Global Academic Verification Network (GAVN): An AI-Driven Infrastructure for Cross-Border Education Verification

Team Uprising

Vi Nguyen - Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Jyotirmay Das - University of Delhi, Chinmay Das - TERI School of Advanced Studies

Research (anything related to the use of AI in a research context)

A key challenge in higher education is the fragmented and largely manual documentation process for admissions, enrolment, and academic mobility. Students, universities, and verification agencies are involved, often relying on paper-based or semi-digital systems. We propose an AI-driven global verification model that digitises and standardises academic records, enabling secure, automated validation across institutions and countries.

This issue deserves attention because inefficient documentation systems create delays, costs, and inequities in access to education. Students often face redundant verification steps, such as paid credential checks, while institutions struggle with fraud detection and interoperability. These challenges affect mobility, inclusion, and trust in global education systems. AI presents an opportunity to streamline verification, reduce administrative burden, and improve accuracy in detecting fraudulent documents. A shared, intelligent system could enhance collaboration between institutions, support policy-making through reliable data, and make education systems more accessible and sustainable. However, it also raises questions around data privacy, governance, and equitable access to digital infrastructure, which must be carefully addressed.

Our team is motivated to participate in this challenge to gain exposure to global perspectives on AI in education and to engage with an international community of researchers and innovators. We aim to better understand how AI can address real-world systemic challenges, particularly in cross-border education processes. Through this experience, we hope to deepen our understanding of global AI ecosystems, explore collaborative problem-solving across cultures, and refine our approach to building impactful, scalable solutions. We are also interested in learning about emerging opportunities in the international AI landscape through internships and project work with organisations and strengthening our ability to contribute meaningfully to future innovations.

We propose the development of a global AI-driven digital infrastructure that connects schools, colleges, universities, embassies, and education authorities across countries through a single trusted platform. At present, admission, enrolment, academic mobility, student visa applications, and document verification processes are fragmented, repetitive, and largely manual. Different countries and institutions use different systems, portals, agencies, and paper-based methods to verify certificates, transcripts, degrees, and student records. This often creates delays, high costs, duplicate verification processes, fraud risks, and unequal access to global education opportunities. Our proposed system would function as a unified global academic verification network where educational institutions upload and digitally verify academic records such as transcripts, degrees, certificates, enrolment status, and other student-related documents. Once uploaded and verified by the issuing institution, these records would become securely accessible to authorised stakeholders including universities, schools, colleges, scholarship providers, embassies, and visa authorities. The platform would use AI to automate document verification, detect fraud, standardise records across institutions and countries, and reduce the need for manual intervention. Blockchain or similar secure technologies could be integrated to ensure that records are reliable, tamper-proof, transparent, and traceable. The main objective is to create a globally recognised system similar in spirit to how international organisations create common standards across countries. Instead of each country using its own disconnected platform for admissions, student visas, credential verification, and enrolment, there would be one interoperable framework that all participating institutions could use. This model would provide several benefits: - Faster admission, enrolment, and visa processing - Reduced costs for students by eliminating duplicate verification fees and repeated documentation requirements - Lower risk of document mismatch, fraud, and rejection - Easier access to lost or reissued academic records - Real-time tracking of verification status - Less dependence on third-party verification agencies - Greater interoperability between institutions across countries - More inclusive and equitable access to higher education opportunities In the long term, this system could also support joint academic programmes, cross-institutional enrolment, student mobility, and international educational partnerships. It would create a more reliable, transparent, secure, and student-friendly ecosystem for global education. However, the platform would also need to carefully address challenges related to data privacy, governance, cybersecurity, consent, and equal digital access across countries and institutions. This contribution builds on our first-stage proposal, which identified the fragmented and manual nature of global education verification systems as a major challenge affecting students, universities, and international mobility.