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Blockchain and European Higher Education Systems A snapshot on the diffusion process of Blockchain In- novation into European Academia Comparative study of Blockchain in Higher Education Systems of Estonia, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, and Spain BlockWaste project -March 2021

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The task of this study is the comparative analysis of the diffusion process of Blockchain into the national higher education systems as well as analysis of best-practice examples. It is part of the EU Erasmus+ project "BlockWASTE", which has as its overall objective to promote the application of Blockchain in municipal waste management through the development of targeted university curricula and study plans on the Circular Economy and Blockchain, training manuals and other educational tools. With this goal in mind, the first question to be answered is where there is a need for Blockchain. This again translates into questions like What is the status quo of the diffusion of Blockchain innovation in university education and research in the participating partner countries of the BlockWASTE project? What are the main drivers and reasons behind the fact that the diffusion process for the integration of Blockchain innovation in science and teaching is faster in some countries and slower in other countries despite good framework conditions? But the present study is not only intended to be a snapshot of the diffusion process of innovation in higher education of different European countries. A major focus of the study is to learn from best practice examples of university education in Blockchain. In the framework of the BlockWASTE project, this implies analyzing the innovation downstream and universities’ own development of curricular and educational material and tools.
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O2.A1.1 Comparative study of the curricula on Blockchain
technology in the participating countries
Disclaimer
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication
reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for
any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Output factsheet:
Funding Programme
Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union
Funding NA
EL01 Greek State Scholarship’s Foundation (IKY)
Project full title
Innovative training based on Blockchain technology
applied to waste management - BLOCKWASTE
Field
KA2 - Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of
good practices
KA203 - Strategic Partnerships for higher education
Project Number
2020-1-EL01-KA203-079154
Project Duration
24 months
Project Start Date
01-10-2020
Project End Date:
30-09-2022
Output details:
Output title: O2: European common curricular on MSW applying blockchain technologies for circular economy
strategies
Task Title: A1.1 - Comparative study of the curricula of Blockchain technology in the participating countries
Output leader: FH-Bielefeld
Task leader: FH-Bielefeld and Saxion UAS
Author(s): Rainer Lenz, rlenz@fh-bielefeld.de, Bernd Kleinheyer, Bielefeld UAS, bernd.kleinheyer@fh-bielefeld.de,
Bielefeld UAS, Germany, Christa Barkel, Saxion UAS, c.barkel@saxion.nl, Netherlands, Marija Klõga,
Tallinn University of Technology, marija.kloga@taltech.ee, Estonia, Paraskevas Tsangaratos, National
Technical University of Athens, ptsag@metal.ntua.gr, Greece, Juana Llorrente, Centro Tecnológico del
Mármol, Piedra y Materiales, juana.llorente@ctmarmol.es, Spain
Reviewed by: Perry Smit, Saxion UAS, p.j.smit.01@saxion.nl, Netherlands, David Caparros Perez, Centro
Tecnológico del Mármol, Piedra y Materiales , david.caparros@ctmarmol.es, Spain
Document Control
Document version
Version
Amendment
V0.1
30/04/2021
Final Version30/06/2021
i
Contents
Executive summary .................................................................................................................. iv
1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Brief project description ............................................................................................ 1
1.2 Objectives and methodological approach ................................................................. 1
1.3 Blockchain A disruptive technology ....................................................................... 3
1.4 Diffusion of innovation and the role of higher education ......................................... 4
2 Comparison of national Blockchain ecosystems ............................................................... 8
2.1 Blockchain ecosystem in Estonia ............................................................................... 9
2.2 Blockchain ecosystem in Greece ............................................................................. 10
2.3 Blockchain ecosystem in Germany .......................................................................... 11
2.4 Blockchain ecosystem in the Netherlands .............................................................. 12
2.5 Blockchain ecosystem in Spain ................................................................................ 13
2.6 Comparison of national scorings ............................................................................. 15
3 Screening higher education systems for Blockchain ....................................................... 16
3.1 Analytical approach, scoring model and limitations ............................................... 16
3.2 Estonia: Screening results on Blockchain and higher education ............................. 17
3.3 Germany: Screening results on Blockchain and higher education .......................... 20
3.4 Greece: Blockchain and higher education ............................................................... 26
3.5 The Netherlands: Blockchain and higher education ................................................ 31
3.6 Spain: Blockchain and higher education ................................................................. 38
4 Analysis of results and consequences ............................................................................. 44
4.1 Blockchain and European higher education ............................................................ 44
4.2 Learning from best practice examples .................................................................... 46
5 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 49
6 Bibliography .................................................................................................................... 51
ii
List of tables
Table 1: Heterogeneity as shown by economic, social and educational indicators ............ 2
Table 2: Illustration of third-mission activities (source: Piirainen et al. 2016, p. 27) .......... 5
Table 3: Scoring National Ecosystems (source: the authors) .............................................. 8
Table 4: Blockchain ecosystem of Estonia (source: the authors) ...................................... 10
Table 5: Blockchain ecosystem of Greece (source: the authors) ...................................... 11
Table 6: Blockchain ecosystem of Germany (source: the authors) ................................... 12
Table 7: Blockchain ecosystem of the Netherlands (source: the authors) ....................... 13
Table 8: Blockchain ecosystem in Spain (source: the authors) ......................................... 14
Table 9: Traffic light labelling system and its indicators (source: the authors) ................. 17
Table 10: Scoring results of Estonian universities (source: the authors) ............................ 18
Table 11: German higher education institutions (source: DESTATIS, Federal Statistical Office
2020) ............................................................................................................................. 20
Table 12: Traffic light labelling system and its indicators (source: the authors) ................. 21
Table 13: Step 1 - Scoring results universities (source: the authors) .................................. 21
Table 14: Step 1 Screening results universities of applied sciences (source: the authors)
21
Table 15: Scoring results largest private funded universities (source: the authors) ........... 22
Table 16: Blockchain courses Frankfurt School of Finance (source: Course finder
“Blockchain” web-page Frankfurt School of Finance and Management) ............................... 23
Table 17: Curriculum Blockchain master Mittweida UAS (source: table done by authors
based on course data from Mittweida UAS homepage) ......................................................... 25
Table 18: Elective learning modules Blockchain master Mittweida (source: Study and
examination regulations Master Blockchain & DLT Mittweida UAS) ................................... 25
Table 19: Traffic light labelling system and its indicators (source the authors) .................. 27
Table 20: Screened universities’ activity level (source: the authors) .................................. 28
Table 21: Overview of Dutch higher education institutions (source: the authors) ............. 31
Table 22: Students at funded universities in the Netherlands (source: the authors) ......... 31
Table 23: Traffic light labeling system and its indicators (source: the authors) .................. 32
Table 24: Step 1 - Scoring results of universities (academic) (source: the authors) ........... 33
Table 25: Step 1 Screening results UAS (hbo) (source: the authors) ................................ 33
Table 26: Assessment Saxion Hogescholen ......................................................................... 34
Table 27: Specification of the findings (source: Saxion Research Service (01.01.2021)) .... 35
Table 28: Spread of students per semester (source: the authors) ...................................... 37
Table 29: Traffic light scoring system and its indicators (source: the authors) ................... 39
Table 30: Screening results of large Spanish universities (source: the authors) ................. 39
iii
Table 31: Program description (source: the authors) ......................................................... 41
Table 32: Training blocks (source: https://www.masterblockchainucm.com/programa-
master-blockchain/) ................................................................................................................ 42
List of figures
Figure 1: The university’s role as driver of Blockchain innovation (source: the authors) .... 6
Figure 2: Blockchain ecosystem as an external driver of innovation (source: the authors) . 8
Figure 3: Comparison of Blockchain Ecosystems (source: the authors) ............................. 15
Figure 4: Visualizing the analytical approach (source: the authors) .................................. 17
Figure 5: Curriculum overview Munich UAS Master in Entrepreneurship and Digital
Transformation (source:
https://www.hm.edu/en/course_offerings/deepdive/admissions/index.en.html) ............... 23
Figure 6: Factsheet Frankfurt School Blockchain Center (source: https://www.frankfurt-
school.de/home/research/centres/blockchain) ..................................................................... 24
Figure 7: Blockchain Competence Center Mittweida (BCCM) (source:
https://blockchain.hs-mittweida.de/ueber-uns/) ................................................................... 25
Figure 8: Enrolment in undergraduate and graduate programs by field of study and type of
university. Academic year 2019-20. ........................................................................................ 39
Figure 9: University Innovation Hub (source: the authors) ................................................ 46
List of abbreviations
Abbreviation
Definition
MSWM
Municipal Solid Waste Management
CE
Circular Economy
IT
Information Technology
SME
Small Medium Enterprise
DLT
Distributed Ledger Technology
EU
European Union
IoT
Internet of Things
iv
Executive summary
This comparative study of Blockchain in Higher Education Systems of Estonia, Germany,
Greece, the Netherlands, and Spain is part of the BlockWASTE project, which is an EU funded
Erasmus Plus project. The project aims to address the interoperability between waste
management and blockchain technology and promote its proper treatment through
educational training, so that the data collected is shared within a safe environment, where
there is no room for uncertain-ty and mistrust between all parties involved
For this purpose, the objectives of the BlockWASTE project are as follows:
To conduct research on solid waste generated in cities and the way it is managed,
so that it can be used to create an information base of good practices that allows
waste management units to reintroduce waste into the value chain, promoting
the idea of Intelligent Circular Cities.
To identify the benefits of the Blockchain Technology within the municipal solid
waste management (MSWM) process.
To create a study plan that allows the training of teachers and professionals of
organizations and companies of the sector, in the overlap of the fields of Waste
Management, Circular Economy and Blockchain Technology.
To develop an interactive tool based on Blockchain Technology, which will make
it possible to put into practice the management of data obtained from urban
waste, thus visualizing the way in which the data is implemented in the Blockchain
and enabling users to evaluate different forms of management.
For receiving further information visit our BlockWASTE project website
https://blockwasteproject.eu
1
1
Introduction
1.1
Brief project description
The BlockWASTE project aims to address the interoperability between waste management
and blockchain technology and promote its proper treatment through educational training,
so that the data collected will be shared within a safe environment, where there is no room
for uncertainty and mistrust between all parties involved. For this purpose, the objectives of
BlockWASTE project are as follows:
To conduct research on solid waste generated in cities and how it is managed, so that
it can be used to create an information base of good practices, in order to reintroduce
waste into the value chain, promoting the idea of Intelligent Circular Cities.
To identify the benefits of the Blockchain Technology within the municipal waste
management (MSW) process.
To create a study plan that allows the training of teachers and professionals of
organizations and companies of the sector, in the overlap of the fields of Waste
Management, Circular Economy and Blockchain Technology.
To develop an interactive tool based on Blockchain Technology, which will make it
possible to put into practice the management of data obtained from urban waste,
thus visualizing the way in which the data is implemented in the Blockchain and
enabling users to evaluate different forms of management
BlockWASTE aims to implement transnationally new educational contents with the goal of
training its students in the partner countries and providing them with the necessary basic skills
that allow them to act professionally as future workers in the sector, adding digital
competences required by companies that are embracing the process of digital transformation.
In this sense, the project is addressed to:
Enterprises and SMEs, IT professionals, urbanisms and waste management
professionals.
Universities (professors, students and researchers).
Public bodies
The project includes four Intellectual Outputs as follows:
O1. Learning materials for interdisciplinary Blockchain-MSW
O2. European common curriculum on MSW applying Blockchain technologies to
Circular Economy strategies
O3. E-Learning tool based-on Blockchain-MSW focused on Circular Economy
O4. BlockWASTE Open Educational Resource (OER)
1.2
Objectives and methodological approach
The present study is part of the EU Erasmus+ project "BlockWASTE", which has as its overall
objective to promote the application of Blockchain in municipal waste management through
the development of targeted university curricula and study plans on the Circular Economy and
Blockchain, training manuals and other educational tools. With this goal in mind, the first
question to be answered is where there is a need for Blockchain. This again translates into
questions like What is the status quo of the diffusion of Blockchain innovation in university
2
education and research in the participating partner countries of the BlockWASTE project?
What are the main drivers and reasons behind the fact that the diffusion process for the
integration of Blockchain innovation in science and teaching is faster in some countries and
slower in other countries despite good framework conditions?
But the present study is not only intended to be a snapshot of the diffusion pro-cess of
innovation in higher education of different European countries. A major focus of the study is
to learn from best practice examples of university education in Blockchain. In the framework
of the BlockWASTE project, this implies analyzing the innovation downstream and universities’
own development of curricular and educational material and tools.
It is an advantage that the five European countries considered (Estonia, Greece, Germany, the
Netherlands and Spain) are very heterogeneous in terms of economic framework and size and
culture. Just as education and the philosophical approach to learning are part of the cultural
identity of a country, the cultural diversity of education in Europe can also be a treasure trove
of experience and a pool of knowledge for the development of innovative approaches to
teaching (Table 1).
