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As usual, we have been busy on all fronts this year, and it's truly invigorating to see the growth and development of both the product and the company. We now have 73 verified organizations on the Diwala platform and we have increased our wallet holders by 81.4% since last year. We remain laser-focused to offer our customers the best possible value with our product and we are very excited to receive your feedback on our new developments.
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Diwala is a credential platform that has been developed and implemented for the East & West African market since Diwalas´s founders first arrived in Uganda in 2018. Since then, we have been non-stop developing, user testing, and iterating on our service to offer the most user-friendly and efficient credential service we could possibly build. During 2018 and now, credential technology has evolved massively, and so have our insights and knowledge about the market, the needs of our users, and the credential ecosystem.
The Diwala platform has seen many shapes, forms, and variations through the years, but we have now spent a considerable good time accumulating all that insight, knowledge, and research into one beautiful all-in-one solution. So what are all the main highlights of the Diwala 3.0 platform?
1. Diwala 3.0 is an all-web-based solution.
Mobile usage in Uganda and East Africa is high, but in regards to each person owning a smartphone, there is still some time to go. According to GSMA The Mobile Economy Report for Sub-Saharan Africa 2022, the percentage of people owning a smartphone will increase from 49% - 61% between 2021 - 2025. What these statistics tell us, and what we also learned from numerous user-testing sessions, is that not all people have access to a smartphone and can download an app to access their credentials. As one of Diwala´s core principles is to build inclusive technology, we had to make a radical shift to move our service to be all web-based, so that everyone can be able to access their credentials by using any device of their choosing.
2. Diwala 3.0 can be used by all users in the ecosystems meaning both issuers, holders, and verifiers of digital credentials.
Over the last few years, we have learned that the user groups interacting with credentials can easily glide into each other, meaning that one user is not necessarily just an issuer, holder, or verifier. An issuer can also be a verifier when they want to hire in their own organization and a verifier can also be an issuer of credentials like proof of work, internal training certificates, or employee ID cards. And all the people in these organizations are also holders of their own credentials. After having our wallet in both IOS and App Store, along with a platform for issuers, we realized that the most user-friendly option is to have everything in one place.
3. Diwala 3.0 has minimized the issuance process to only 3 simple steps.
As mentioned we have focused much of our efforts on improving our credential service to ensure the experience is as seamless as possible. With the final Diwala 3.0 Issuer platform piece to be launched next month, we will have shortened the whole credential issuance and verification process down to just 3 simple steps. In addition to recently launching our new automated API solution, credential issuance has never been easier!
4. Diwala 3.0 can issue any kind of credential.
When we started building our credential service, we focused mainly on the education sector to ensure we learned how to take care of our customer's and users privacy and security rights. Working with less sensitive data has been key to learning the different challenges and opportunities. Now we are on track and have ensured we can expand as planned to issue any type of credential. We build out these credentials in collaboration with real-life use cases and clients upon their request and feedback.
Most associations, foundations, and societies in various sectors require to issue membership ID cards to keep track of their members and give them a way to verify their membership. This is necessary for the members to be able to access training, specific licenses, or benefits the organization might offer them.
However, many of these membership cards are easy to replicate, putting the societies' and associations' services and reputations at risk for invalid members and usage. Membership IDs are therefore a perfect use-case for the Diwala platform. In collaboration with the Uganda Law Society, Diwala has successfully developed and issued the first digitally verifiable Membership ID credentials.
See a video of the new Diwala 3.0 platform and its Membership ID functionality below.
We are excited to announce our partnership with the Human Resources Managers Association of Uganda. HRMAU is a membership body that brings together over 1000 HR practitioners with an aim to promote the status and professional standing of members, foster people-driven organizational transformation as well as provide a forum for discussion and communication for the benefit of the human resource management practice in Uganda.
Currently, HRMAU is utilizing the Diwala platform to issue training as well as membership credentials to its members. In addition, HRMAU and Diwala have partnered to sensitize the HR community about digital credentialing technology and the value of digitally verifiable credentials.
As a result of our recent research findings that revealed the need for an improved way to verify people´s work experience in addition to educational background, Diwala, and BrighterMonday, Uganda has partnered on a project to revolutionize the Ugandan recruitment industry.
We intend to create a "Proof of Work" credential that is both verifiable and credible. This credential will provide employers with accurate and reliable information about a candidate's employment history, speeding up and streamlining the recruiting process.
"We are thrilled to partner with Diwala to provide businesses with an integrated solution for skill and work experience verification which is a key pain point for most employers who struggle with assessing whether what potential employees say what they did is actually what they are good at," said Xenia Wachira, the Country Manager of BrighterMonday Uganda.
"Together, we can help businesses build highly skilled workforces that are equipped to meet the demands of today's fast-paced and ever-changing business environment" she added.
We are currently running an exclusive survey on the matter and we invite all employers interested in sharing their expertise to join in. If you find this new type of credential exciting and would like to partake in the development, you are more than welcome to fill out the survey or join our webinar on the 25th of July where we will be providing you with practical insights and strategies in leveraging digital credentials to build a highly skilled and efficient workforce. Find the webinar registration form here.
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