Opportunity

There are a number of key areas that Open Campus is well-positioned to disrupt using blockchain technology and $EDU. These areas include:

• Improving learner outcomes through self-sovereign educational identity & reputation There is an increasing demand for online and lifelong learning. This is accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the growing recognition of lifelong learning as essential for career progression highlighting the need for secure, accessible, and verifiable educational credentials. As a result, microcredentials are on the rise. Over 45% of companies are going to eliminate the requirement for a university degree in their hiring process in 2024. Employers are increasingly valuing specific skills and competencies over traditional degree qualifications, the demand for microcredentials has soared. We seek to empower learners with total control over their educational credentials through Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) and verifiable credentials (VCs). With 45% of companies planning to eliminate the requirement for a bachelor’s degree in 2024, it is becoming clear that we are headed towards skills-based hiring in the workforce. We believe DIDs and VCs will play an increasingly important role in society. We introduced Open Campus ID, facilitating seamless verification and sharing of educational achievements.

• Empowering creators with true ownership rights in their educational content Education is a 5 trillion USD industry with 100 million teachers worldwide that is set to 2x in the next decade. All of this revenue-generating content is currently "stuck" within centralized platforms, cannot be traded, and has zero liquidity. Web3 has the potential to transform education and turn knowledge into valuable assets you can own, monetise and use as collateral to unlock liquidity. We aim to unlock the value locked within educational content, creating a level playing field for educators and content creators. Our approach encourages a more inclusive and equitable distribution of educational resources. Our protocol, Publisher NFTs, offers a new model for educators looking to monetise their content.

• Bootstrapping the world’s largest, most diverse permissionless educational network “The killer app of the Internet is networks.” - Chris Dixon In education, we believe that, together, we are stronger. With the substantial size of our Ecosystem Fund, we have a real opportunity to bootstrap the world’s first network of educators, learners and institutions. Our ultimate goal is to position the Open Campus platform as a shared protocol facilitating the borderless exchange of value between network participants. Initiatives like the Open Campus Accelerator and the Global Educator’s Fund are at the forefront of this movement. Delivering accessible financing to students and education companies Recognizing the challenges in current education financing models, we are exploring blockchain solutions to offer more accessible and innovative funding options for learners worldwide.