Cryptocurrency firm Ripple’s head of social impact Ken Weber has said universities around the world must expand their education programs to offer blockchain and digital assets training courses that directly relate to actual roles in the industry.

Demand exceeding supply

Weber addressed the lack of a qualified blockchain workforce and relevant education resources in an interview with OpenAccessGovernment published on Aug. 20. He also cited a report which suggests that “there’s been a 517% increase in demand for software engineers with blockchain development skills in the past year” — but “demand is far outweighing supply.” Weber said:

“A large part of the issue is that companies need two types of blockchain professionals. Firstly, they need engineers who possess a deep understanding of the technologies and can implement changes immediately. Secondly, they need to fill non-technical roles with senior employees who can make decisions involving the application of blockchain to business objectives. To do this, however, these employees need a working knowledge of the technology. The industry has a well-documented, yet growing skills gap that must be fixed.”

Blockchain courses should be more specific

While more than 40% of the world’s top 50 universities offer at least one blockchain or crypto class, Weber said they are usually tied to different disciplines such as law, engineering, mathematics and business administration. To solve this problem, he is urging universities to offer courses that relate to actual roles in the industry.

Weber also thinks that companies in the industry should engage with their academic counterparts to help workforce formation, as only 38% of businesses are currently doing it.

As Cointelegraph reported earlier this week, blockchain accelerator MouseBelt launched a blockchain education initiative at three University of California campuses.mpuses.