Table 1: Heterogeneity as shown by economic, social and educational indicators
Estonia
Greece
Germany
Netherlands
Spain
Size (000s km2)
45,227
131,957
357,580
41,543
504,782
Population 2019
1.325 m
10.72 m
83.971 m
17.28 m
46.94 m
GDP/capita 2019 in €
19,8962.45
16,423.44
38,952.64
43,889.19
24,825.25
% 25-34 y/o with
tertiary education
43 %
43%
33%
48%
32%
GDI1*
0.829
0.522
0.669
0.966
0.701
Sources and description of indicators:
GDP per Capita is taken as an indicator for economic growth. Heterogeneity of education is measured by
percentage of between 25 and 34 years olds with tertiary (university) education issued in the OECD country report
for each country every year, compared with an average of 45% across OECD countries. Gender disparity is
measured by the Gender-related Development Index where 1 is the ideal situation of gender equality. It is the ratio
of the HDIs (Human Development Index) calculated separately for men and women.
The study is structured as follows: It starts with a comparison of the Blockchain ecosystems of
the five countries. External framework conditions such as the political commitment of a
government to technological change, the targeted pro-motion of new technology through
government-funded research, or the number of start-ups in the field of Blockchain can be
important drivers inducing national universities to incorporate technological innovations into
research and teaching at an early stage. In the following, the nationwide results obtained by
screening universities and universities of applied sciences are compared and evaluated with
regard to their Blockchain activities. However, this can only be a snapshot based on a rough
internet search of the universities' websites, as logically there are no central statistics on
academic Blockchain events, teaching and research. The focus of the comparative analysis is
on what can be learned from the best-practice examples with regard to the structure of
curricula, the design of the learning environment, the institutional design, the didactic
1
* Gender-related Development Index
3
approach to learning, and co-operation with external partners from industry and civil society
organizations.
The task of this study is the comparative analysis of the diffusion process of Blockchain into
the national higher education systems as well as analysis of best-practice examples. All details
on the underlying data and the national higher education systems can be found in the national
studies provided by the respective consortium partners. Of course, the more detailed and
valid their national analysis, the more valid are the results of this comparative study. Recently
(11/2020), the EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum (2020) published a study capturing the
current state of technological, market and regulatory development in each of the 27 EU
member states, plus the UK and Switzerland. The focus of this report is on regulatory and
policy issues and on Blockchain-centered business activities. The present comparative study
on "Blockchain in Higher Education" uses the findings of the EU Blockchain Observatory Forum
report and adds more specific information with regard to the use of Blockchain in the national
higher education sectors.
1.3
Blockchain A disruptive technology
The origins of the Blockchain go back to the 1970s and gained momentum with the discovery
of its possible economic impact in the late 2000s.
In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto (2008) changed the world with the publication of his white paper
‘Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System’. While the idea of the Blockchain existed as
early as the 1970s, the real discovery of the economic potential of using the Blockchain came
with the shaping of the Bitcoin Blockchain network. The emergence of the cryptocurrency
Bitcoin is rather a sideshow, which from time to time, due to the immense energy
consumption of its consensus mechanism and the high volatility in the Bitcoin price, clouded
the view of the actual benefit of the underlying Blockchain. However, it is gradually being
recognized that the decentralized distributed ledger system has significant advantages for
complex processes with widely ramified supply chains involving a large number of actors
(Veuger, 2020).
The Internet of Value based on Distributed Ledger Technology strives for a strictly
decentralised organisation of interactivities between peers without any centralised platform
or intermediary. This technology is disruptive because core elements of the current
organisation of value exchange will change radically. This applies in particular to four areas:
(1) Proof of identity of customers, of clients, of users, of patients and the associated handling
of private data; (2) Recording, documenting and certifying transactions, the change of value
and entrepreneurial success; (3) Organisation of the value exchange and the transfer of values
and utilities; (4) Integration of objects, of machines and of robots in communication and
transaction processes (Lenz, 2019, p. 2).
Distributed Ledger Technology is therefore not an innovation, which comes over-night. The
diffusion period takes longer probably years or a decade as radical changes within society
are needed before distributed and shared ledgers be-come standard. Many technological
aspects are not yet fully developed, so that the DLT is currently still in experimental mode. But
the cases of use that have emerged so far already show that the technology has the potential
to revolutionize the nominal world of registration, certification, accounting and exchange of
digital value and to thereby enable completely new forms of collaboration and organization
(Lenz, 2019)
4
Swan (2015, p. vii) described the disruptive potential of blockchain technology incidentally as
early as 2015 in her book ‘Blockchain: Blueprint for a New Economy’ as follows: We should
think about the blockchain as another class of thing like the Interneta comprehensive
information technology with tiered technical levels and multiple classes of applications for any
form of asset registry, inventory, and exchange, including every area of finance, economics,
and money; hard assets (physical property, homes, cars); and intangible assets (votes, ide-as,
reputation, intention, health data, information, etc.). But the blockchain concept is even
more; it is a new organizing paradigm for the discovery, valuation, and transfer of all quanta
(discrete units) of anything, and potentially for the co-ordination of all human activity at a
much larger scale than has been possible before.
1.4
Diffusion of innovation and the role of higher education
The potential of blockchain goes far beyond purely economic aspects and, as a cross-cutting
technology, will lead to new organizational models in all areas of society. According to Swan
(2015), three chronologically successive stages can be differentiated in the sectoral
development of blockchain applications: Blockchain 1.0 is the starting point with the
deployment of cryptocurrencies as peer-to-peer cash payment systems. In 2008 Satoshi
Nakamoto published his famous whitepaper entitled ‘Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash
System’ and a year later the first Bitcoins were transferred on a Blockchain network. Later on,
around 2015, stage Blockchain 2.0 started. The financial industry discovered the advantage
of transferring digital values via the Blockchain. The tokenization of bonds and stocks (security
tokens), of real assets like real estate and gold (asset tokens), of utilities and services (utility
tokens) and finally of FIAT currency (stable coins) started. Blockchain 3.0 is characterized by
blockchain applications beyond the financial sector, such as in areas of corporate supply chain
management and circular economy, government and public administration, health, science,
literacy, culture, and art.
The potential applications of Blockchain are almost limitless and the diffusion process is
certainly still in its early-adopter phase at the moment in the sense of Rogers’ adoption
categories of his popular ‘diffusion of innovation theory’. According to Rogers (2010), the
diffusion process resembles a normally distributed bell curve with five stages of adoption:
innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. Furthermore, he
described the innovation decision making process as an information-seeking and information-
processing activity, where an individual is motivated to reduce uncertainty about advantages
and disadvantages of an innovation (2010, p. 172). The decision-making process could be
categorized by five consecutive steps (1) knowledge, (2) persuasion, (3) decision, (4)
implementation, and (5) confirmation.
According to Rogers, ‘Knowledge’ is the starting point of the diffusion process of innovation.
It is the knowledge about the existence of blockchain, its advantages and disadvantages and
costs and risks of the transformation process towards the new technology. This is exactly what
is widely described as universities’ third mission: The targeted use and transfer of academic
knowledge to help resolve diverse societal challenges; transfer of technologies and
innovations in the form of cooperation with public and private enterprises. It is the societal
role of universities, at least in an ideal interpretation, to be the change agents for stimulating
the knowledge transfer into the regional economy, public administration and civil society
organisations.
5
Piirainen, Andersen, and Andersen (2016, p. 27) illustrate the university’s third mission in the
following table:
Table 2: Illustration of third-mission activities (source: Piirainen et al. 2016, p. 27)
Category
Outputs
Examples of activities &
services
Research, development and
innovation (RDI, Technology
transfer)
Contracts with
industry
Contracts with public
bodies
Intellectual property
Spin-offs
Dissemination
Student training
Licensing
Consultancy and
advisory
Commissioned
research
Collaborative
research
Continuing education
(Outreach)
Human resources
Access to knowledge
and resources
Industrial PhD
programmes
MBA programmes
Open access teaching
materials
Access to scientific
infrastructure,
libraries, laboratories
Social engagement and
dialogue (Engagement)
Participation in policy
making
Involvement in social
and cultural life
Public understanding
of science
Campus visits, open
days
Science camps and
fairs
Museums
Student and staff
involvement in
cultural life
In order to fully exploit the disruptive potential of blockchain for the prosperity of a society, a
society requires excellently trained university graduates who are able to design and
accompany the transformation process from the ‘old’ system of centralized organization to
blockchain-based network organisations enabled for a decentralized handling of processes. It
would be best if graduates were able to gain initial experience with the blockchain in joint
pilot research projects between university and industry partners. This could be an opportunity
for uni-versities to live up to the role their third mission implies, i.e. promoting the diffusion
process the diffusion process of innovation within a country. Education and research are the
universities’ first and second mission.
But if one stays within the logic of the diffusion process of innovations, it is required that the
universities of the respective country always belong to the ‘innovators’ and not to the
‘laggards’ in the adoption of innovation in teaching and research. The innovators and early
adopters are venturesome and take risks in (co-)leading and adopting technological
innovation. Consequently, the innovation process of the university needs to always run ahead
6
in time, otherwise the university cannot fulfil its Third Mission. In addition, we should keep in
mind that the blockchain is a cross-cutting technology that affects all scientific disciplines. Al-
most all faculties of the university need to incorporate and to institutionalize Blockchain
knowledge into curricula, teaching and research.
Figure 1: The university’s role as driver of Blockchain innovation (source: the authors)
Besides teaching, research and knowledge transfer the university itself as an organisation,
acting as an intermediary platform for knowledge transfer between peers (students and
professors), might be affected by the Blockchain innova-tion. The question will arise if central
providers of education such as universities will still be required at all in the future, or whether
a Blockchain-based decentralised organisation of education could offer a cost-saving and
more efficient alter-native. According to Lévy, Stumpf-Wollersheim, and Welpe (2018, p. 6)
Changes in education enabled by Blockchain technology may offer opportunities to digitize
current education and may increase the potential to disrupt education. The Blockchain gives
students the ability to regain sovereignty over their personal data, e.g. by enabling them to
document their success and learning progress by storing their certificates and credentials.
Universities’ central exams administrations for central storage and documentation of
certificates may become redundant in this respect. This gives students extensive
independence in the use of their educational data e.g. in job applications. Here, a student will
grant future employers’ access to a previously clearly defined data set for a specific period of
time by sharing a public digital key. The Blockchain will also make the wide-spread forgery of
certificates and university degrees much harder to perform, as it stores all data irreversibly
and issues timestamps. Lévy et al. (2018, p. 7) write about the risk of a disintermediation of
traditional universities from a student’s learning process as follows: Because the Blockchain
technology makes it possible to issue and store certificates (i.e. through hashes and smart
contracts), different facilities can provide education much more easily and learners can, for
example, potentially earn a degree by combining courses from different facilities. Taken to the
extreme, this possibility might lead to a fundamental change in the nature of universities as
institutions by decoupling education from particular institutions.
7
After considering the broader picture of the origin of Blockchains, its background in societal
developments and the role of universities in economic and social innovation, we shall now be
narrowing down our view to waste and the circular economy as a terrain that may benefit
from the opportunities Blockchains can create.
8
2
Comparison of national Blockchain ecosystems
The speed of the diffusion process of innovations into the national education system in
teaching, research and science is essentially dependent on the national framework conditions
or the national ecosystem, and of course also on the integration of the country or the national
system of higher education into the European Community or the European Science
Community (e.g. Erasmus and Horizon funding, student and lecturer exchange etc.). In this
context, member states shape their national framework conditions for the innovative power
of the business and education sectors through legislation, state research funding programs
and public research institutions. Both sectors, the corporate and the university sector, also
have their industry associations (e.g. chambers of commerce) and science and education
associations, which can act as further catalysts and facilitators of innovation (see Figure 4).
Figure 2: Blockchain ecosystem as an external driver of innovation (source: the authors)
Below, the Blockchain ecosystems of the five countries will be analysed and roughly evaluated
in detail according to the three aspects of Government Policy, Legislation and Regulation, and
Blockchain Economy: Start-ups and Industry.
According to the following table, three assessment categories are assigned to each case:
Table 3: Scoring National Ecosystems (source: the authors)
Country
Government
Policy
Legislation &
Regulation
Blockchain
Economy
Score 1
very supportive
advanced
vibrant
Score 2
supportive
intermediate
intermediate
Score 3
lacking
lacking
low activity level
The evaluation bears a high degree of subjectivity, since an accurate static set of figures with
historical data and trends is missing. This is why this assessment of the ecosystem each
9
country offers, is limited to a qualitative approach as justified on the grounds of research
undertaken at national level.
2.1
Blockchain ecosystem in Estonia
Government policy
Estonia is certainly the most technology-oriented country in Europe and is often referred to
as a ‘genuinely digital society’. Most public services are fully digitized, open 24/7 and the
protection of the data is often ensured through Blockchain applications. With their digital ID
card, which is valid for two decades, Estonians can digitally sign and timestamp all official
documents, pay taxes and fines, order medical prescriptions, consult public registers, or
simply send encrypted emails. The article published by Estonian President Kaljulaid (2019)
‘Estonia is running its country like a tech company’ gives an insight into the affinity of Estonian
politics for technological innovation. The article is well worth reading because it explains how
technology has helped Estonians build a modern, efficient and democratic state in a very short
time after independence from the USSR. On the other hand, it explains once again the
Estonian attitude towards technology: IT solutions must work for all citizens in everyday life,
and do not need to be fancy or highly sophisticated. Solutions are based on a design thinking
approach: the citizen and the solution of the problem come first, and technology is just seen
as a tool.
