Japan school starts issuing NFT certificates

NewsPicks NewSchool, a project-based school in Japan, is issuing NFT certificates to those who have completed its sessions on Web3 and business.

The school has been mainly offering online courses since July 2020, with a total of 2,300 students completing them. It is operated by NewsPicks, an economic news website.

The NFTs would be used as a token to show their holders’ information, such as their names, icon, date of course completion and details of their studies to others, and can add functions such as forming communities among holders and organizing special classes.

NFT-based certificates enjoy some advantages over traditional digital certificates such as images, which can be tampered with or forged. They also allow recipients to confirm their authenticity, are more portable and can be managed in crypto wallets such as MetaMask. These enable NFT-based certificates to be used on a variety of platforms, including Discord, making it easier for members to manage groups among themselves. 

Amid a shortage of manpower in Japan’s digital field, the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) has recently highlighted the need for new methods of making IT professionals’ skills and qualifications more transparent, in order to promote the “digital transformation” of companies.

PitPa, a Japanese podcast hosting and distribution platform which supported the issuance of NFT certificates, said, “These NFT certificates can be used for internal transfers and job changes. For example, by collaborating with other companies to offer limited job openings and internships to NewsPicks NewSchool participants, we can make job placements more mobile and optimal.” 

PitPa also said that it aims to promote the use of digital certificates by building an environment that makes it easy for companies to introduce themselves and by working with industry, government, and academia to create mechanisms that make individuals want to obtain them.