Credential Engine Technical Site

Introduction

In today's digital age, ensuring the authenticity of credential issuers is crucial for empowering decision-makers who rely on accurate credential information. The Digital Credentials Consortium (DCC) and Credential Engine are collaborating on a joint 2024-2025 project to explore the governance and technology needs for issuer registries being used within Learning and Employment Record (LER) ecosystems. This initiative aims to enhance trust in LERs by creating a model for interoperable issuer registries.

We are convening a targeted advisory group of subject matter experts. The group’s recommendations, expertise, and guidance will be instrumental in developing an issuer registry proof of concept through open community input. Participation in this advisory group will yield guaranteed outcomes and significantly impact the digital credentials ecosystem.

An issuer registry is a secure, trustworthy digital list containing verifiable information about organizations that issue credentials. Types of credentials could include LERs for academic achievements like degrees. These organizations, which could include associations, education and training institutions, government agencies, or others, usually have a common set of frameworks or criteria that must be met before they will issue a particular credential. An issuer registry ensures that anyone can near-instantly and easily confirm that an organization is authorized to issue the specified credentials.

Purpose and Benefits

The project will provide a foundation for replicable and scalable solutions for issuer registries. Some of the benefits of aligning on standards and frameworks for issuer registries include:

• Increased Transparency: Providing clear, accessible, and standardized information about credential issuers will help stakeholders make informed decisions.
• Supported Mobility: Standardizing a shared, open structure for issuer data transparency will facilitate the recognition and validation of credentials globally, supporting the mobility of learners and workers.
• Improved Trust: By verifying the identity and key characteristics of credential issuers along with governance models, we can help ensure that LERs are reliable representations of skills and achievements.

What to Expect

As a member of this advisory group, you will contribute as a subject matter and/or technical expert. Together, we will define the advisory group's charter, generate use cases, identify governance criteria, contribute to an issuer and verifier data model and specifications, and provide guidance for decision makers and developers.

Join the Issuer Registry Advisory Group

Who Should Join

We are looking for experts and aspiring experts across various fields, including education, training, policy, government, research, industry, and business:

• Aspiring Subject Matter Experts: Individuals who want to learn and contribute.
• Subject Matter Experts: Individuals with experience in designing, developing, or implementing issuer registries.
• Users of Issuer Registries: Professionals and product providers interested in using issuer registries in their work.
• Verifiers of Issuers: Organizations and product providers responsible for verifying the authenticity of credential issuers.
• Technical Experts: Individuals familiar with existing standards or technical implementations for issuer registries.

Participation Details

Meeting Schedule: Monthly meetings via Zoom, beginning in September 2024 and concluding by May 2025. Use the World Clock for the meeting time at your location.

• Meeting 1: Wednesday, 2024-September-4, 11 am ET (World Clock)
• Meeting 2: Wednesday, 2024-October-2, 11 am ET (World Clock)
• Meeting 3: Wednesday, 2024-November-6, 11 am ET (World Clock)
• Meeting 4: Wednesday, 2024-December-4, 11 am ET (World Clock)
• Meeting 5: Wednesday, 2025-February-5, 11 am ET (World Clock)
• Meeting 6: Wednesday, 2025-March-5, 11 am ET (World Clock)
• Meeting 7: Wednesday, 2025-April-2, 11 am ET (World Clock)
• Meeting 8: Wednesday, 2025-May-7, 11 am ET (World Clock)

We understand that interested people may not be able to attend every meeting. All meetings will be recorded, and materials will be shared with all participants.

More Information

• Resources: Credential Engine and DCC will provide all necessary resources based on advisory group input and share them for ongoing feedback between meetings. All feedback and materials will be transparently available following an open development process.
• Outcomes: The final products will include expanded use cases, real-world data examples, a data model and specifications, and governance best practices. All final outputs will be public information available under open licenses.
• Processes: The advisory group will follow a defined process leading to specific deliverables and outcomes. Outputs will be reviewed via an open webinar for advisory group members and stakeholders.
• Contact Credential Engine: If you have any questions about this task group, please email info@credentialengine.org. This mailbox is monitored during normal U.S. business hours. Learn more via the Credential Engine Website.

Visit Credential Engine and the Digital Credentials Consortium websites:

• Credential Engine Website: Announcement
• DCC Wiki: Issuer Registry Advisory Group Invitation

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Education and Employment Outcomes Metrics (EEOM) Task Group and attended the July 10, 2024, CTDL EEOM Terms Proposal Webinar. The webinar recording, audio, transcript, and presentation are now available for your review. The presentation has also been attached to this email as a powerpoint, for those that cannot access Google docs.