Legislation and regulation
Following the image of a leading tech country, Estonia introduced Blockchain-based e-
residency also for cryptocurrency-interested foreigners (individuals and companies) at the
end of 2014. As one of the first EU countries, the implementation of the 5th Anti-Money
Laundering European Directive at the end of 2017 allowed banks and other financial service
providers by license to hold crypto wallets (custodian service) on behalf of customers and to
sell cryptocurrencies to customers. In 2019, financial companies held 1200 licenses, which
decreased to about 350 in 2020. The number of licenses issued is still surprisingly high for a
rather small country like Estonia. According to an article published by ERR News (2021), a
change in the law is currently being discussed to tighten financial supervision in the crypto
sector. In return, a further decrease of the number of crypto licence holders is expected. In
2018 the Estonian financial authority published ICO Guidelines for supporting the funding of
start-up companies via Initial Coin Offering and laid down the legal framework of ICOs in
Estonia.
Blockchain economy: Start-ups and industry
The ChainEurope website lists six start-up companies for Estonia. In a report from the EU
Blockchain Observatory and Forum (2020), nine start-ups are listed, with a company name
mentioned in both lists. Around 15 start-ups can thus be assumed to be operating in the
Blockchain business in Estonia, primarily in the financial sector. In addition to the start-ups,
there are also traditional companies such as Guardtime with long experience in cryptography
and clients in both the private and military sectors. However, it should be noted that the large-
scale industrial sector in Estonia is relatively small.
Assessing the Blockchain ecosystem of Estonia
10
Following its reputation as a techland, Estonia has a long tradition in Blockchain applications
in public services.
Table 4: Blockchain ecosystem of Estonia (source: the authors)
Government
Policy
Legislation &
Regulation
Blockchain
Economy
Estonia
very supportive
advanced
vibrant
Estonia scores top in terms of Blockchain ecosystem in all three areas previously analysed.
2.2
Blockchain ecosystem in Greece
Greece is among those EU countries that are in the early development stages of both the local
ecosystem and state initiatives for providing regulatory clarity for the treatment of crypto-
assets. Specifically, Greece has a relatively low presence of local business and start-up
ecosystems, with a correspondingly low number of Blockchain-related formal education and
academic research initiatives. There is also a low number of user-driven communities around
Blockchain assets. Thus, Greece is classified in Stage I in the logic of the three-stage scoring
system used by the EU Blockchain Observatory Forum concerning ecosystem maturity. Also,
as regards regulatory maturity, which corresponds to the degree of top-down support
provided by national or regional governments, there is no specific crypto-asset legislation.
Government policy
Greece is a signatory to the European Blockchain Partnership, which serves as a platform that
combines, synchronizes and leverages Blockchain-related activities of European corporations,
startups, venture capitalists, and scientific institutes. In December of 2018, ministers of
Cyprus, France, Greece, Spain, Italy, Malta and Portugal signed the ‘Southern European
Countries Ministerial Declaration on Distributed Ledger Technologies’, providing an additional
endorsement of the technologies through a deeper regional ambition to apply DLTs and smart
con-tracts in search of support for the functioning of e-government services. In the
Mediterranean countries, the new technologies are seen as supporting privacy for end users,
empowering citizens to be in control of their own personal data and enhancing trust between
partners on record-keeping and record-accessing practices.
Legislation and regulation
Currently there is no particular legal framework governing crypto/ICO transactions. The recent
Law 4537/2018, which incorporates in Greek legislation Directive 2015/2366/EU about
payment services in the internal market seems to leave some scope though for the broadening
of the definition of “payment services”. It includes notions such as “third-party payment
service provider” and “payment initiation service”, and may comprise some of the activities
carried out on platforms for the exchange of cryptocurrencies, yet not the primary service of
buying and selling virtual for traditional currencies and vice versa. Thus, the Greek payment
services law cannot be applied to virtual currencies, given that virtual currency exchange
services do not fall under the definition of payment services. Finally, crypto currencies are not
financial instruments, because they are characterized as means of payment, which are
explicitly excluded from the scope of Greek and EU financial instruments law.
Blockchain economy: Start-up and industry
11
Greece has a network of a large number of regional Chambers of Commerce located in each
major city. However, in the last two years, only less than 5 regional Chambers have organized
a Blockchain event. The founders of Greek Blockchain companies are typically entrepreneurs
or researchers with strong academic backgrounds and international experience. Due to the
relatively small size of the domestic market for Blockchain, companies mostly develop
solutions that correspond to the needs of international customers and markets. The business
activities of Greek Blockchain start-ups vary greatly from enterprise applications and research
to consumer-facing rewards programmes, with a focus on digital currency wallets and
portfolios as well as legal compliance services. As a result, no specific business verticals could
be identified. However, despite the low number of Blockchain start-up companies there is a
growing interest of traditional companies to introduce Blockchain solutions, a trend that
seems to accelerate in the near future. A growing user community, as well as grassroots
initiatives such as the Hellenic Blockchain Hub, are trying to raise awareness and promote
Blockchain in the country.
Assessing the Blockchain ecosystem of Greece
The case of Greece shows a contrast between a generally supportive political framework and
a low level of uptake.
Table 5: Blockchain ecosystem of Greece (source: the authors)
Government
Policy
Legislation &
Regulation
Blockchain
Economy
Greece
supportive
lacking
low activity level
2.3
Blockchain ecosystem in Germany
Government policy
In 2019, the German government published its Blockchain strategy after a pre-ceding public
consultation, thus demonstrating the political commitment and political will to develop
Germany into a hub for Blockchain applications and the tokenized economy in Europe. The
German government's strategy comprises five fields of action, which include a long catalogue
of individual measures and targeted funding of certain projects. The industrial focus is on the
financial sector and the energy sector alongside fundamental policy considerations to
promote Blockchain applications by introducing a Blockchain-based digital identity of
individuals.
In the financial sector, the government’s focus is on specific legislative initiatives
such as the introduction of digital securities, which paves the way for the
issuance of securities tokens, and a draft law regulating the public offering of
certain crypto tokens, which imposes an information obligation on token issuers
vis-à-vis investors.
In the energy sector, the German government is pushing the setting up of a
smart contract registry that lists contractual details in the energy industry and
thus enables the recording and systematization of smart contracts. There are
also plans to introduce accredited certification procedures for smart contracts in
order to increase trust in Blockchain technology and the use of smart contracts.
Legislation and regulation
12
In Germany, there is no explicit Blockchain legislation in which Blockchain transactions are
legally regulated. The German government does not currently see any need for a horizontal
"Blockchain law". However, in the financial market sec-tor several laws have been modified
to include crypto assets and token transactions. With changes in the Anti-Monetary-
Laundering Laws (AML) of mid-2019, which is quite late in comparison with other EU countries
like Estonia, German commercial banks and other financial service providers can offer
cryptocurrency custody and exchange into fiat currency as a financial service to their
customers with the permission of the national financial regulator BaFin. Custody of crypto
assets for clients becomes a banking service legally defined under the German banking law.
The new law on “digital securities” enables the tokenization of financial securities. In a first
step only debt obligations can be tokenized.
Blockchain economy: Start-ups and industry
The German Blockchain start-up scene has grown strongly in the last two years and seems to
be very active. According to the statistics of chaineurope.org (as of Jan 2021), there are a total
of 714 Blockchain start-ups in Europe and roughly 40% (280) of these are in Germany alone.
Berlin (117) has the most active start-up scene, followed by Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne,
Hamburg and Hanover. Most Blockchain businesses started in the financial sector (banking
services, investment platforms and payment services), followed by Blockchain-based identity
management platforms, IoT platforms and intellectual property registration businesses.
Many large German companies have either already tested Blockchain once in a proof-of-
concept project or intend to carry out such a project, as a survey conducted by BITKOM in
2019 shows. The companies mostly prefer closed B2B solutions that run on permission-based
Blockchain platforms operated by IT providers (IBM, SAP, Amazon etc.). In many cases,
companies are reluctant to apply the general concept of collaboration and sharing data and
information with external project partners via Blockchain.
Assessing the Blockchain ecosystem of Germany
In spite of a supportive political environment and lively economic activity, regulatory scope
seems to slow down further expansion.
Table 6: Blockchain ecosystem of Germany (source: the authors)
Government
Policy
Legislation &
Regulation
Blockchain
Economy
Germany
supportive
intermediate
vibrant
2.4
Blockchain ecosystem in the Netherlands
Government policy
Various ministries are investing a total of 2.8 million euros in research of the young technology
(2020). The government also set up the Dutch Blockchain Coalition (DBC) in which government
bodies, universities and colleges work together with the business community. The DBC is a
partnership between government stakeholders, knowledge institutions and the business
community. The mission of the DBC is to promote reliable, robust and socially accepted
Blockchain applications, to create the best possible conditions for Blockchain applications to
emerge and to use Blockchain as a source of trust, welfare, prosperity and security for citizens,
13
companies, institutions and governments. The DBC is above all a catalyst and a facilitator in
this, activating and connecting an extensive public-private network.
Legislation and regulation
The coalition is working on the basis of an agenda in which the possibilities of Blockchain
technology are investigated, where an assessment is made if this technology is sufficiently
compatible with the laws and regulations, and where research and education programmes in
this field are built.
This action’s agenda focuses on the following three action lines:
1. Development of Blockchain building blocks: Digital identities
2. Implementing conditions for the use of Blockchain
3. Developing and implementing the Human Capital Agenda
Partners DBC: Coalitiepartners - Blockchain (dutchblockchaincoalition.org)
Furthermore, Dutch financial regulators set up a regulatory sandbox for Block-chain start-ups,
which empowers regulators to use a principle-based rather than a rule-based approach.
Blockchain economy: Start-ups and industry
There are 155 Blockchain start-ups in the Netherlands (April 2020), which is a fair number, but
considering those initiatives that are flourishing, it is notable that start-ups are largely absent.
Young companies have raised millions for Block-chain applications in recent years by issuing a
new currency through so-called initial coin offerings. But many of those revolutionary plans
have failed to pan out. It is especially larger corporations that are active. Shell, for example, is
involved in Vakt, a platform for trading crude oil via the Blockchain. ABN Amro, ING and
Rabobank have stepped into Komgo, which digitizes commodity trading and makes it more
efficient. For start-ups or small parties, it is hard to become involved (Thole, 2019).
An example of 10 promising Dutch Start-Ups, including the funds they raised can be found on
the following website https://tracxn.com/explore/Blockchain-Startups-in-Netherlands
Assessing the Blockchain ecosystem of the Netherlands
Table 7: Blockchain ecosystem of the Netherlands (source: the authors)
Government
Policy
Legislation &
Regulation
Blockchain
Economy
Netherlands
very supportive
intermediate
vibrant
The Netherlands seems overall well equipped for facilitating the uptake of Blockchain.
2.5
Blockchain ecosystem in Spain
Government policy
As elsewhere, in Spain the government and politicians support the use of Blockchain in
industry and public administration. The key concept of this technology and its various
implementations that guarantee a higher quality of life and service to institutions and citizens
has gained political attention. In 2018, interest in Blockchain technology appeared on the part
of policy makers who approved the Blockchain bill for the management of digital currencies.
14
In the follow-up the deputies of the governing party proposed the use of Blockchain in public
administration.
The best-practice example of the use of Blockchain in public administration is the Blockchain-
enabled tender registry set up by the Government of Aragon. This project uses Blockchain
technology for the registration of public tender offers in order to simplify bidding procedures
and to enhance transparency.
Legislation and regulation
As most EU countries, Spain has no specific Blockchain law regulating Blockchain technology
in particular. However, there are some significant efforts made to integrate Blockchain
technology and crypto assets in existing financial and tax laws:
The Securities Market Law. Art. 240 bis (and art. 292), introduced by Royal
Decree-Law 5/2021, empowers the CNMV to submit the advertising of crypto-
assets to authorization.
Law 39/2015 of 1 October 2015 on the Common Administrative Procedure of
Public Administrations establishes that identification systems based on
distributed registration technologies and signature systems based on the above
will not be admissible in any case and, therefore, may not be authorized, as long
as they are not subject to specific regulation by the State within the framework of
European Union Law.
Annual Tax and Customs Control Plan 2021: Establishes instructions on more
effectively control of cryptocurrency transactions.
In addition, some autonomous regions have changed their legislation regarding the use of
Blockchain technology in public administration.
Blockchain economy: Start-ups and industry
In 2018 Blockchain initiatives by the private sector started gaining significant traction, with
companies in the banking, energy and shipping sectors exploring Blockchain applications.
It is worth noting that a Spanish bank, BBVA, became the first bank in the world to use
Blockchain technology for its financial products.
