 2020 by Editor's Desk
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Students enrolled in the University of Malta’s Blockchain, and Distributed Ledger Technologies masters program has developed a decentralized application (Dapp) that has been utilized for voting in forthcoming student representative elections. The Dapp is created on top of a decentralized digital identity platform that was given to the students through Vodafone. The election was the
University Students Utilizes Blockchain Technology For Voting Amidst Lockdown!

Students enrolled in the University of Malta’s Blockchain, and Distributed Ledger Technologies masters program has developed a decentralized application (Dapp) that has been utilized for voting in forthcoming student representative elections.

The Dapp is created on top of a decentralized digital identity platform that was given to the students through Vodafone. The election was the first live project to be administered utilizing Vodafone’s digital identity platform.

“We are pleased to have been the first use-case for the Vodafone [digital identity] platform, and as far as we can tell a world first to hold a student election on a blockchain, “stated Joshua Ellul, the director of the University of Malta’s Centre for Distributed Ledger Technologies.

Malta University students build the decentralized voting application

While the application was created to enable voters autonomous control across their data rather than waiving personal information to a centralized entity, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted some of the benefits granted by remote voting platforms. Ellul said:

“At these time, especially, given the current situation, it was important to have a remote voting mechanism in place that enables trust and transparency thanks to the Blockchain-based solution.”

Ellul said the most significant challenge to improving the platform was “onboarding users in a trusted manner,” continuing that “digital identity platforms such as that provided by Vodafone provide a solution.”

Voting is private, although transparent, symbolizing that the consequences of an election can be publicly verified. The University of Malta launched its blockchain masters course during October 2019.

New Malta government to proceed to foster a ‘blockchain island’

Malta has long been a crypto-friendly jurisdiction. While the new government-issued statements designating that leading crypto exchange, Binance, is authorized in the country soon after taking office, the new government has revealed that its position regarding blockchain has not changed for the time being. They continued that it would endeavor to consolidate blockchain with other rising industries beneath the umbrella of “Digital, Financial and Innovative services.”

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