"BITCerts are blockchain-backed credentials that are immutable, secure, permanent, portable, and verifiable—ensuring that the document issued by an institution (in this case, Baufest Institute of Technology) attesting to the completion of a training program or certification is completely trustworthy," explained Aylin Kohls, Learning & Service Excellence Coordinator at Baufest, the department that coordinates BIT initiatives. This project was developed internally by Baufest's software development and innovation teams.
These certificates, awarded upon completing training programs in technical, leadership, or business skills offered to Baufest employees and clients, are among the first of their kind in the market and stand out for preventing document fraud.
"For us, being pioneers in offering 100% blockchain-verifiable credentials demonstrates our commitment to educational and technological innovation, while directly benefiting our professionals with highly reliable, valuable certifications. Furthermore, we continuously seek to adopt emerging technologies to elevate the quality of the training we deliver," emphasized Aylin Kohls.
Regarding the technical architecture, Aylin Kohls detailed that BITCerts "are built using Node.js technology, featuring the NestJS framework on the backend service layer and React on the frontend layer. Additionally, a Python library was leveraged to interface with the Ethereum blockchain to handle certificate issuance and revocation. We hosted the solution on Azure Cloud services, taking advantage of features such as key management via Azure Key Vault, serverless deployment with Azure App Service, and managed PostgreSQL databases."
To date, BIT has issued 20 BITCerts to employees who participated in an internal innovation program, with 50 additional certificates set to be delivered this coming December to graduates of the Leadership School. Furthermore, individuals who previously earned certificates through BIT can request to have them converted into blockchain-verifiable credentials.
BIT was launched in 2021 with the goal of driving significant growth in skill-building and cultural alignment across our workforce. Addressing the urgent industry demand to train top-tier technology talent, the institute provides advanced seniority-level learning while managing our successful Intensive Training Program (PEI), cementing our position as an incubator for tech talent.