In Spain there are more than 150 companies and start-ups with activities in the field of
Blockchain and digital currencies. This number of companies is relatively small if compared to
the existing population.
In 2017, 70 of the largest Spanish companies in the fields of banking, energy and
telecommunications joined forces to form Alastria, a non-profit consortium whose goal is to
accelerate digital transformation through Blockchain technology.
Assessing the Blockchain ecosystem in Spain
Table 8: Blockchain ecosystem in Spain (source: the authors)
Government
Policy
Legislation &
Regulation
Blockchain
Economy
Spain
supportive
intermediate
intermediate
It turns out that conditions for an uptake of Blockchain look reasonably favourable with a
certain delay to be expected in joining all necessary parts of the eco-system together.
15
2.6
Comparison of national scorings
If the assessments along the three categories of Government & Politics, Legislation &
Regulation, and Blockchain Business are converted into numerical scores from 1 to 3, the
following picture emerges:
Figure 3: Comparison of Blockchain Ecosystems (source: the authors)
Estonia confirms its reputation as a tech country that has consistently opted for IT-based
public service management and in this respect has already had many years of experience with
Blockchain applications. What might also matter is that smaller countries have, and might
need, a somewhat higher speed of adaptation to technological innovations in order to remain
competitive. For Greece in particular, it would be enormously important, in order to improve
its economic prospects, to significantly upgrade the political and legal framework for the
introduction of Blockchain technology and to take on a pioneering role here. Spanish politics
and legislature also have some catching up to do here, so there is potential for improvement.
After investigating the history of Blockchain, the innovation mission of universities in general
and the diffusion of Blockchain into national economies and legal systems, we shall be looking
at the absorption of Blockchain-related topics in the national higher education systems of the
five partner countries in the following chapter.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Estonia Greece Germany Netherlands Spain
Comparison Blockchain Ecosystems
Government & Politics Legislation&Regulation Blockchain Business
16
3
Screening higher education systems for Blockchain
When considering the options available for implementing Blockchain and DLT content in
university teaching and research efforts it seems appropriate to identify the status quo of
respective education and research programmes in the national higher education systems.
3.1
Analytical approach, scoring model and limitations
In the subsequent analysis and in the use of the scoring results, it is essential to emphasize
the limited meaningfulness of the information collected. There are no central statistics from
authoritative sources. In this respect, all the information gathered is based solely on internet
research of university websites and the results of searches for specific keywords. The following
findings are merely a snapshot in a dynamic and changing environment. In this respect, the
results may also contain errors and misstatements and should always be re-checked if used
again.
The analytical approach is a two-step screening process. In a first step, the largest (by number
of enrolled students) public universities, universities of applied sciences and private
universities were screened for the integration of Blockchain knowledge in teaching (modules
or curricula of the respective study programmes), in research and development projects as
well as in scientific publications. In the case of Estonia, this is relatively easy, as the number of
universities is highly manageable. In the case of the other four countries with a much larger
number of universities, a representative selection was made, in each case, of the largest
universities in terms of student numbers, so that in total the universities screened represent
at least 10% or more of the total number of students in each group of private and publicly
funded universities. This first step can be characterised as an inductive or top-down approach.
But screening all faculties for the use of Blockchain in the three areas proved to be very time-
consuming, as the large national universities have an almost unmanageable number of study
programmes and numerous faculties. In contrast, the results of the screening were rather
slim, as the general level of Blockchain activities of these big universities was found to be
rather low.
Two step screening process
Targ ete d se ar ch
Deductive approach
Inductive approach
Screening largest
universities top-down
Step 1 Step 2
17
Figure 4: Visualizing the analytical approach (source: the authors)
The second step implied a change in strategy towards a more deductive approach, namely a
targeted search for those universities that are well-known for a high level of Blockchain
activities. This screening process is carried out by the use of search engines combining
Blockchain-related keywords combined with the keywords “University, University of Applied
Sciences, Bachelor program(me), Master program(me), courses etc.” Blockchain-related
keywords used are the following: Blockchain, Blockchain Technology, Distributed Ledger
Technology, DLT, Tokens, Tokenization, Cryptocurrencies, Cryptography, Coins, Stable Coins,
Internet of Things, IoT. This bottom-up approach ultimately led to a manageable number of
universities that can serve as best practice examples for the use of Blockchain in teaching,
research, and transfer and in the university's institutional organization.
3.2
Estonia: Screening results on Blockchain and higher education
Estonian higher education system
The Estonian system of higher education relies on four institutional pillars (Minis-try of
Education and Research, 2021): publicly funded universities (6), privately funded universities
(1), private professional higher education institutions (5) and publicly funded professional
higher education institutions (8). In terms of the number of students, public universities
dominate.
Selection of screened universities
The following analysis focuses on the four largest public universities in Estonia: Tallinn
University of Technology (TalTech), Tallinn University (TLÜ), University of Tartu (TÜ) and
Estonian University of Life Sciences (EMÜ). The selection of these universities was made based
on their technical and natural sciences background, so it was assumed that they might offer
the largest number of study programmes, which are related to Blockchain technology, MSW
management or Circular Economy topics. Also, these are the biggest universities in Estonia by
the total number of students. According to the Estonian Statistics Office, in 2019 the total
number of students in these four universities comprised 74% of the total number of students
involved in Bachelor‘s, Master’s, Integrated Bachelor’s and Master’s, Doctoral or Professional
higher educational studies (33,464 vs 45,178 students in total) (Estonian Statistics, 2021).
Scoring model Indicators for ranking
In order to obtain some comparability, the following «traffic lights» approach was applied to
compare the performance of the four universities regarding coverage of Blockchain
technology in teaching and research:
Table 9: Traffic light labelling system and its indicators (source: the authors)
Teaching
R&D
Events
At least 4 major subjects
related to Blockchain
Min. 2 running projects on Blockchain
or min. 10 publications on Blockchain
over the last 2 years
Min. 3 over
the last 2 years
18
At least 2 major subjects
related to Blockchain
Min. 1 running project on Blockchain
or min. 5 publications on Blockchain
or at least on digital solutions over
the last two years
Min. 1 over
the last 2 years
No subjects related to
Blockchain, Big Data analysis
or IoT
No running project on Blockchain OR
less than 3 publications on Blockchain
over the last two years
None
Scoring results
A mixed picture emerges regarding the adoption of Blockchain innovation in Estonian higher
education. Two of the country's four largest universities do not have much to offer in terms
of Blockchain in teaching and research. Not surprisingly, two universities with large technical
backgrounds (Tallinn University of Technology and University of Tartu) stand out to have the
strongest research and curricula related to Blockchain technology, Big Data analysis, IoT,
Cyber Security, etc. These two universities have a long list of subjects related in bigger or
smaller extend to Blockchain topics. Also, some ongoing projects and events related to
Blockchain, Databases and Information Systems, Cyber Security are organized in these
universities.
At the University of Tartu, the Faculty of Science and Technology and Institute of Computer
Science are conducting research and teaching on Blockchain topics. At Tallinn University of
Technology strong Blockchain research is conducted in a Blockchain Technology Group, which
belongs to the Department of Software Science / School of Informative Technologies.
Table 10: Scoring results of Estonian universities (source: the authors)
University
Teaching
R&D
Events
Tallinn University of
Technology
At least 4 major
subjects + at least 10
minor subjects
At least 5 ongoing
projects related to
Blockchain, IoT, smart
sensors + more than 10
publications related to
Blockchain, cyber
defense and
cryptography, IoT, Big
Data analysis etc.
At least 5 events related
to Blockchain, Data
Security, Database
(during 2019-2020)
Tallinn University
No subjects directly
related to Blockchain,
Big Data analysis, IoT
At least 3 ongoing
projects + at least 10
publications related to
digital teaching or
formatting of digital
society
0 (during 2019-2020)
University of Tartu
At least 4 major
subjects + at least 10
minor subjects
At least 3 ongoing
projects related to
Blockchain + at least 8
publications
At least 7 events (during
2016-2021) related to
Blockchain, Databases
and Information
Systems, Cyber Security
etc.
19
Estonian University
of Life Sciences
No subjects directly
related to Blockchain,
Big Data analysis or
IoT
Only 1 project related
to digital tools + no
publications
Only 1 event related to
technical solutions
applied to biological
systems
However, neither at Taltech nor at Tartu University exists a Blockchain study program with a
full curriculum, but Blockchain is taught ‘only’ in connection with other IT innovations at
module level. Diffusion of Blockchain innovation in non-IT faculties of universities (Business,
Health Sciences, Environmental Sciences etc.) has hardly taken place. Blockchain is still
considered in teaching as a pure IT topic and not as a cross-cutting technology. This is
surprising because Estonia has the best conditions for a rapid integration of Blockchain into
teaching due to its framework conditions (Blockchain ecosystem).
Best practice examples
Interestingly, two EU research projects (BLOCKS and BlockNet) are currently underway at both
Tallinn and Tartu Universities, focusing on knowledge transfer and development of online
courses and curricula for Blockchain. Both emphasize the need for interdisciplinarity in
teaching and propose new innovative learning concepts.
(1) BlockNet project - University of Tartu
The BlockNet (BlockChain Network Online Education for interdisciplinary Europe-an
Competence Transfer) project (09/2018 02/2021) has developed several interdisciplinary
distance learning courses on advanced Blockchain technologies, development of Blockchain
applications, and security principles. Based on the analysis of the Blockchain-related needs for
competence profiles and skillsets, the Blocknet project will design a didactical and
organizational concept for inter-disciplinary Blockchain Small Network Online Courses (SNOC),
facilitating remote learning opportunities leveraging educational access. The educational
design is characterized by a constructivist approach to learning, where learners construct their
individual path of learning based on an explicit formal definition of learning goals. It is a
student-centered learning approach using didactic tools like flipped classrooms and E-
Moderating.
(2) BLOCKS project - Tallinn University of Technology
BLOCKS (09/2018 08/2021) is a project that develops non-traditional, blended-learning
courses, tailored towards an Industry 4.0 world, focused on providing teachers, students, and
entrepreneurs with knowledge and skills about Block-chain technology. BLOCKS allows for a
proper setting to enhance the effective-ness of current courses provided by the partners, to
permit for a bridging of the gaps in skills of non-tech entrepreneurs and other types of
stakeholders. The approach focuses on non-technological content, as the purpose is to
provide business-oriented types of knowledge applicable to all types of students and
entrepreneurs. It also enhances the ability of the stakeholders impacted to react to a very
fast-paced business world in which benefits and risks of this particular technology must be
considered at each level, from the regulator to the consumer.
20
3.3
Germany: Screening results on Blockchain and higher education
German higher education system
The German higher education system is based on three types of higher education institutions
(HEI).
Universitäten (Universities) offer the whole range of academic disciplines and
offer Bachelor, Master and PhD study programmes. Study programmes have a
more theoretical orientation and include research-oriented components in
advanced stages of programmes.
Fachhochschulen (Universities of Applied Sciences) offer study programmes (BA
and MA) in Engineering and other technical disciplines, business-related studies,
social sciences and design areas. They have no permission to offer PhD
programmes. Study programmes are characterised by applied research closely
linked to industry and the corporate sec-tor and integrated supervised
assignments hosted by regional industries (HRK 2021).
Other colleges like colleges of art and colleges of music are the third pillar and
are less relevant for the purpose of this study.
Table 11: German higher education institutions (source: DESTATIS, Federal Statistical Office
2020)
HEIs 2020
absolute numbers
in %
number of students
in %
Universities
107
25%
1,778,600
61%
Universities of
Applied Sciences
213
50%
1,028,500
35%
Other colleges
104
25%
74,200
3%
total
424
100%
2,897,300
100%
Universities in Germany are either Government funded-public universities or privately funded
universities with a government accreditation. With a 70% share, public universities are in clear
majority compared to 30% of private HEIs. Private universities are mostly smaller institutions,
specialising more in specific subjects and offer therefore only a limited range of study
programmes. Almost 94% of all students are enrolled at public universities and 6% at private
HEIs. Public universities charge no tuition fees (HRK 2021)
Scoring model Indicators for ranking
In order to obtain some comparability, the following «traffic lights» approach was applied to
compare the performance of four different universities regarding coverage of Blockchain
technology in teaching and research:
21
Table 12: Traffic light labelling system and its indicators (source: the authors)
Active
Medium Active
Non-Active
Scientific Publications
Minimum five publ/s
Minimum one publ.
None
Teaching Courses with
Blockchain topics
Present in many
degrees / Full degree
Minimum two modules
with Blockchain topics
None
Blockchain projects
last 2 yrs.
Minimum five
Blockchain projects
Minimum one Blockchain
project
None
Scoring results of largest public universities
The six universities are FernUni Hagen, University of Cologne, Goethe University Frankfurt,
University of Hamburg, RWTH Aachen and University of Münster. Together, the five
universities have enrolled 310,000 students, which is about 17% of all students enrolled at
Universitäten.
Table 13: Step 1 - Scoring results universities (source: the authors)
University
Public.
