Last Updated on 8/3/2020
The Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL) family of specifications, our account management system, publishing tools, and Credential Registry are and will always be available at no cost. To enable a broader community of practitioners and providers to leverage these, we offer related fee-based technical design and development services.
We specialize in helping organizations define, implement, and derive value from general open data strategies as well as from the Credential Registry and other Credential Engine services. Our areas of focus include credentials, skills and competencies, education and career pathways, transfer value, and quality assurance.
Our services team, which includes the Credential Engine and our strategic partners, has deep expertise with partner engagement in all phases of project design through implementation project management, data modeling and design, schema development and mapping, data publishing, datastore infrastructure, and integration. Examples of our services program with combined capabilities are listed below.
Please contact our Chief Technology Services Officer or use our general contact form for more information about how our team engages with partners on projects, services and capabilities, and to develop project scope requests.
We develop requirements documentation, and utilize tools for managing design and development processes. We lead, facilitate, and manage projects.
Project Coordination and Management
Coordinating meetings and scrums, getting input and feedback, and handling documentation.
Process Workflow Design
Determining and documenting business process workflows that require data.
Project Requirements and Specifications
Documenting functional requirements and data specifications.
Pilot Project Management
Designing, initiating, and documenting prototype testing.
We develop and maintain the Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL) schemas and provide data design services.
Use Case Development
Developing and analyzing use cases for data modeling and design.
Data Modeling and Schema Design
Iterating diagrams to create domain models and related schema classes, properties, and concept schemes.
JSON-LD Encoding Examples
Encoding sample data to validate schema design.
Schema Mapping
Creating schema mappings between data definitions or data standards to determine matches and weight of alignment.
Schema Management
Implementing policy and tools for instantiating and managing open schemas modeled on Semantic Web specifications.
The team specializes in open technologies to support Linked Open Data (LOD) infrastructure. We design and maintain all of the Credential Engine’s cloud-hosted technologies, including: data publishing tools, the Credential Registry, and Registry data consuming services.
Publishing APIs
Support for utilizing our APIs for mapping from structured data sources to a common language (schema) and for outputting JSON-LD encoded metadata.
Publishing Interfaces
Interfaces (e.g., bulk upload and manual entry, ingesting) for managing and converting information to a schema and for outputting JSON-LD encoded metadata.
Publishing System
System for authentication, role and information management, activity logging, and reports.
Linked Data Registry
Datastore solution for maintaining, archiving, and versioning JSON-LD data and supporting shared and private data communities.
Graph Search
Handle graph, relational and hybrid database solutions.
The Credential Registry also supports an applications marketplace by making data available for consuming and supporting partners who build applications and tools that use Registry data. The Credential Finder and its search widgets use a combination of direct Registry searching and bulk downloading. The data from the Registry is valuable to support a wide range of use cases such as training AI, aligning skills and competencies, recommending credentials and pathways.
Consuming Credential Registry Data
Development of specialized searches and imports for systems and applications to consume data from the Credential Registry.
Embedding CTDL Schema on Webpages
Customized outputs from the Registry for embedding on websites for search engines.
Data Integration
Technical assistance to support data integrations using credential, competency, and related data.
Application Hosting
We utilize Amazon Web Services and Azure cloud hosting services for development, staging, and production environments.
Applications of AI
Our strategic partners design and develop AI applications including Natural Language Processing that utilizes Linked Open Data as well as other data sources.
Widgets
We offer customizable embeddable search widgets that leverage the infrastructure of the Credential Finder.
The Credential Engine Team and Strategic Partners
The Credential Engine technical team works side-by-side with our strategic partners long enough that we work collaboratively as a distributed team with clear and complementary roles.
Our technical team started working together over a decade ago. We design, develop and maintain all of the Credential Engine technologies in collaboration with our strategic partners listed below. You can see our work via the Credential Engine’s specifications and open technology guides that we maintain on our technical site.
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We work closely with Eduworks to integrate the Competency and Skills System (CaSS) with the Credential Engine’s technology stacks and other projects. The Eduworks team is well known for their expertise with competency management, Artificial Intelligence, and involvement with international data standardization organizations as well as work with the Department of Defense.
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We collaborate on schema design and have worked together on including Educational and Occupational Credentials in Schema.org. Cetis LLP are well known for their work on educational data and standards, and history with metadata schema development including the Learning Resource Metadata Initiative.
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We collaborate on schema design and have worked together on including Educational and Occupational Credentials in Schema.org. Cetis LLP are well known for their work on educational data and standards, and history with metadata schema development including the Learning Resource Metadata Initiative.
Learn More
Sutton & Associates has led the development of the Credential Transparency Description Language family of schemas modeled on the Semantic Web. Their work is well known for leadership with the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, design and development of the Achievement Standards Network, and many other internationally recognized programs that have advanced Linked Open Data specifications.
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In addition to the Credential Engine schemas and technologies, these are some recent examples of projects spanning each of the above services.
Provided project facilitation, workflow analysis, schema design and mapping to support publishing Transfer Value Profiles using CTDL to the Credential Registry.
Our open schemas and technology stacks for publishing, storing, and consuming Linked Open Data were designed and implemented in partnership with our strategic partners. Information about the schemas and technologies is available on our technical site.
Learn More
Developed a data model to connect data ranging from maintenance task analysis to training to jobs, used the Credential Registry to publish Linked Data, and developed the Navy ARTT Explorer prototype to demonstrate the benefits of the data model.
See the ARTT Explorer Prototype
Participated with National Science Foundation RAPID-funded Phase I C2 project and part of the Phase II team providing open infrastructure support for the SkillsSync Application and project management.
Watch the C2 Video
In partnership with Sutton Consulting and Cetis LLP, convened a data advisory group, mapped Schema.org to HR Open Standards, developed the JDX model and schema, and advised on prototype testing.
See our Phase I Work
Credential Engine with Eduworks completed a research project including Maintenance Task Analysis (MTA) data standards analysis, mapping, modeling, and prototyping use of Natural Language Processing to write performance and learning objectives and instantiate them in the Registry using CTDL schemas.
Read our ISTE Paper about this Project
Developed guidelines for system requirements and program data model and schema, and providing publishing tools and Registry services for consuming data.
Learn about ProPath
Provided state technical assistance services [link to the state services page] and support to prepare for and publish credentials using an API.