Your input is highly valued, and we appreciate your contributions. Following the webinar, we are entering a comment period, and we invite you to provide feedback on the CTDL EEOM Proposal by Friday, July 31, 2024. You can share your feedback through any of the following methods:

• Direct Comments: Comment directly in the Draft V 2.0 CTDL Education and Employment Outcomes Metrics (EEOM) Terms Proposal. Highlight the relevant text, right-click, select “+Comment,” type your feedback, and click the blue Comment button to save.
• GitHub: Add comments via issue 951.
• Email: Send your comments to info@credentialengine.org. This account is monitored during normal U.S. business hours.

The updates to the CTDL EEOM terms are part of an organized process to enhance the CTDL Linked Open Data. Credential Engine's plan includes updating the CTDL and implementing these changes within the Credential Registry Publishing System. Further details on these updates will be provided soon.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@credentialengine.org.

This information is also available on our website here.

Introduction: In today's interconnected world, transparently and accurately representing qualifications across borders is vital for mobility. Qualifications frameworks provide a structured approach to defining and comparing different types and levels of credentials. They are essential for understanding the equivalence of education and training qualifications across different systems and jurisdictions, thereby enabling more opportunities for learners and workers.

The diversity of these national, regional and international frameworks provides an opportunity to improve understanding, increase adoption and use, and provide greater value for learner mobility. The role of qualifications frameworks is further enhanced when they are also structured as linked, open data. Benefits include:

• Enhanced Interoperability: Creating a unified linked open data model will enable seamless integration and comparison of qualifications across different jurisdictions.
• Increased Transparency: Providing clear, accessible, and standardized information about qualifications will help everyone make informed decisions.
• Supported Mobility: Standardizing a shared, open structure for qualifications data transparency will facilitate the modernization of credential recognition globally, supporting the movement of learners and workers and enhancing their opportunities.
• Enabled Alignment: Enabling the alignments between qualification frameworks will support a cohesive understanding of educational standards and outcomes across nations and regions.
• Facilitated Linking: Directly linking credentials and related programs to qualifications frameworks and other important information such as quality assurance.
• Improved AI analysis: Providing qualification frameworks as structured linked open data improves the accuracy and effectiveness of AI tools and processes that connect, combine, and compare data from numerous sources.

Short-Term Task Group: Credential Engine is hosting a targeted task group that is open to subject matter experts worldwide. The group aims to represent qualifications frameworks as linked, open data. By participating in the Qualifications Frameworks as Data Global Task Group, members will play a vital role in improving how linked, open and interoperable data meets the evolving needs of credentialing ecosystems. This is a short-term commitment with guaranteed outcomes.

What to Expect: As a member of this task group, you'll participate as a subject matter and/or technical expert. Together, we'll define the task group's charter, generate use cases, define a CTDL data model, and propose new terms to describe a wide range of qualification frameworks and their relationships to credentialing organizations, credentials, learning programs, assessments, quality assurance actions, and other relevant entities.

Who Should Join: We are looking for subject matter and technical experts across a wide spectrum of fields, including: education, training, policy, government, research, industry, and business. If you fall into any of the following categories, we invite you to be part of our dynamic group. We welcome individuals from various backgrounds and roles, and we encourage you to join this task group, regardless of your geographical location or prior CTDL knowledge.

• Subject Matter Experts have experience in developing, reviewing, implementing, and/or approving qualification frameworks.
• Users of Qualifications Frameworks actively use qualifications frameworks in their work, including evaluating credential equivalencies, designing and delivering curriculum and credentials, and conducting research.
• Education and Career Pathway Experts have a background in designing or implementing qualifications frameworks that support flexible learning pathways or in designing or implementing education and career pathways and using tools that include qualifications frameworks in their design.
• Technical Experts know existing standards or technical implementations for qualifications frameworks.

By bringing together individuals with diverse perspectives and experiences, we aim to create a collaborative environment that fosters innovation and inclusivity. At Credential Engine, we believe that diversity in knowledge and expertise is key to our mission's success.

When and Where: The task group is anticipated to begin on Thursday, August 29, 2024 and will have approximately six, one-hour bi-weekly meetings via Zoom. The meeting schedule is as follows at 10:00 am Eastern Time. (See the World Clock for your local time.)

• Meeting 1: Thursday, 2024-August-29 (World Clock)
• Meeting 2: Thursday,2024-September-12 (World Clock)
• Meeting 3: Thursday, 2024-September-26 (World Clock)
• Meeting 4: Thursday,2024-October-10 (World Clock)
• Meeting 5: Thursday, 2024-October-24 (World Clock)
• Meeting 6: Thursday, 2024-November-7 (World Clock)

All meetings will be recorded, and materials will be shared with all participants.

Join the Qualifications Frameworks as Data Global Task Group

Resources: Credential Engine will create and provide all resources needed for this work, based on task group input, and share them for ongoing feedback between meetings. All feedback and materials are transparently available following an open development process.