R&D
Teaching
Students
Faculty
Fernuni
Hagen
76,647
No activities in
Blockchain topics
Cologne
University
51,256
No activities in
Blockchain
Goethe
University
45,604
Law and Economics
Hamburg
University
45,944
Law
RWTH
Aachen
45,628
Ind. Engineering &
Informatics
Münster
University
45,721
Economics, Law, Physics,
Mathematics &
Informatics
Scoring results of the largest public universities of applied sciences
The six universities of applied sciences are Darmstadt UAS, Hamburg UAS, Munich UAS,
Cologne UAS, Mittelhessen UAS and Frankfurt UAS, which together represent about 10.5% of
all students at German universities of applied sciences.
Table 14: Step 1 Screening results universities of applied sciences (source: the authors)
UAS
Public.
R&D
Teaching
Students
Faculty
Darmstadt UAS
16,500
No Blockchain activities
Hamburg UAS
17,049
Life Sciences
Munich UAS
18,000
Informatics
Cologne UAS
22,642
Informatics, Law &
Business
Mittelhessen UAS
18,610
Business
Frankfurt UAS
15,626
Law and Business
22
Table 15: Scoring results largest private funded universities (source: the authors)
Private University
Public.
R&D
Teaching
Students
Faculty
Bucerius Law School
Hamburg
670
Law only one
seminar
EBS Universität für
Wirtschaft und Recht
2,132
EBS Business School:
Law school
European School of
Management and
Technology (ESMT)
370
Executive Courses,
IT
Handelshochschule
Leipzig
680
Finance,
Management
Hertie School Berlin
690
Public Policy,
Data Science
Jacobs University Bremen
1,570
One research
project, one seminar
Despite the excellent framework conditions, the screening process shows that Blockchain has
not yet become established as a subject of disruptive technology and innovation in teaching
at German universities. There are very few universities that offer explicit teaching modules
for Blockchain knowledge. The few universities that do offer Blockchain in their teaching are
mostly IT faculties, followed by Business and especially Finance faculties. There are only
marginal differences between public and private universities and universities of applied
sciences. Probably due to their proximity to regional business communities, the universities
of applied sciences have a slightly higher level of Blockchain activities overall. However, this is
not significant. Individual technically oriented universities with a strong focus on research,
such as RWTH-Aachen, have recognized the innovation potential of Blockchain technology and
have already geared their research to-wards it with Blockchain test labs. Unfortunately,
however, there is still a lack of diffusion of the research content into teaching to students.
Based on these results, the diffusion process of Blockchain innovation into teaching and
curricula appears to be in its infancy at the major German universities.
Best practice examples
(1) Munich UAS Master program
Munich UAS offers a 3-semester (90 ECTS) Master in ‘Entrepreneurship and Digital
Transformation’ in English. The interdisciplinary master programme Entrepreneurship and
Digital Transformation enables graduates to either start their own digital business or lead
corporate digital transformation projects to success. Digital technologies such as Artificial
Intelligence, Internet of Things, or Blockchain will continue to revolutionize business models of
established industries. Many start-ups build their value proposition on these new technologies
- cf HM-webpage.
This Master program promises a unique approach as it is coordinated by six departments of
Munich University of Applied Sciences together with its affiliate institute, the Strascheg Center
for Entrepreneurship. Students work in interdisciplinary teams on their projects over a period
of three semesters.
23
Figure 5: Curriculum overview Munich UAS Master in Entrepreneurship and Digital Transformation
(source: https://www.hm.edu/en/course_offerings/deepdive/admissions/index.en.html)
(2) Frankfurt School of Finance and Management
Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, a private university with close ties to the
German banking industry offers a range of certificate programmes in Blockchain:
Table 16: Blockchain courses Frankfurt School of Finance (source: Course finder “Blockchain”
web-page Frankfurt School of Finance and Management)
Certificate study program
Duration
Price
1
Blockchain Fundamentals
1 day
2
Consensus and Private Blockchain
1 day
950€
3
Public Blockchain
1 day
4
Blockchain for Executive Leaders
1 day
1,200€
5
Use Cases and Applications in Logistics, IoT and
Industry 4.0
1 day
6
ICOs and Token Economy
1 day
7
Legal Issues
1 day
8
Master Class on Blockchain in Financial Inclusion
50 hrs
750€
9
Certified Blockchain Expert
6 months
6,950€
In 2017, the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center was founded with powerful industry partners
as a ‘think tank’ for Blockchain applications. The portfolio of activities includes joint research
projects with companies, community and network education, the development of prototype
applications and consulting for Block-chain start-ups cf diagram below.
24
Figure 6: Factsheet Frankfurt School Blockchain Center (source: https://www.frankfurt-
school.de/home/research/centres/blockchain)
The Blockchain Center offers an online ‘Frankfurt School Blockchain Academy’ with 32 hours
of video education in 8 courses, a Blockchain Masterclass with a comprehensive 12-hour
blockchain course for the price of 249 euros and a 2-hour introduction course ‘Blockchain in
a Nutshell’ for 10 euros.
The Blockchain MasterClass focuses on four areas: Introduction, Block-chain
Applications (Tokens, Liechtenstein Blockchain Act, Enterprise use cases vs.
crypto assets), Blockchain Implementation and Innovation & Regulation.
Blockchain in a Nutshell has three main topics: Technology, Application and
Regulation.
What is particularly noteworthy from an educational perspective is the article by Sandner
(2020) entitled ‘Education in Blockchain and DLT: How to Acquire the Necessary Knowledge
with a Workload of 10 Working Days’ which can be found on the webpage of the Frankfurt
Blockchain Center. As the author wrote: This article summarizes main sources, which can be
used to acquire initial blockchain knowledge. We recommend podcasts, books, networking
events, papers, study programs, workshops, online courses and online articles. We ‘design’ a
10-day program, which makes it possible to acquire the necessary Blockchain basics just within
a few days in a ‘learning and doing”’ approach.
(3) University of Applied Sciences Mittweida
Germany’s pioneer regarding Blockchain research, publications and teaching is clearly the
University of Applied Sciences Mittweida. It offers the only Master programme in Germany
specialising in “Blockchain & Distributed Ledger Technologies”. It is a four-semester
programme worth 120 ECTS. As it is coordinated by the faculty of Applied Computer Sciences
and Biosciences the master focuses on the technical aspects of Blockchain and cryptography.
Thus, students learn about the technical and mathematical basics of the Blockchain in the first
two semesters and additionally have the possibility to choose 8 elective modules in order to
specialise towards technical or economic issues. For the third semester a compulsory
internship in a company or in the Blockchain Competence Center Mittweida is scheduled
see figure below:
25
Table 17: Curriculum Blockchain master Mittweida UAS (source: table done by authors based
on course data from Mittweida UAS homepage)
Table 18: Elective learning modules Blockchain master Mittweida (source: Study and
examination regulations Master Blockchain & DLT Mittweida UAS)
In close cooperation with industry partners, in 2017 the university founded the Blockchain
Competence Center Mittweida to build up competences in research, education, incubation
and technology transfer. The close integration of Block-chain education, research institute,
knowledge transfer and incubator can serve as a benchmark for an optimally designed process
of implementing innovation within the university landscape. Annually, the Blockchain
Competence Center Mittweida hosts a week-long Blockchain Autumn School with a variety of
lectures, workshops and talks from companies and faculty for interested participants
worldwide.
Figure 7: Blockchain Competence Center Mittweida (BCCM) (source: https://blockchain.hs-
mittweida.de/ueber-uns/)
(4) CODE University of Applied Sciences in Berlin
26
The CODE University of Applied Sciences in Berlin, founded in 2017, is the first private
university for software developers in Germany. The small university of applied sciences
initially offers three English-language bachelor degree programmes: Software Engineering,
Interaction Design and Product Management. The Bachelor of Software Engineering includes
a learning module on Blockchain and cryptography.
What makes the CODE University special is its innovative CODE Learning Concept, which puts
the student and their curiosity at the centre. Students’ learning is curiosity- driven. They
design their own learning path, taking responsibility for their learning outcomes and defining
their milestones. While in traditional learning institutions, everything is predetermined by a
fixed curriculum with a given semester schedule of content to be learned and tested, in the
curiosity-driven approach a student defines their own learning journey and their own goal and
learns how to stick to defined goals.
Of course, the teacher’s role is quite different in such a learning environment. The pure
learning content is provided by online learning resources. This frees teaching time and
resources for interactive teaching, intense mentoring on an individual and group level, and
lectures focus on students’ actual needs and demands.
Learning outcomes are measured by assessing achievements at different levels of
competence. The university defines a competence framework with competence levels in
different subjects and interpersonal skills. Students’ projects com-prise acting in different
roles within a project team. Students decide which role they take within the project. Every
role is connected to a certain competence of the competence framework. At project end
professors and students decide if they reached a new level of proficiency in a specific
competence field. Learning at CODE university could be characterised by the following
keywords: project and problem-based learning, self-directed learning, use of flipped
classroom and peer-to-peer learning.
(5) Technische Hochschule Lübeck DigiCerts project
TH Lübeck is currently, alongside a consortium of partner institutions, involved in the
DIGICERTS project, a publicly funded research project which tries to substitute the
universities’ central databases for storing students’ examination records by a decentralised
Blockchain database. DigiCerts is working on the question of how forgery protection as well
as secure access and secure management of digital educational credentials and certificates
can be guaranteed in the long term in accordance with the needs of learners, companies,
educational institutions and certification bodies.
This project is interesting in that it places the university at the centre of Block-chain
applications as the central organization for higher educational learning. Even functions of the
university that are currently organized centrally, such as Exams Administration, can be
organized in a decentral peer-to-peer approach by using Blockchain applications.
3.4
Greece: Blockchain and higher education
Higher education system of Greece
Higher education is the last stage of the formal education system in Greece. According to the
Greek Constitution (article 16), higher education is public, and it is provided only by Higher
27
Education Institutions (HEIs; Ανώτατα Εκπαιδευτικά Ιδρύματα) which are legal entities of
public law. HEIs are subject to state super-vision through the Ministry of Education and
Religious Affairs, which also provides funding. However, HEIs enjoy full self-administration and
academic freedom once they obtain the state-accredited title of University, which confers
university degree awarding powers at level 6. In Greece, all HEIs are public and private HEIs
do not exist. Admission of students is by performance in the national university entrance
examinations, and panhellenic exams at the end of grade C of Lykeio (upper secondary
school).
The total number of HEIs is 25, with 141 schools and 431 departments / divi-sions, including
two parallel and distinct sectors (until 2018): The university sec-tor that includes universities,
national technical universities and the Higher School of Fine Arts and the technological sector
that includes technological educational institutes (TEIs) and the School of Pedagogical and
Technological Education (ASPETE). From 2018 all TEIs of the country have merged with
university institutions.
Scoring model Indicators for ranking
Concerning the screening process of all universities, it was decided as a first action to collect,
for the entire list of universities, information relative to the introduction of Blockchain
technology in the operational, educational and research activities of their institution. This
screening process was carried out with google, combining Blockchain-related keywords
(Blockchain, Blockchain Technology, Distributed Ledger Technology) with the keywords
“Greek Universities”.
In order to obtain some comparability, the following «traffic lights» approach was applied to
compare performance of four different universities regarding coverage of Blockchain
technology in teaching and research:
Table 19: Traffic light labelling system and its indicators (source the authors)
Active
Medium Active
Non-Active
Scientific Publications
Minimum five publ/s
Minimum one publ.
None
Teaching Courses with
Blockchain topics
Present in many
degrees / Full degree
Minimum two modules
with Blockchain topics
None
Blockchain projects
last 2 yrs.
Minimum five
Blockchain projects
Minimum one
Blockchain project
None
Screening results
Teaching: The majority of Greek universities, thirteen (13) of twenty-five, have a course
involving the teaching of Blockchain technology in their official curriculum, either as an
undergraduate / postgraduate course or a short lifelong learning programme. Most courses
are focused on undergraduate studies with Blockchain technology being part of the course
with only a few units entirely focused on Blockchain technology. Courses are found in schools
related to Economics and Computer Science. Six (6) of them are mandatory, while the rest are
electives and in most cases participating students do not exceed twenty (20). The only
university that offers an undergraduate module entirely focused on Blockchain technologies
for students in their 8th semester is the School of Information Sciences, Department of
Applied Informatics at UoM ("Blockchain technologies and decentralized applications").
28
There are also several lifelong learning courses, (6) that provide a thorough introduction to
Blockchain technology and its various applications from three Universities, NKUA, University
of the Aegean and the UniWA.
Scientific publications: Most of the screened universities are characterized as active (having
over five related publications), with the exception of Panteion University and UoM.
Research projects: Fifteen (15) universities have participated in thirty-two (32) projects
related to Blockchain technology, only two, NTUA and AUTh, could be characterized as active.
Specifically, NTUA and AUTh have participation in eight (8) and six (6) projects respectively,
followed by UPatras (3). There is an ongoing research project in which IOHK (a Blockchain and
development company) is working with the national research and education network of
Greece, GRNET, on a new pilot programme that aims to put university qualifications on a
Blockchain platform. This open-source pilot project involves three Greek universities: the
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the biggest university in Greece, the Democritus
University of Thrace and the Athens University of Economics and Business. Holders of degrees
of these universities will be able to electronically offer proof of their degrees using a
Blockchain platform.
