The spotlight is on Dr. Iuon-Chang Lin, Professor, National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan.

National Chung Hsing University (NCHU), in Taichung City, Taiwan, is a research-led university with nine colleges, 760 faculty and 15,600 students. Founded in 1919 as the Advanced Academy of Agronomy and Forestry, NCHU today owns the most complete agricultural land resources information system in Taiwan. It also operates several agricultural, horticultural, and forest management experimental stations.

Today it specializes in the departments of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Engineering, Computer Science, Life Sciences, Veterinary Medicine, Management, Law & Politics, and Liberal Arts.

Taichung City is a world leader in precision machining, with 1,500 machine manufacturers and tens of thousands of downstream suppliers. NCHU provides a bridge between academic research and precision machining by collaborating with manufacturers in developing products and solutions.

Dr. Iuon-Chang Lin is Professor and Chair of the Department of Management Information Systems in the College of Management. With a PhD in Computer Science and Information Engineering from NCHU, he specializes in cryptography, blockchain technology, Internet of Things, and data security, and has published over 70 articles on these fields of research in international journals. He also earned the 2007 and 2013 Outstanding Young Teacher Award from NCHU.

Oracle Academy: Why did you decide to join Oracle Academy?

Iuon-Chang Lin: I wanted to develop a course in blockchain. I decided to contact Oracle Academy in 2021. As a result, NCHU adopted the Oracle Academy Cloud Program for exploring the Oracle Blockchain Platform.

Oracle Academy: What is the importance of blockchain in your courses?

Iuon-Chang Lin: While blockchain isn’t yet a mainstay in college curriculums, for us it is an area of intense focus, due to the precision machining industry in our region but also because it’s a technology of great future value to our undergraduates.

We have set up an Information Security and Blockchain Applications Lab that gives students of business and technology a solid introduction to the subject. In my Blockchain Practice and Security course, students can conduct proof-of-concepts directly in Oracle Cloud. This saves teachers and students the time and difficulty of setting up a blockchain system environment and enables students to practice innovative applications from day one.

Oracle Academy: What type of projects do you run through the Oracle Blockchain Platform?

Iuon-Chang Lin: One of our scenarios involves implementing a decentralized ledger application for food production or smart manufacturing. Decentralized―some call it distributed―ledger technology is a blockchain system for recording the transaction of assets in multiple places at the same time.

Another example is to help industries in their Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) energy transition drives. With the assistance of Oracle Blockchain Platform, manufacturing data and carbon inventory data are uploaded to the distributed ledger of a collaborator.

In this way, through blockchain technology, we help factories to record their carbon footprint because the authenticity and reliability of these data can be proved. As a result, upstream and downstream suppliers become more integrated into a green supply chain and can provide consumers with an open and transparent production history.

Oracle Academy: Fantastic! Can you give other examples of projects?

Iuon-Chang Lin: One further example: I give students the task of simulating capital markets. Because blockchain data can not be tampered with, the result is to simplify the transaction clearing process, while improving efficiency and security.

In my opinion, Oracle Blockchain Platform provides the best solutions for industrial use of cloud and blockchain applications.

Oracle Academy: How easy has it been to incorporate the Oracle Academy resources into your teaching?

Iuon-Chang Lin: We were strongly supported at the outset by two induction sessions conducted for the faculty and 75 students through an Oracle Academy Knowledge Builder event. The first session introduced us to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and all its benefits through the Oracle Academy Cloud Program. In the second session, we gained knowledge of the Oracle Blockchain Platform. The sessions also discussed use cases and the impact blockchain adoption is increasingly having on enterprises of all sizes.

The Knowledge Builder event was very useful. We obtained a deep-dive demo on provisioning a new blockchain instance, learning how to work with the console and to manage and invoke the chaincode lifecycle.

Oracle Academy: Presumably blockchain graduates have no problem finding jobs…

Iuon-Chang Lin: Yes, they can easily find relevant jobs, especially in this region, a global hub of precision engineering requiring blockchain-savvy system engineers and programmers. Industry in general is very short of people with these talents.

Oracle Academy: And do your students enjoy using Oracle Academy resources?

Iuon-Chang Lin: Our educators and students are amazed by the Oracle Academy Cloud Program―being able to access it anytime, anywhere, in and out of the classroom, using only a browser.

When teaching information security courses, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Virtual Machine, available through Oracle Academy, provides a good virtual hosting environment. Our teachers and students can build the required experimental environment for curriculum teaching, and students can continue to practice in the environment at any time to improve the efficiency of learning.

In addition, we also emphasize cloud security management practices in the course, including the ISO/IEC 27017 standard on the division of responsibilities of cloud service-related personnel, isolation of virtual environments, enhancement of virtual hosts, management of virtual networks, system administrators security, and monitoring mechanisms for cloud services. These exercises can be performed in the environment provided by Oracle Academy.

Oracle Academy: And how do you like to spend your free time?

Iuon-Chang Lin: On the outskirts of Taichung City, there are several national forest recreation areas with an altitude of over 1,500 meters, and each has rich forest ecology and charming natural scenery. So, I often go out for leisure trips with my family and friends during the holidays, stroll amidst the forest, and enjoy the relaxing forest bath.

Thank you, Dr. Iuon-Chang Lin, for your passion for Oracle Academy and for preparing your students to make a positive impact.