The Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF) is set to launch a Blockchain Academy, according to a November 26 announcement, which will be a first in the country.
The Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF), was established in the Kingdom of Bahrain back in 1981 on approval by the Specific council for vocational training. The institute is an unregistered non-profit semi-government outfit, which offers financial training.
The launch of the academy will mark the country’s first blockchain qualification program offering and is designed to offer participants the necessary preparations in order for them to earn the international qualification of Certified Blockchain professional (C!BP).
The certification, which was developed by the BIBF and Dubai based training firm, Mylearning Key, comprises of 3 competency levels in blockchain technology. These are; development, implementation, and strategy.
BIBF director, Dr. Ahmed AI Shaikh said that the organization saw it necessary to introduce the Blockchain professional qualification program, in order to support the growing demand for skilled blockchain professionals.
The Bahrain government last September stressed the importance of blockchain technology to the country’s economy, while also stressing the need for cybersecurity vigilance. The country’s Electricity and water affairs minister, Abdulhussain Mirza, stated that “technologies such as blockchain take us a huge step forward in finding a secure way to facilitate transactions.”
Blockchain education is beginning to take shape in institutions of higher learning as well, with the University of Tokyo recently receiving a donation of nearly $800,000 from several companies such as Sumitomo Mitsui (SMBC) and the Ethereum foundation, in order to roll out a blockchain course. The course will be centered on developing decentralized solutions, their social implementation, and human resources. The Plekhanov Russian University of Economics will also be creating an accelerator for blockchain projects after sealing a partnership with Blockchain firm, Bitfury.