Table 20: Screened universities’ activity level (source: the authors)
University
Scientific
publications
Blockchain
projects last 2
yrs
Teaching
courses with
Blockchain
topics
Agricultural University of Athens
3
1
0
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki*
14
6
3
Athens School of Fine Arts
0
0
0
Athens University of Economics and
Business*
27
2
1
Democritus University of Thrace
11
1
0
Harokopio University of Athens
3
1
0
Hellenic Mediterranean University
0
1
0
Hellenic Open University
3
0
0
International Hellenic University*
8
1
2
Ionian University
11
0
0
National and Kapodistrian University of
Athens*
29
1
3
National Technical University of Athens*
27
8
3
Panteion University*
1
1
2
Technical University of Crete
6
0
0
University of the Aegean*
15
0
1
University of Crete
5
0
0
University of Ioannina*
7
0
2
University of Macedonia*
3
1
2
University of Patras*
27
3
0
University of Peloponnese
7
0
0
University of Piraeus*
41
2
2
University of Thessaly*
26
1
2
University of West Attica *
11
1
2
29
University of Western Macedonia*
4
1
1
School of Pedagogical and Technological
Education (ASPETE)
0
0
0
Total
289
32
26
*screened HEIs
As a general comment, we should emphasize that there is no clear link between the amount
and depth of research activities and published papers with teaching activities. Universities
appear strong in one sector and weak in another. The cur-rent status concerning the level of
activity related to Blockchain technology is based on the efforts of individual members of the
universities. Also, universities smaller in size appear more flexible in introducing new courses
or reforming existing ones. However, our sense is that the majority of Greek universities are
willing to integrate Blockchain content into teaching or/and research activities.
Lifelong learning appears also as an alternative teaching field that many universities are
considering and planning to adopt as a teaching process. Finally, it should be mentioned that
our findings are in agreement with the EU Blockchain Observatory Forum, which in a recently
published report about national Block-chain ecosystems in EU member states reported that
Greece has a low number of Blockchain-related formal education and academic research
initiatives.
Best practice examples
(1) National Technical University of Athens (NTUA)
NTUA could be thought of as the best practice example as regards the number of research
projects (8 in total over the last 2 years), and the presence of EPU-NTUA, a multidisciplinary
scientific unit, which carries out research and development activities and focuses part of its
activity on Blockchain technology and the relatively fair number of courses related to
Blockchain projects. However, it seems that there is no driving force that shapes a consistent
policy, despite the fact that the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering has a leading
role, both in research and teaching activities. Several members of NTUA have published a
number of scientific articles on Blockchain topics, whereas two other schools, School of
Mining and Metallurgical Engineering and School of Mechanical Engineering, show research
activity. The main reason for naming NTUA as a case of good practice is the very important
research activity done by EPU-NTUA, which is combined with an intermediate level of
undergraduate teaching activity. EPU-NTUA encompasses a wide cross-section of research &
development interests covering a broad portfolio of subjects ranging from Operations
Research, Management Science, Management Information Systems (MIS), Electronic
Government / Business, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Systems Science
to Decision Support on Energy & Environmental policy. In this context, there is a strong and
lasting collaboration with enterprises, academic and re-search institutions and public sector
organizations, from Europe, Africa, Asia and USA.
(2) Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh)
AUTh, shows an activity level similar to NTUA. It can be characterized as active, since all
indicators are characterized as active. In AUTh, one of the departments with relative high
activity is the School of Exact Sciences, Department of Infor-matics. The large number of
30
research projects that AUTh has participated in could be associated with the presence of
laboratories and research groups, such as SWITCH Lab and OSWINDS, which report on their
official webpage that one of their main research interests is Blockchain technology and
applications. Τhe existence of the SWITCH laboratory and OSWINDS research group and their
significant research activity in the field of Blockchain technology is perhaps the main driving
force that determines the dynamics of the university and allows us to characterize it as a best
practice example. Both seem strong in the field of re-search thanks to their participation in
European and nationally funded programs while part of their action is done in collaboration
with various businesses and organisations, as in the case of the SWITCH laboratory where they
collaborate with companies active in the field of health services. A significant number of aca-
demic staff and postgraduate students participate in the laboratories’ research activity,
whereas undergraduate students complete their degree thesis there.
(3) National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA)
Another good example that should be highlighted is NKUA. NKUA is one of the three
Universities that provide lifelong learning courses with reference to Block-chain technology,
despite the fact that it has no undergraduate or postgraduate course. The three (3) lifelong
learning courses (‘Blockchain Developer’, ‘Block-chain and Energy’ and ‘Business
Administration and New Trends in the Greek and Global Economy during the 4th Industrial
Revolution’) attract a large number of participants every year. NKUA seems to have a certain
policy, which encourages academic members to introduce state-of-the-art technologies to a
larger audience through lifelong learning courses. The School of Science with its Department
of Informatics and Telecommunications is the most active school concerning Blockchain
technology with the ‘Artificial Intelligence Team’ operating a research laboratory and running
some activity in Blockchain technology. NKUA has a significant number of published papers;
however, it currently has only one (1) on-going project related to Blockchain. In the case of
the NKUA, the existence of lifelong learning programmes is a very important educational tool
that allows the dissemination of knowledge related to Blockchain technology not only to
members of the university but also to the general public. Most of these programmes have a
strong theoretical background but also present applications of logistic, economic and
accounting nature.
(4) University of Piraeus (UniPi)
UniPI is also a university with good performance, which is focused mainly on Business
Management, Computer science, Economics, Finance and Maritime Studies. It has the highest
number of published papers and currently two ongoing projects. Teaching activity at
undergraduate level is reported at the School of Information and Communication
Technologies, Department of Informatics with one course (Blockchain technologies and
applications, 8th semester), and at postgraduate level at the School of Economics, Business
and International Studies, Department of Economics, and the Interdepartmental
Postgraduate Programme «Economic and Business Strategy». In the case of UniPI the courses
related to Blockchain technology are taught in the last semester, in which students have
developed critical abilities and perception. This is reflected in the relatively large number of
degree theses and the significant number of research papers that are published in
international journals.
31
3.5
The Netherlands: Blockchain and higher education
The higher education system of the Netherlands
Dutch education is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. The
Education Inspectorate supervises education on behalf of the minis-try.
There are two types of higher education in the Netherlands:
1. scientific education, at institutions named universities (wo);
2. higher vocational education, at institutions named universities of ap-plied
sciences, UAS (hbo).
Higher education institutions in the Netherlands are financed in different ways. There are:
funded institutions, designated institutions, private institutions. Funded institutions are
funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW). They are allowed to award
legally recognized degrees. Funded institutions are bound by the statutory tuition fees.
Overviews of funded institutions can be found on:
the website of the Association of Universities (VSNU);
the website of the Dutch Association of Universities of Applied Sciences.
Designated institutions are not funded by the Dutch government. However, they may award
legally recognized bachelor's or master's degrees. Designated institutions determine the level
of their tuition fees. Private institutions fall outside the regulations of the Dutch government.
These may include foreign universities. Private institutions can apply to the Accreditation
Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO) for accreditation of their programmes
under certain conditions.
As of 1 October 2018, there were a total of 126 universities in the Netherlands: funded (public)
and non-funded (private), offering a total of over 4,300 full-time, part-time and dual
programmes. Of this number, there were a total of 54 funded (=public) universities, of which
36 were universities of applied sciences (UAS) and 18 were scientific universities (SU).
Table 21: Overview of Dutch higher education institutions (source: the authors)
UAS
Universities
Non-funded institutions (private)
68
4
Funded institutions (public)
36
18
Total
104
22
Table 22: Students at funded universities in the Netherlands (source: the authors)
Funded universities
Total
UAS
Universities
Number of students
747,651
455,237
292,414
32
Number of international
students (fulltime course)
85,553
29,501
56,052
Data on non-government-funded students (private universities) are incomplete. In December
2019, 41,240 students were enrolled in accredited non-funded programmes. These data
relate to 64 of the 67 non-funded institutions. The number of non-accredited institutions
(private universities) has been decreasing for years.
Universities
At universities, students can earn the following degrees: Bachelor, Master, PDEng,
Doctorate/PhD.
Universities of Applied Sciences
In UAS students can earn the following degrees: Associate degree, Bachelor, Master, PdEng,
Professional Doctorate (pd) and post-UAS qualification.
Scoring model Indicators for ranking
Concerning the screening process of all universities, it was decided as a first action to collect,
for the entire list of universities, information relative to the introduction of Blockchain
technology in the operational, educational and research activities of their institution. This
screening process was carried out with google, combining Blockchain-related keywords
(Blockchain, Blockchain Technology, Distributed Ledger Technology) with the keywords
“Dutch Universities” and “Universities the Netherlands”. Also institutional repositories of
universities’ own academic output are used. Universities of Applied Sciences use HBO
Kennisbank. This source is used for UAS’s.
In order to obtain some comparability, the following «traffic lights» approach was applied to
compare the performance of four different universities regarding the coverage of Blockchain
technology in teaching and research:
Table 23: Traffic light labeling system and its indicators (source: the authors)
Active
Medium Active
Non-Active
Scientific Publications
Minimum five publ/s
Minimum one publ.
None
Teaching Courses with
Blockchain topics
Present in many
degrees / Full degree
Minimum two modules
with Blockchain topics
None
Blockchain projects
last 2 yrs.
Minimum five
Blockchain projects
Minimum one Blockchain
project
None
Screening results
Scoring results of the largest public universities
The five universities are University of Amsterdam, University Utrecht, Rijksuniver-siteit
Groningen, Leiden University and Erasmus University which together represent about 58.4%
of all students at Dutch universities.
33
Table 24: Step 1 - Scoring results of universities (academic) (source: the authors)
University
Public.
R&D
Teaching
Students
Faculty
University of
Amsterdam
25
0
1*
38,940
Finance
University
Utrecht
0
2
1
35,294
Law & Technology
Rijksuniversiteit
Groningen
22
3
1
34,126
Governance &
Innovation
Leiden University
68
0
0
32,448
Company Law
Erasmus
University
Rotterdam
68
1
2*
30,085
Management, Law,
Economics
*These universities offer an executive or professional short programme not embedded in a regular
bachelor or master programme.
Scoring results largest public Universities of Applied Sciences
The five universities of applied sciences are Hogeschool van Amsterdam, Fontys Hogeschool,
Hogeschool Rotterdam, Hogeschool Arnhem en Nijmegen, and Hogeschool Utrecht, which
together represent about 43.7% of all students at Dutch universities of applied sciences.
Table 25: Step 1 Screening results UAS (hbo) (source: the authors)
UAS
Public.
R&D
Teaching
students
Faculty
Hogeschool van
Amsterdam
7
1
3
45,387
Computer Science,
Software Engineering
Fontys
Hogeschool
0
1
2
44,128
Computer Science
Hogeschool
Rotterdam
12
1
0
38,813
Management
34
Hogeschool
Arnhem en
Nijmegen
0
2
1
35,561
Various, not 1 specific
faculty mentioned in
R&D
Hogeschool
Utrecht
5
5
2
35,308
Informatics and
Communication
Academy
Teaching: The majority of selected Dutch universities, eight (8) out of ten (10), have a course
involving the teaching of Blockchain technology in their official curriculum, either as an
undergraduate / postgraduate course or a short programme of lifelong learning, i.e. executive
or professional courses and master-classes. Most courses are focused on undergraduate
studies and Blockchain technology is part of the course with only a few units entirely focused
on Block-chain technology. Courses are found in schools related to Economics, Law, Finance,
Governance, and Computer Science.
Due to the sample agreed upon by the partners, which is primarily focused on the top 5 largest
universities and UASs based on student numbers, Saxion University of Applied Sciences is
excluded from the sample. This is the only university though, in this case a UAS, in the
Netherlands with a fully Blockchain-focused Research Group, led by a professor of Blockchain
(J. Veuger). This research group has 14 researchers all doing focused research on Blockchain,
including 5 PhD candidates.
The Blockchain-focused Research Group covers five schools of Saxion UAS: the Schools of
Finance & Accounting, School of Creative Technology, School of Governance, Law and Urban
Development, Hospitality Business School & School of Commerce and Entrepreneurship
The Research School offers a full minor in the field of Blockchain (Digital Business Models and
Blockchain): a full-time, half-year program. In addition, a three-year Blockchain Excellence
Track (similar to an honours program) is offered. Furthermore, a Blockchain education week
is organized annually, along with a Block-chain hackathon, and efforts have been and will be
made in the coming years to make Blockchain an integrated part of several undergraduate
programmes. In the master programmes MBA and Master Facility and Real Estate
Management (FREM), Blockchain is already included in the programme; both in education and
in research (master thesis). The output of the Saxion Research Group is as follows, in line with
the traffic light model used above.
Table 26: Assessment Saxion Hogescholen
UAS
Public.
