Workday partners get sneak peek at blockchain play

ERP vendor Workday is giving its partners a sneak peek into a forthcoming digital credentialing platform powered by blockchain.

Workday, a SaaS HR and financial management platform, wants to build a network of verified credentials - i.e. data for HR professionals like skills, capabilities, degrees, professional certifications, completed learning courses, work experience, etc.

Workday senior vice president Jon Ruggiero said in a blog post that credentials are still largely offline or paper based, and verifying them “requires a lot of manual effort and time”.

“We’ve heard from customers that they need a faster, more efficient way to verify skills and industry certifications, ensuring that workers are properly credentialed and in compliance,” Ruggiero said.

The platform aims to create a “common trust layer” through blockchain to allow employers, employees, organisations and educational institutions to independently verify the authenticity of each credential.

“As the common source of verification, blockchain enables data to move between parties, and its distributed ledger can prove that the data has not been modified and the credentials are still valid,” Ruggiero added.

“This kind of credential creates a transparent, trustworthy, and reliable source of truth that is instantly authentic once shared.”

Workday started alpha testing the platform with attendees at Workday Altitude, the vendor’s partner and services conference.