There are many ways in which the education system that prevails in most countries is failing students. Top universities are often reserved for the elite and the curriculum being taught at a higher education level is irrelevant, outdated, and cannot compete with the ever-changing necessities of the job market. And all of this comes at a high cost.

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Students start their professional lives already indebted and what they leave with fails to provide them with real value. There has never been more people with a higher education, yet underemployment is becoming a growing problem, as more and more people are forced to work jobs for which they are overqualified because their courses are not enough.

The startup that is revolutionizing global education

Having nurtured an interest in recognizing how education could be improved with emerging new technologies, Richard Maaghul came up with the On-Demand Education Marketplace solution. ODEM has grown from his experience working with Excelorators, a company that provides short-term learning experiences for international students and executives.

Mr. Maaghul believes in the importance of the classroom experience, since, unlike online education, it goes beyond professional training, and it can provide high-impact academic enrichment and a cultural immersion that can only be achieved through in-person interaction.

That is why the ODEM solution combines the Excelorators’ services and its network of over 200 professors at top universities, with a Blockchain and smart contract-based platform that eliminates the middleman and, with it, unnecessary fees.

The system fosters a direct channel of communication where students can express their needs and professors can create relevant content to answer them. By doing so, both students and professors are empowered and can create a more valuable learning experience.

ODEM has acknowledged that its services are in high demand in the global education market, mainly in Asia, where countries like India, China and Singapore are already looking at education as a strategic field, but also in South America, Africa, and the Middle East. Asian countries are a perfect example of how an investment in education has empowered individuals and how it has benefited the whole country. Major international publications like Forbes magazine, The Washington Post, and The Economist have estimated that technological innovation can turn global education into an industry worth $4.6 to $6 tln.

A cryptocurrency making education more affordable  

All financial transactions within the system will be made with the ODEM Token (ODEMT), which provides access to the ODEM platform and defrays fees in accessing educational programs. It can be bought through the upcoming crowdsale, which is going live on Feb. 17, 2018. It should run until March 19, 2018 or until all 180 mln available for purchase have been sold (whichever comes first).

To ensure that all those participating in the ICO have the right to do it legally, the company is implementing a Know Your Customer (KYC) process to verify the identity of all investors who pre-register on the ODEM website. Anti-money laundering measures will also be implemented.