Barcelona Activa has become the first public body in Catalonia to use ‘blockchain’ for validating digital skills.

The aim is to enable companies to recruit qualified staff securely and transparently, avoiding any falsification of qualifications, certificates, or merits.

The initiative, launched by Barcelona start-up Votuin, allows entities to ratify the validity and truthfulness of professionals trained through a participating institution, which, in turn, adds value to that institution’s training offer.

The project contributes to Barcelona Activa's objectives of boosting entrepreneurial ecosystems, promoting start-ups that work with emerging technologies, and strengthening public-private knowledge transfer mechanisms.

In an increasingly technical market, Barcelona Activa is passionately committed to the technology. It already uses it for the specialised programmes taught at the Cibernarium's IT Academy, which is set to triple its advanced ICT training courses next year in response to the growing demand for digital talent in companies. 

In 2020, the IT Academy has expanded its range of virtual programmes, launched new courses, and trained more than 185 people every day: almost three times more than the previous year. The growing uptake is a consequence of the public’s increased awareness of job opportunities in the technology market. A large number of professionals are choosing to move into the ICT sector through reskilling (professional retraining of workers to acquire technological skills), or through completing training to update their existing knowledge.