Why Education is Pivotal to Unlocking the Booming Blockbuster Future of Blockchain

Hi everyone,

*Today, I am delighted to have a highly distinguished professional blockchain industry leader and guest faculty member of the University of Texas, Dr. Weijia Zhang (links below), on my blog with an exclusive guest post.

Interoperability between blockchains is critical for the blockchain industry, and I am delighted to say that Dr Zhang’s company, Wanchain (links below), is leading the charge!

Today’s blog is on blockchain education, and I sincerely believe that’s also highly important for a blockchain-enabled future.

Without further ado, over to our distinguished guest!

The Blog below is a guest post by Dr. Weijia Zhang, Vice President of Engineering, Wanchain.

Author Intro:

Dr. Weijia Zhang is the Regional Head of China at Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) and Vice President of Engineering at Wanchain. Dr. Zhang has extensive engineering experience in blockchain, cognitive sciences, mental modeling, computer technologies, and more. He is also an adjunct faculty member for smart contract development at the University of Texas.

The Urgent Need for Comprehensive Blockchain Education

Fortune Business Insights predicts the blockchain market will hit $825 billion by 2032.

By 2030, open-source software engineering alone is anticipated to open up around 1 million jobs.

This trajectory calls for a competent workforce and increased talent pools.

Yet, CoinCodex reported a 24% drop in active blockchain developers last year.

The risk of having a shortage of trained professionals is vast.

If the trends continue, there may be too many jobs and not enough employees - immobilizing the entire blockchain ecosystem.

Widespread adoption will fall flat without widespread personnel.

Practical Solutions to This Real and Critical Problem

There is an obvious solution.

The Web3 community must double down on efforts to strengthen educational infrastructure, curriculum, and training.

Words need to match actions – it’s time to accept that simply acknowledging the need for education is no longer enough.

While blockchain investment in education is expected to hit around $883 million by 2028, the industry needs urgent action.
Forty percent of academic institutions worldwide currently offer at least one blockchain course.

What’s less clear is the source of their curriculum.

These initiatives should be driven from the ground up and led by experts who can provide mentorship.

Real momentum behind accessible initiatives is needed to create sufficient opportunities, without which the blockchain skills gap will only widen.

Academic solutions alone will not fill the gap.

Potential engineers in still-developing economies may have the raw talent and thirst to become skilled professionals.

But, they need adequate access to blockchain education, which is still a work in progress in most regions.

It is critical that educational investment spans the globe and does not reinforce an already inequitable job market.

Community-led initiatives should be prioritized to foster an expansive and diverse workforce.

The recently launched OpenSats Education Initiative is a prime example of the kind of approach and focus required.

Grant-oriented schemes offer a promising path to reaching up-and-coming talent.

In delivering educational content for all levels of expertise within the Bitcoin ecosystem, from beginner to advanced technical programs, OpenSats offers something to learn for everyone.

It can be easy to fixate on providing advanced training for the initiated, as these may feel like the hardest positions to fill.

Yet, such efforts should not overshadow resources for industry newcomers.

A well-planned trajectory that imparts a fundamental understanding of blockchain technology can form the foundation for most industry careers.

Bridging the Gap for the Web3 Workforce

Blockchain technology has been growing at light speed in the past 15 years of development.

The interweaving complexity of smart contract programming language, consensus algorithms, multilayer architectures, advanced cryptography, quantum-proof cryptography, zero-knowledge proof, layer 2 technology for scalability, and cross-chain bridges for interoperability has widened the skill gaps for the Web3 workforce.

As blockchain permeates all industries, these skill gaps will appear more frequently in specific sectors.

To bridge these skill gaps, there needs to be a paradigm shift from hobby-based blockchain self-learning to formal training and teaching through a partnership of enterprises and educational institutes.

Enterprises should hire more Web3 professionals and help fund colleges to train students and teach needed blockchain skills.

Governments should also fund educational programs to train the Web3 workforce.

A well-trained, versatile workforce can prevent the stagnation of Web3’s integration into industries such as finance, healthcare and supply chain management.

A pivotal crossroads has been reached.

Without a well-trained workforce, this potential will never be delivered.

It is a moment for schools, industry leaders, and communities to come together and prepare the next wave of blockchain innovators.

Creating a more secure, resilient digital landscape by staying committed to education and hands-on training has to be paramount.

In addition to bridging skill gaps, disparities around diversity and inclusion can also be tackled with more accessible resources.

Only 6% of Crypto CEOs are female, whilst people of color make up only 14% of employees in blockchain.

By tapping into and encouraging the innate curiosity of all individuals, education can create the divergent and versatile workforce that Web3 needs.

While a general approach to education encourages diversity and accessibility, the industry also needs to hone in on the particular areas of Web3 where education is severely lacking.

Building the Future of Blockchain Education for All

For the Web3 industry to thrive, just educating a top-grade workforce is not enough.

Blockchain education should go beyond training engineers and developers.

Blockchain is intrinsically decentralized and is really for everyone.

 Anyone who has the passion and determination to be a blockchain professional has the opportunity to be successful by taking formal or informal education in blockchain.

Blockchain communities have been very collaborative in supporting newcomers.

Most blockchain projects offer open source codes, and there is almost no barrier to proprietary technology.

To achieve the goal of blockchain education for all, the following groups of audiences should be targeted.

1. The General Public

The first group is the general public, who will be Web3 users and consumers.

The education for the general public is to foster blockchain literacy and teach them about the risks and opportunities with cryptocurrency.

Teach them how to use and invest in cryptocurrency, safeguard their wallet, and use promising blockchain technology to protect and commercialize their creativity and private data.

In blockchain, anyone can be a stakeholder.

2. Developers and Engineers

The second group of audience is developers and engineers.

There should be organizational as well as grassroots efforts to train more developers to be proficient in building Web3 applications and innovative blockchain systems and consensus.

3. Executives and Business Professionals

The third group is business and executive professionals who would need to be educated to know about the promises of blockchains and token economies.

The executives should have long-term commitments to invest in Web3 technology and transform the Web2 infrastructure to Web3.

4. Lawmakers (the Government)

Furthermore, the fourth group is lawmakers, who need to have enough technology background to envision the impact of this disrupted technology and make reasonable regulations to foster healthy growth of the industry.

Conclusion

Unlike internet industry growth where the government provided tremendous funding to build the R&D and education infrastructure, Web3 technology and its ecosystem have been developed from the grassroots.

There have been some very unique educational incentives and practices developed and proven to work very well, such as hackathons, airdrops, bounty programs etc.

With effective involvement and contribution, governments, enterprises, and educational institutions can give blockchain education a big boost and pave the way for building a great Web3 workforce and eliminating blockchain illiteracy.

Author Bio:

__Dr. Weijia Zhang __is the Regional Head of China at Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA).

He is also the Vice President of Engineering at Wanchain, the longest-running decentralised interoperability solution.

Founded in 2017, Wanchain is committed to driving blockchain adoption by unifying isolated networks and accelerating the development of a scalable, industry-wide blockchain interoperability standard.

Dr. Zhang has written and published a book called Blockchain and Ethereum Smart Contract Solution Development: Dapp Programming with Solidity (2022).

You can connect with him on LinkedIn here.

Learn more about Wanchain at www.wanchain.org.