R&D
Teaching
Students
Faculty
35
Saxion
Hogescholen
159
(CPI 8)
122
(CPI 3+7)
>5
27,357
Schools of Finance &
Accounting, School of
Creative Technology, School
of Governance, Law and
Urban Development,
Hospitality Business School &
School of Commerce and
Entrepreneurship.
Table 27: Specification of the findings (source: Saxion Research Service (01.01.2021))
Critical Performance Indicators (CPI)
2018
2019
2020
Critical Performance Indicators (CPI) 3: Products Professionals
0
22
23
Critical Performance Indicators (CPI) 7: External presentations and
demonstrations
0
21
56
Critical Performance Indicators (CPI) 8: Publications [(inter)national journals
(science) peer reviewed]
0
85
74
Total
0
128
153
Scientific publications: Most of the screened universities are characterized as active (having
over five related publications), with the exception of University Utrecht (Google Scholar and
library UU).
Three (3) of five (5) UAS are characterized as active, with the exception of Fontys Hogescholen
and Hogeschool Arnhem Nijmegen (HAN). On the other hand, Saxion University of Applied
Sciences, which was just outside the sample due to size, is very active in research, projects
and education in Blockchain.
Research projects: Eight (8) universities and UAS have participated in sixteen (16) projects
related to Blockchain technology, but only Saxion UAS, which was outside the original sample,
is (very) active in 122 different projects (e.g. Erasmus+, Massive Open Online Courses,
Blockchain Week 2020-2021, business, SIA RAAK, H2020, NOW.nl, etc. (source MARAP Saxion
UAS).
Best practice examples
(1) Tilburg University
A good example of research into valuable applications of Blockchain from a so-cial and
interdisciplinary perspective is Tilburg University’s research into transpar-ent and legitimated
applications of Blockchain technology. This research shows that it is necessary and possible to
come up with valuable answers through col-laboration with many stakeholders that can
facilitate Blockchain implementation. To improve its services, the government develops
Blockchain applications to-gether with companies and explores how Blockchain can be
designed in a trans-parent and legitimate way so that citizens can trust the government. The
re-search adopts an interdisciplinary view from the perspectives of philosophy of technology,
36
law and data sciences. The research will enable Blockchain applica-tions to be designed and
used in a legally and socially responsible manner. To this end, the research will pay particular
attention to the perspective of the end user, the citizen, and will operationalize rule of law
safeguards.
(2) Haagse Hogeschool
Koios, an educational experiment and Blockchain research project, born out of a minor at De
Haagse Hogeschool, focuses on the creation of value through learning. Every student who
follows education through this platform creates a personalized environment that stays with
them for a lifetime. They follow education and are rewarded for it. Because not only do they
earn recognition of the entire course they have completed, but credits are awarded per
module or even section they have participated in. Certain credits like a degree are non-
exchangeable. Within Blockchain technology, they are not exchangeable either. But some
credits are, e.g. credits for attendance or active participation. Credits have value attached to
them. Providers of knowledge also have a profile in Koios. They not only receive monetary
value (money) for their efforts and time, but every time 'knowledge' is sourced through them,
a little 'reputation' is added to that specific knowledge domain. Thus, everyone builds their
own knowledge and expertise profile. In this way the value of knowledge is no longer
expressed in money, but knowledge itself becomes a form of value. With Koios, using
Blockchain technology, an educational ecosystem is created in which the provider is no longer
central, but the system itself. The project already has many affiliated parties who, in their own
way, make use of the platform, or wish to do so. The municipality of The Hague, for example,
is an important partner that is investigating how Koios could be used for retraining and extra
training of workers and unemployed persons in the Hague region.
(3) Innovation Lab DUO (Education Implementation Service Ministry of Education, Culture
and Science), Hanze UAS and Saxion UAS: 2021-2025
In the innovation lab, students and teacher-researchers work together with central
government specialists on the digitization ambition of the central government. Administrative
issues are also addressed. Central government employees and students try to find answers
and scenarios together. The National Government supervises the issues. The lab has been set
up at the Digital Society Hub of Hanze University Groningen in cooperation with the Blockchain
lectorate of Saxion. It is a place away from the hectic daily operations of the government and
close to the living environment of the students. Besides being an innovation workshop, the
lab is also a meeting place for students, educational staff and state employees. It is a place
where, beyond the issues of the day, they can be inspired on content, working methods and
contact building.
(4) Saxion Hogescholen
I. A minor (30 EC’s) offered by Saxion and open to all Dutch UASs that participate in a pro-
gramme where student exchange is possible (called Kies op Maat). The minor is named ‘Minor
Digital Business Models and Blockchain’.
This minor is a six-month interdisciplinary full-time programme in which students from many
different programmes can participate. The disciplinarity is not only reflected in the different
backgrounds of participants and faculty, but also in the building blocks of the programme that
37
combines the components Business Models, Digital Technology and Blockchain. In the first
quarter, a lot of knowledge is transferred through workshops and flipped classrooms, with
students also pre-paring parts of the knowledge transfer. In the second quarter, students and
staff work with clients and deliver, in groups of students, a professional product that touches
on all three building blocks of the minor.
Table 28: Spread of students per semester (source: the authors)
2019 - 2020
Semester 1
56 students from Deventer and 31 students from Enschede
Semester 2
9 students
2020 - 2021
Semester 1
86 students (36 from Deventer and 50 students from Enschede)
Semester 2
27 students (17 students from Deventer and 10 students from Enschede)
II. An Excellence Track in Blockchain offered within the Saxion Top Talent Programme. A three-
year programme in addition to the regular bachelor.
Blockchain is about to transform every industry and management function. It has a disruptive
effect on the ways we transact data or value, share ideas and manage workflows online. It is
a new technology that requires a strong interdisciplinary approach. This excellence track
provides students with a solid foundation in Blockchain knowledge and skills, where the issues
are approached from multiple disciplines: technical, business and social. Through extensive
coaching, a learning culture, self-confident teachers and students and strong interaction with
the professional field, students will develop the necessary knowledge, attitude and skills in
the field of Blockchain innovation. Students can largely choose their own programme. There
is a constant portfolio of assignments available from the professional field, but students are
also free to find their own way in it. Coaching takes place in the peer group; this is a mixed
group of students under the guidance of a teacher-mentor. Students give interdisciplinary
shape to Blockchain issues and innovations, work in an action-oriented manner from a social,
business and technological background, work on projects and on their personal development.
Meetings take place every week on Tuesdays from 3pm to 7pm. These meetings have a strong
community character. Students and coaches will work together with fellow students, with
teachers, with clients, with alumni and students in other Top Talent Programmes. There are
peer group meetings, workshops and project meetings. There are also joint inspiration
meetings and frequent discussions with the professional field.
(5) Ministry of Justice and Security, Scientific Research and Documentation Centre (WODC):
2021-2022
The Ministry has set up a supervisory committee for research into 'New virtual money flows
and the detection of criminal moneys'. From this research there is a link to Saxion’s minor in
Blockchain and in particular to Decentralised Finance (Defi). DeFi is one of the research lines
of the Saxion Blockchain Lectorate and is therefore on the research and education agenda as
38
part of the redevelopment of the three programmes Finance and Tax (FT), Finance and
Advisory (FA) and Finance & Control (FC) within the Financial Accounting program of Saxion
University. In order to prepare for this, Saxion’s Blockchain professorship has written a
number of coherent assignments for students of the Blockchain Minor (2020-2021) which
have been delivered by a cross-section of 10 programmes and disciplines within Saxion. To
share the importance and knowledge about DeFi, an inspiration session was run in 2020
involving all students, teachers and researchers involved in this assignment and research by
and for students.
3.6
Spain: Blockchain and higher education
The higher education system of Spain
The Spanish university system is made up of a total of 82 universities with the following
characteristics: 50 public universities (47 on-campus, 1 off-campus and 2 special universities -
UIMP and UNIA) and 32 private universities (28 on-campus and 4 off-campus).
The total number of students enrolled in the Spanish University System (SUE) in the 2019-
2020 academic year was 1,633,358. Undergraduate and Bachelor's degree students represent
80.2% of the students enrolled, Master's degree students 14.3% and Doctorate students 5.5%.
80.5 % of students are enrolled in public universities. Students in non-face-to-face universities
represent 16.2% of the total.
By subject of study, the graph shows that the vast majority of students in Science and
Engineering, Industry and Construction belong to public universities with a percentage of 85%
and 91% respectively. The highest percentages in private on-campus universities are in the
field of Health and Social Services, with 23% of students enrolled. The non-face-to-face
universities have a greater representation in the field of Social Sciences, Journalism and
Documentation, with 36.8% of those enrolled in this type of university, with practically no
students enrolled at all. This type of university has practically no representation in the field of
Agriculture, Livestock and Veterinary Sciences.
39
Figure 8: Enrolment in undergraduate and graduate programs by field of study and type of university.
Academic year 2019-20.
Scoring model Indicators for ranking
In order to obtain a comparison on how universities relate to Blockchain that is based on the
same parameters, the use of the "traffic light" method was agreed upon. The use of this
method allows one to observe, at a glance, to what extent which universities have involved
themselves with the Blockchain technology in teaching, projects and scientific publications.
Table 29: Traffic light scoring system and its indicators (source: the authors)
Active
Medium Active
Non-Active
Scientific publications
Minimum five publ.
Minimum one publ.
None
Blockchain projects
last 2 years
Minimum five
Blockchain projects
Minimum one
Blockchain project
None
Teaching Courses with
Blockchain topics
Present in many
degrees/ Full degree
Minimum two
modules with
Blockchain topics
None
Screening results
For the study of Spanish universities, the 10 public universities with the highest number of
students enrolled in Spain and the 3 private universities that meet the same requirement were
selected. The sample selected represents a total of 767,740 students, which corresponds to
47% of the total number of students enrolled in all universities in Spain.
Table 30: Screening results of large Spanish universities (source: the authors)
University
Public
or
Private
Students
Public.
R&D
Teaching
Faculty
Universidad
Nacional de
Educación a
Distancia
Public
205,014
Computer Science,
Economics, Philology,
Industrial Engineering,
Education
Universidad de
Sevilla
Public
62,811
Marketing, Industrial
Engineering, Economics,
Computer Science
Universidad
Complutense
de Madrid
Public
62,624
Economics, Computer
Science, Journalism
Universidad de
Granada
Public
56,044
Computer Science,
Economics
Universidad de
Valencia
Public
50,311
No Blockchain activities
40
Universidad de
Barcelona
Public
46,214
Economics
Universidad del
País Vasco
Public
42,485
Computer Science, Law,
Science and Technology,
Engineering, Law
Universidad
Rey Juan Carlos
Public
42,079
Tourism
Universidad
Politécnica de
Madrid
Public
40,592
Architecture, Information
Technology, Engineering,
Telecommunication
Universidad de
Málaga
Public
35,654
Computer Science,
Economics
Universitat
Oberta de
Catalunya
Private
70,274
Computer Science,
Economics, Engineering
Universidad
Internacional
de La Rioja
Private
34,112
Computer Science,
Economics, Engineering,
Architecture
Universidad
Ramón Llul
Private
19,526
Publicity, Tourism
In terms of scientific publications, all universities except the Universidad de Valencia, show
activity related to Blockchain, either with publications in research journals, as final degree or
master's theses, or as doctoral theses. If we talk about research projects, 7 of the 13
universities have executed one or two pro-jects related to Blockchain in the last two years.
Finally, regarding the academic offer, despite showing activity in publications or research
projects, 6 of the 13 universities do not teach educational content on Blockchain. Despite this,
there are a few universities that offer explicit studies on Blockchain, usually as a subject within
a wider focus topic, usually in the faculties of Computer Science or Economics.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the main channel for Blockchain diffusion into Spanish
universities is in the form of publications and that the academic offer referring exclusively to
the disruptive Blockchain technology is scarce. Nor are there any major differences in research
or training activities between public or private universities, nor do the polytechnics stand out
from the rest.
Best practise examples
(1) University degree certification via Blockchain
There are model cases of using Blockchain for the decentralisation of university organisations.
More and more Spanish universities are using Blockchain e.g. for tamper-proof
documentation of university degrees and certificates. In 2020, three universities e.g. in the
region of Murcia, i.e. the University of Murcia, the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT),
and the San Antonio Catholic Univer-sity agreed to start a joint pilot project using DLT with
41
the aim of minimising the falsification of academic degree certificates. At the end of 2019 the
Blockchain project “Red Blue” started with the target to validate the degrees of 76 partici-
pating Spanish universities. Among them are the University of Carlos III of Ma-drid (UC3M),
the International University of La Rioja (UNIR), the Higher Institute for Internet Development
(ISDI), the CEU San Pablo University in Madrid, the Abat Oliba CEU University in Barcelona,
and the CEU Cardenal Herrera University in Valencia.
(2) Blockchain University Expert Course (30 ECTS) Universidad Nacional de Educación a
Distancia
One of the most remarkable curricular examples can be found in this course as it is exclusively
dedicated to the Blockchain and does not require a specific entry profile. This course aims to
provide training in the field of Blockchain for use in both public and private environments with
a perspective on business and applications for business networks. The need for
standardization and compliance with regulations is emphasized and special attention is paid
to the use of professional tools and environments for the development of applications and
the deployment of production environments.
