New partnership between IMS Global Learning Consortium and Credential Engine will strengthen standards, facilitate the exchange of information on credentials
LAKE MARY, Florida, 22 May 2019 — IMS Global Learning Consortium (IMS Global) and Credential Engine today announced a partnership designed to advance new interoperability and transparency standards for credentials and institutional data systems.
Through the new agreement, the organizations will build interoperability between IMS Global’s widely-adopted standards and Credential Engine’s Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL)—the first and only common language that enables credential issuers to publish data and information on the content and value of credentials to the public Credential Registry and the open web. Already, 12 states and regions, nearly 400 credential providers, and several federal agencies have joined this cloud-based library that makes information such as competencies, cost, quality assurance, earnings, and connections to occupations, and pathway information searchable to the public.
“To address emerging skills gaps in the new world of work, employers and learners alike need agreed-upon digital representations of competencies, achievements, and credentials,” said Dr. Rob Abel, chief executive officer of IMS Global. “This new integration with Credential Engine is a critical step as we work toward a shared vision of a credentials marketplace that is verifiable by employers, searchable and discoverable, and controlled by learners.”
Moving forward, IMS Global and Credential Engine will lead the development of new tools to publish information on competencies and add linking to the Credential Registry as an IMS standard for digital credentials.
“To tap the full potential of today’s workforce, learners need clear information on the market value of a credential, and that requires us to build out new types of data and technical infrastructure,” said Scott Cheney, executive director of Credential Engine. “This new partnership will accelerate the adoption of critical new standards that make the value, requirements, and competencies associated with all credentials more transparent.”
Founded in 2016, Credential Engine is dedicated to ensuring that all relevant data about credentials are made openly available to the public so credential transparency and literacy can improve, and people can make more informed decisions. IMS Global Learning Consortium, the world-leading non-profit standards organization with over 500 members in 26 countries, has been instrumental in the development of transformational standards for lifelong learning, including the Comprehensive Learner Record, Open Badges (originally developed by the Mozilla Foundation), and Competencies and Academic Standards Exchange® (CASE®).
About IMS Global Learning Consortium
IMS Global is a non-profit organization that advances technology to scale and improve educational participation and attainment affordably. IMS Global members are leading suppliers, institutions, and government organizations that are enabling the future of education by collaborating on interoperability and adoption initiatives. IMS Global sponsors the Learning Impact Leadership Institute; a global program focused on recognizing the impact of innovative technology on educational access, affordability, and quality while developing the people and ideas to help shape the future of educational technology.
About Credential Engine
Credential Engine is a non-profit whose mission is to create credential transparency, reveal the credential marketplace, increase credential literacy, and empower everyone to make more informed decisions about credentials and their value. Credential Engine is also supported by Lumina Foundation, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Walmart, Northrop Grumman Foundation, Microsoft Philanthropies, and the ECMC Foundation.
###