SEVENmile, an experiential learning program in Australia that helps high school students learn real world skills, has announced a strategic collaboration with Dock Labs to issue digital graduation certificates that are instantly and permanently verifiable using blockchain technology.

The company now officially issues fraud-proof certificates, allowing students to prove their skills throughout their lives and ensure immediate trust with employers, according to SEVENmile.

The company's entrepreneurial training program pairs high school students with business owners to teach students problem-solving techniques and help them gain an understanding of real life business issues.

SEVENmile states that in 2022, a graduation certificate in a paper format has no real-world value to a student. Printed certificates are difficult to verify and, because of that, do not help students prove their skills.

Dock Labs verifiable credentials platform, Dock Certs, is now enabling SEVENmile to issue hundreds of fraud-proof digital certificates and credentials that students can store on a mobile phone. By scanning the QR Code on the certificate, a hiring company will have immediate certainty and trust that the certificate is authentic.

According to Dock Labs, degree and certificate fraud is a billion-dollar industry and a growing problem worldwide. To combat this, the company uses innvative verifiable credentials and blockchain technology to ensure that digital certificates and credentials cannot be forged and remain verifiable forever.

SEVENmile’s graduates will now have a future-proof digital credential that will allow them to create a lifelong record of the skills they learnt and ensure they can always prove it.

SEVENmile is collaborating with the New South Wales Education State Agency to expand the program to 1500 high schools by 2024.

Greg Twemlow, SEVENmile's CEO, “The evolution of Web1 to Web3 has occurred over a couple of decades. From viewing static HTML text content (Web1) to the democratisation of personal data (Web3), it has been a wild ride at times.

"At SEVENmile, we believe that the move to ownership of our personal data is a vital platform that will help transform how the internet functions and how our data will be protected. We're applying this philosophy by working with Dock Labs to secure the credentials of students we train."

Nick Lambert, Dock Labs CEO, says, “Working with Greg and SEVENmile has not only opened our eyes to the incredible work they are doing, it's also shown us the power of verifiable credentials in an educational setting, providing students with tamper proof digital certificates that are completely under their control, respect their privacy, and can be verified instantly."

SEVENmile is focused on preparing students to become workforce-ready graduates or next-generation innovators. The SEVENmile programs are designed for high school students, and culminates in an event where students present their proposed solutions to the real world problems of local business owners.