Course Contents:
Module 1: Computational Foundations of Blockchain
Module 2: Bitcoin and the emergence of Blockchain 2.0: An introduction to Blockchain
Module 3: Smart Contracts
Module 4: Different types of Blockchain
Module 5: Selected Blockchain technologies
Module 6: Introduction to programming and operation of Blockchains
Source: https://formacionpermanente.uned.es/tp_actividad/idactividad/11948
(3) Master in Blockchain Technologies (60 ECTS) at Universidad de Barcelona
The most complete training programme related to the Blockchain is this Master's Degree. The
Master in Blockchain Technologies is designed to help technical and business professionals
such as C-level executives, entrepreneurs, technicians and government officials to better
understand the concepts and capabilities of the Blockchain. It provides information on
Blockchain architecture, cryptocurrencies, smart contracts and legal implications.
Table 31: Program description (source: the authors)
Programme
1. Blockchain Fundamentals
1.1. Blockchain and the Economy of Trust and Transparency
1.2. Cryptography and Security
1.3. BlockchainArchitecture and Technology Basis
2. Understanding Blockchain Technologies and the Economy
2.1. Cryptocurrencies, Token Economy and ICOs
2.2. Policy and Regulation
2.3. Advanced Blockchain Technology and Architecture
42
3. Application of Blockchain Technologies
3.1. Business Applications and Case Studies
Business Itinerary
LEAN Business Model for Blockchain
Challenges, Scalability and the Future of Blockchain
Technical Itinerary
8B. LEAN Blockchain Prototyping and Development
9B Implementation of Blockchain Technology in Existing Enterprise Software
Ecosystems
4. Final Master Thesis
Depending on the training path chosen by the participant, he/she will have to carry out a
project that may consist of implementing Blockchain technologies in a business model or
developing a software application based on this decentralised technology.
(4) Master's Degree in Big Data and Blockchain (60 ECTS) at Uni-versidad Complutense de
Madrid
This Master's Degree provides a holistic view of Blockchain technology from a comprehensive
technological, economic-financial and data analysis view. The ultimate goal of the master's
degree is to train full professionals in the most dis-ruptive technology of our time, Blockchain,
combined with the omnipresent and increasingly necessary power of Big Data. The training is
divided into two blocks with the following content:
Table 32: Training blocks (source: https://www.masterblockchainucm.com/programa-master-
blockchain/)
Block I: Big Data
Block II: Blockchain
1. Programming with Python
2. Fundamentals of Statistics
3. Programming with R
4. Data Mining and Predictive Modelling
5. Machine Learning and AI with Python
and R
6. Databases of NoSQL
7. Databases SQL
8. Text Mining and Social Media
9. Big Data Technologies
10. Deep Learning
11. Hadoop/Spark
1. Introduction and Technical Aspects of
Blockchain and DLTs
2. GNU/Linux system
3. Docker
4. Blockchain Programming and BigData
Connectivity
5. Ethereum application development
6. Hyperledger application development
(5) The Blockchain University Project. Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED)
and Universidad del País Vaco (UPV)
43
The Blockchain University project is a knowledge transfer initiative promoted by the UNED
whose aim is to disseminate Blockchain technology and the transfer of knowledge with social
value using the technology of chained and encrypted data.
The sense in which term ‘university’ is used in this case goes back to the idea of universality
of the Blockchain universe, a disruptive technology comparable to the birth of the internet and,
above all, transversal, in the sense that universities are using it in all kinds of areas of
knowledge.
The Blockchain University is a new step towards boosting the competitiveness of Spanish
professionals in a changing global environment. The UNED is already working with this
technology and runs academic initiatives focused on the dissemination of Blockchain, such as
the current radio series broadcast by Radio 3 of RNE or the series of informative programmes
that will soon be produced for broadcast on RTVE's La 2. The University of the Basque Country,
for its part, has been a pioneer in technology-based certification. Given the success of this
initiative, the UPV/EHU is collaborating with the Blockchain University to generalise the use
of this technology.
The Blockchain University was created with the aim of collaborating with entities that pursue
similar objectives, in order to organise seminars open to society in general and to the
university community specifically, for the dissemination and diffusion of this technology, as
well as to launch other complementary academic initiatives
(https://portal.uned.es/portal/page?_pageid=93,69825229&_dad=portal).
(6) Peers to Blockchain (P2B) project
Blockchain technology is a relatively new concept that could disrupt ordinary business
practices. By providing companies with the ability to access new alter-native financing options,
to offer secure data storing solutions making processes more transparent, less risky and
cheaper, it can streamline operations and reduce costs, while opening up new opportunities
and markets. P2B is an EU initia-tive undertaken by the Andalusia Technology Park (Spain), in
collaboration with the University of Algarve (Portugal) and Technoport SA (Luxembourg) to
provide small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with professional expertise in the field.
With collaborative partners across 12 different countries, it will study pilot projects and good
practices at local level. They will also propose new methodologies to enhance SME innovation.
Transferring know-how from other countries will significantly promote Blockchain technology
at the local level (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/851033).
44
4
Analysis of results and consequences
4.1
Blockchain and European higher education
National Blockchain ecosystems are no significant pull factor
The analysis of the five countries shows that even excellent framework conditions for the use
of Blockchain established by legislation and regulation in the political sphere and the
corporate sector with its sometimes large number of Blockchain start-ups are no guarantee
for a rapid adoption and widespread integration of such technical innovations into the
national higher education sector
In Estonia, the country with the longest experience in Blockchain applications in public
administration, it can be clearly seen that universities are much more advanced in the
diffusion process of integrating Blockchain knowledge in teaching and research. But again, it
is primarily the IT-faculties of the universities that are adopting Blockchain. They see
Blockchain solely as an IT topic (database application). The understanding that Blockchain is a
disruptive cross-cutting technology and will impact a variety of scientific disciplines has not
yet percolated through the university landscape either.
This is also particularly striking in the case of Germany: here, the Blockchain ecosystem is next
to excellent, but Blockchain plays virtually no role in university teaching. How is it that the
good framework conditions are not a significant pull factor for the rapid adoption of new
technologies in higher education? Do universities have a more advanced life of their own here,
or are the processes so slow in adapting to innovations?
From the Greek perspective, i.e. a country whose ecosystem offers little sup-port, this could
be rather good news. With faster adoption and higher diffusion speed of the integration of
innovations, Greek universities have the potential to train graduates who are in high demand
on the international labour market. But if the national ecosystem offers little support, the
well-trained Blockchain experts will have few opportunities in their own country and will use
their chances in EU countries with better ecosystems. This brain drain is not to Greece's
advantage, and in this respect the lack of a positive Blockchain framework proves to be a
disadvantage.
From the Dutch perspective, the development of research and education in the field of
Blockchain is well developed and follows Estonia as the second country in the comparison of
the five in this study. The next level of development is the further integration between
education, research and the professional field, which is expected and has the potential to
develop in the coming years.
In the case of Spain, it can be observed that although framework conditions are not
exemplary, there is a presence of academic training on Blockchain, although it is not available
at all universities. Blockchain studies have not yet spread to all faculties and are centered in
the faculties of Computer Science and Economics.
Diffusion process of Blockchain innovation in European higher education still in early stages
However, despite the excellent framework conditions, the screening process shows that
Blockchain has not yet become established as a disruptive technology and innovation in
teaching at European universities. There are very few universities that offer explicit teaching
45
modules for Blockchain knowledge. The few universities that do offer Blockchain in their
teaching are mostly IT faculties, followed by Business faculties and especially Finance
faculties/departments. There are only marginal differences between public and private
universities and universities of applied sciences. Probably due to their proximity to regional
business enterprises, the universities of applied sciences have a slightly higher level of
Blockchain activities overall. However, this is not significant. Individual technology-oriented
universities with a strong focus on research have recognized the in-novation potential of
Blockchain technology and have already geared their re-search towards it with Blockchain test
labs. Unfortunately, however, there is still a lack of diffusion of the research content into
teaching among students. In the light of these results, the diffusion process of Blockchain
innovation into teaching and curricula appears to be in its infancy at the major European
universities.
Blockchain innovation gap in European higher education caused by internal factors
It is difficult to assess why the diffusion process of Blockchain innovation into higher education
is happening so slowly and not integrating a larger variety of university faculties and disciplines
to a higher extent. The sheer unlimited possibilities of Blockchain applications in different
sectors affect a large number of faculties with a wide variety of disciplines. But since the
reason cannot be external framework conditions, as already mentioned, internal factors in the
European higher education sector must be responsible for the slow rate of adoption of and
adaptation to fundamental innovations in university curricula.
Potential causes for the lack of spill-over of innovation
In any case, when it comes to adoption of innovation, the higher education sec-tor seems to
have a life of its own lacking close ties between the internal and external world. Whether it is
the lengthy processes required for the development and accreditation of new curricula or the
lack of design thinking applied to skills acquisition when defining learning content is difficult
to judge.
Often, university curricula are developed as a function of available resources of teaching
capacities within the faculty and not according to the need for future-oriented competencies
in the labour market.
However, Blockchain is not an easy topic, as a deep understanding and learning of its
potentials and opportunities requires a high degree of interdisciplinarity i.e. collaboration of
lecturers from different faculties. But most universities are still organized into ‘kingdoms’ of
faculties with their own deans, faculty councils and administrations, which makes it rather
difficult to develop cross-faculty curricula. Any researcher/lecturer who has ever worked on a
project with a European partner university knows that most universities’ administrative
processes are slow and anything but agile due to a strictly centralized organization with a
vertical hierarchy. The fact that in some EU countries like Germany, the majority of employees
(professors, lecturers and administrative staff) at public universities are appointed as civil
servants with lifelong contracts does not necessarily speed up the processes. This might partly
explain the lack of orientation towards the labour market’s need for competencies of future
graduates.
46
4.2
Learning from best practice examples
Among the best practice examples found at universities with a high degree of integration of
Blockchain knowledge in teaching and research, the following commonalities are striking:
Innovation hubs grant autonomy
In most best practice examples, innovation is driven by the creation of out-sourced centers,
institutes, interdisciplinary groups, i.e., so-called ‘innovation hubs’. This satellite approach is
by no means new, in fact it is comparable to the strategies for the digital transformation of
business models familiar from the corporate sector.
The consulting firm McKinsey&Company (2017) for example writes the following about the
Four paths to your Digital Transformation: The innovation outpost is a dedicated unit separate
from any functional unit or division. The primary benefit of this model is keeping the digital
initiative away from the main business’s historical culture, decision-making bureaucracy, and
technical infrastructure. Free from all those constraints, your most innovative talent can push
the envelope and hatch new business modelsyour own in-house Internet start-up. With some
careful monitoring, the innovation outpost can help your company leap-frog in capabilities.
This satellite approach has the decisive advantage of far greater entrepreneurial and creative
freedom far away from the bureaucratic processes and hierarchy of university
administrations. The flat hierarchy of a research institute enables shorter and faster decision-
making processes than operating in the routine structures of a large and strictly hierarchically
organized university. An institute also makes it much easier to handle private-sector activities
such as contract research for industry and the design and delivery of certificate lifelong
learning programmes for executive education and training. Furthermore, flat hierarchies
make interdisciplinary collaboration of experts within project-driven networks easier. It is
important to emphasize that the Innovation hub at most best-practise universities are the
responsible organizers of the Blockchain courses and not the university itself.
Combining education, research, incubation, and knowledge transfer
When comparing the tasks of those universities’ innovation hubs, it is striking that institutional
approaches combine the same four elements to optimally shape the diffusion process of
innovation between business and academia. In order to strengthen the synergy effects,
institutes work closely together with a tight community of strong industrial partners and are
also directly or indirectly financed by industry funds. This approach of close cooperation with
external partners in society (companies, public administrations and NGOs) also corresponds
to the change agent role the university is thought to have. All these are tasks of the university
that come under the keyword "Third Mission".
Figure 9: University Innovation Hub (source: the authors)
47
Especially with new and very disruptive innovations like blockchain technology, the idea of
testing and trial-running commercial applications and operations with start-ups in the
protected space of an incubator seems quite obvious.
Incidentally, this is also the concept of national and European regulatory institutions in the
financial sector, which open up so-called sandboxes with somewhat softer regulatory
requirements for FinTech start-ups, many of which are Block-chain FinTechs, in order to start
a joint learning process for exploring the societal impact of new technologies, involving
financial regulators and young companies ((Cornelli, Doerr, Gambacorta, & Merrouche, 2020).
This element of experimentation, risk-taking, and agile adaptation of processes probably only
works with smaller organizations like such Innovation Hubs but is probably difficult to
implement in the context of traditional large university-run organizations.
Interdisciplinarity is key for a deep understanding of the Blockchain
As a rule, innovation hubs are not assigned to a specific faculty of the university, but rather
bring together scientists and practitioners from a large number of subject areas from the
university and from