The Linux Foundation, along with the Hyperledger Project, are launching a training and certification course for blockchain.

Scott Ferguson, Managing Editor, Light Reading

October 10, 2017

3 Min Read
Linux Foundation, Hyperledger Launch Blockchain Training Course

The Linux Foundation, along with its Hyperledger Project, are looking to increase the use of blockchain within the enterprise with the introduction of a training course and certification program designed for those who want to use the technology.

The course, "Blockchain for Business: An Introduction to Hyperledger," is free and will be offered through edX.org, a nonprofit learning platform created by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Those interested in signing up for the course can start applying Tuesday, and the online course starts October 25. In addition, there's a verified certification that students can purchase at the end of the training for $99.

The Hyperledger Project is the overall umbrella organization that supports blockchain standards. The project is administered by the Linux Foundation.

Figure 1: Knowledge is good (Source: Jarmoluk via Pixabay) Knowledge is good
(Source: Jarmoluk via Pixabay)

The project's main, open source platform -- Hyperledger Fabric 1.0 -- is the underlying framework that companies such as IBM use to build their various blockchain projects. (See Sony, IBM Bringing Blockchain to Education.)

"Interest in blockchain technology is exploding; software developers, product teams, and business managers are all desperately eager to figure out how this technology can solve real-world problems," Brian Behlendorf, the executive director of the Hyperledger Project, wrote in an October 10 statement. "This first introductory-level course is carefully designed for both nontechnical and technical audiences, to bring everyone further up the learning curve and get started with it on their own business needs."

Keep up with the latest enterprise cloud news and insights. Sign up for the weekly Enterprise Cloud News newsletter.

The course will delve into several subjects, including:

  • A basic understanding of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies

  • What are the current Hyperledger projects and common use cases

  • How to do clean installations of Hyperledger Fabric, as well as Hyperledger Sawtooth frameworks (Sawtooth was Intel's blockchain platform before it moved to the Hyperledger Project)

  • Building simple applications on top of Hyperledger Fabric and Sawtooth

  • Getting involved in and contributing to the Hyperledger Project

Blockchain is a distributed database or ledger that can be used to track ownership of digital or physical objects. It first found popularity with cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin, some of the larger tech vendors are developing more commercial uses for the technology, especially in the banking, financial, insurance and government markets. (See Microsoft Serves Coco-Flavored Blockchain for Enterprise.)

However, there are many different types of platforms besides Hyperledger to use as frameworks to build blockchains. For example, Swirlds, a blockchain alternative startup, uses a proprietary system called Hashgraph -- an algorithm that offers fairness, throughput and community consensus in order to work and make transactions possible. Consensus is basically the community of users agreeing to what is fair and not fair as part of the transaction. (See Blockchain Alternative Swirlds Raises $3M in Seed Funding.)

Related posts:

— Scott Ferguson, Editor, Enterprise Cloud News. Follow him on Twitter @sferguson_LR.

About the Author(s)

Scott Ferguson

Managing Editor, Light Reading

Prior to joining Enterprise Cloud News, he was director of audience development for InformationWeek, where he oversaw the publications' newsletters, editorial content, email and content marketing initiatives. Before that, he served as editor-in-chief of eWEEK, overseeing both the website and the print edition of the magazine. For more than a decade, Scott has covered the IT enterprise industry with a focus on cloud computing, datacenter technologies, virtualization, IoT and microprocessors, as well as PCs and mobile. Before covering tech, he was a staff writer at the Asbury Park Press and the Herald News, both located in New Jersey. Scott has degrees in journalism and history from William Paterson University, and is based in Greater New York.

Subscribe and receive the latest news from the industry.
Join 62,000+ members. Yes it's completely free.

You May Also Like