By Lynn G. Brown Last updated Nov 22, 2022
FUTURE sailors at the Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific (MAAP) will no longer need to carry their bulky certificates with them when they go to sea for their ocean-going vessels.
Navigating full speed in its bid to go paperless, MAAP launched an e-wallet that would hold all of its cadets' records, from enrollment to graduation, using blockchain technology.
"It's very hard to hack. So what we've done is all of our cadets now their certificate will have QR codes. There's a picture taken of [these], and they are loaded into the cadet's e-wallet. The cadet will only show their e-wallet to show their certificates," said Vice Admiral Eduardo Ma.R. Santos, President of MAAP and concurrent Vice President of the Associated Marine Officers and Seamen's Union of the Philippines (Amosup) .
Adoption of the digital wallet begins this 2022-2023 academic year, Santos said shortly after the launch, which was one of the highlights of the Nautical Institute's Philippine branch's 50th anniversary celebration. the Nautical Institute held at the Amosup convention. Center on November 18.
"Lahat ng estudyante may e-wallet na; ilo-load na namin 'yung mga certificates na natapos na nila. Pati COC (Certificates of Competency) at COP (Certificates of Proficiency), ikakarga na namin sa e-wallet", a- he declared.
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This development will eliminate the need for seafarers to have their numerous documents on board or when dealing with the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) or their employment agency.
"His blockchain, wala na silang bitbit na certificates from enrollment to graduation until they become sailors and naval officer, nasa blockchain na sila; personal file na nila iyon," Santos said.
"If Port State Control wants to see their certificates, they can scan their QR code; all records are in the e-wallet," he added.
As far as security is concerned, cadet and seafarer staffing agencies can access their e-wallets, but they can only read the records and cannot tamper with them.
Only cadets and sailors can make changes. If the files were accidentally deleted, "can back up to MAAP server," Santos assured.
In no time, the industry, especially Maritime Higher Education Institutions (MHEIs), is expected to embrace this pioneering MAAP initiative run by Amosup.
Santos said the e-wallet project does not require any large investment and is free for cadets.
His statement is corroborated by Captain Jitesh Jaipuriyar, MAAP's partner and technology provider in the e-wallet initiative.
"It's expensive because it has a lot of value, but it's inexpensive," Jaipuriyar said.
"In the e-wallet we just launched, it is important that we do not charge any pennies to sailors. Sailors can have the e-wallet free for life," Jaipuriyar said.
He explained that "there is a certain amount of subscription fee for the data user, it can be shipowners or personnel companies, but seafarers don't pay".
Jaipuriyar, who has spent many years sailing with Filipino sailors, is proud to have pioneered the e-wallet project in the Philippines and MAAP.
"Hats off to VAdm Santos; he is our guiding pillar who is here to embrace new technologies. We need a leader like this to overcome new challenges in order to become relevant in these changing times," he said. he declares.
Under Santos' leadership, the country's leading maritime institution based in Bataan is a consistent pioneer in using modern information and communications technology to improve the quality of its education and stay on par with the countries' maritime institutions. developed.
He recently partnered with GenuineIN Technologies to begin building MAAP's talent ecosystem that will be connected to industry stakeholders for degree exchange, student profiling, talent analytics, and eventually , recruitment.
GenuineIN Technologies, the provider of the world's first genuine profile system with a network of credential and data authentication providers, will use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to improve the employability of graduates of the MAAP.
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