Outcomes: The final products of this work include the expanded use cases, real-world data examples, and a CTDL domain model and terms with definitions. All outputs from the process are public information made available under open licenses.

Processes: The task group follows a defined process leading to specific deliverables and outcomes. The resultant outputs will be reviewed via an open webinar for Credential Engine's task group members and other stakeholders, followed by a public comment period. This efficient process ensures orderly changes that support and expand the durable, persistent value of CTDL Linked Open Data. Once this process is completed, the CTDL family of standards and handbook will be updated, along with the Credential Registry publishing and consuming tools. The Registry and related tools and resources are freely available for publishing data using CTDL.We develop the CTDL in alignment with other global data standards and projects to ensure mutual benefit. This approach allows CTDL to incorporate aspects of other standards and projects, while also enabling those standards and projects to utilize the work of this group, thus creating multiple benefits beyond CTDL itself.

Contact Credential Engine: If you have any questions about this task group, please email info@credentialengine.org. This mailbox is monitored during normal U.S. business hours. Learn more via the Credential Engine Website.

Visit our website: Invitation to Participate: Qualifications Frameworks as Data Global Task Group | Credential Engine

Credential Engine is enhancing data transparency for education and employment outcomes metrics to ensure that everyone - from educators and employers to policymakers and learners - has access to clear, actionable data for making informed decisions about learning and career pathways. Credential Engine is hosting a webinar on July 10th where we are requesting your expertise and feedback to confirm the proposed education and employment outcome metrics additions to the Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL). It is not required to attend the webinar to provide input.

The CTDL Education and Employment Outcomes Metrics Task Group, which included experts from a variety of organizations, collaborated with Credential Engine to introduce new terms, definitions, and usage guidance around education and employment outcomes. This proposal aims to improve the clarity and transparency of metrics that play a pivotal role in learning and work ecosystems.

This proposal complements the existing capabilities CTDL has to describe a wide range of education and employment outcomes metrics, credentials, learning opportunities, competencies, assessments, jobs, pathways, and more. It refines the granularity of valuable data for greater clarity and transparency.

You can provide feedback by reviewing the CTDL Education and Employment Outcomes Terms Proposal and adding your comments or by reviewing the proposal and emailing info@credentialengine.org. You can also learn more and engage with the Credential Engine team in our webinar on this topic.

• Webinar: CTDL Education and Employment Metrics Terms Proposal Webinar
• Audience: Anyone interested in learning about this CTDL terms proposal and engaging in an opportunity to provide input.
• Date: Wednesday, July 10, 2024
• Time: 11:00 am ET (See the World Clock for your time zone.)
• Registration: To register, please click here.
• Additional Information: The webinar will be recorded and made publicly available, along with meeting materials, as part of Credential Engine’s open participatory processes.

Your engagement and insights are vital to the evolution of CTDL. We appreciate your interest and active participation in the CTDL development process. For additional information, please visit the Credential Engine website.

Resources:

• (Accepted) Plan and Charter Education and Employment Outcomes Metrics (EEOM) Task Group 2024-April-4
• Draft Education and Employment Outcomes Metrics Terms Proposal V1.0
• EEOM GitHub Issue #941

The Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL) has recently been updated to encompass the broad diversity of certificates available for people to earn. CTDL now defines 22 types of certificates, with numerous terms available to give them meaning, differentiate among different types of certificates, and make their value transparent. With such a diverse range of certificates, from acknowledging participation to demonstrating skills in academic or career fields, CTDL provides essential information for illuminating paths to a better future.

Join us to learn about the CTDL certificate updates and explore this diverse landscape to discover how CTDL can benefit everyone.

During this webinar, you'll:

• Gain insights into the various types of certificates, along with other types of credentials, described with CTDL.
• Discover options for publishing certificates and other credentials as CTDL linked open data.
• Learn how to access and utilize certificate and credential data from the Registry.
• Receive step-by-step guidance on publishing certificates and other credentials to the Credential Registry.

Certificate Type Webinar Details:

• Date: April 11, 2024
• Time: 1:00 PM EST
• Location: Virtual via Zoom
• Audience: Professionals involved in creating, sharing, storing, and consuming certificates and other types of credentials, and anyone curious about how CTDL and the Registry support the diversity of types of certificates in learn and work ecosystems.
• Registration: Click Here

Stay ahead in the field of credential transparency. Join us for this informative session and unlock the full valuable information using CTDL to the benefit of everyone.

Visit the Credential Engine Website to view this announcement: Clearly Define Different Types of Certificates with CTDL | Credential Engine

Contact us with any questions via publishing@credentialengine.org

Don't miss out – register now!