The Digital Credentials Initiative aims to build an infrastructure for digital academic credentials that can support the education systems of the future.

Nine leading global universities are working together to design an infrastructure for digital verifiable credentials of academic achievement.  Recognizng the profound effect digital technology has on learning, and the wealth of materials already available, these nine universities collectively asked: What would an academic degree look like if it was designed today? Or a professional certificate? Or a certificate for an online course?

The institutions involved are Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, Harvard University Division of Continuing Education, Hasso Plattner Institute at the University of Potsdam and Technical University of Munich in Germany, MIT, Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico,  University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Irvine and the University of Toronto in Canada.

Building on earlier efforts by the participating institutions, the collaborative is setting sights on the design and governance of a technology infrastructure for academic credentials – transforming credentials into tokens of social and human capital that can create new opportunities for participation in education and industry. 

This technology will allow learners to:

  • Maintain a compelling and verifiable record of lifelong learning achievements to share with employers;
  • Receive their credentials digitally and safely;
  • Own all of their credentials forever without having to ask/pay institution for a transcript ever again; and
  • Compile  and curate credentials received from multiple educational institutions.

For institutions, digital verifiable credentials will enable:

  • Keeping and distributing learner records in a way that is easy, safe, and inexpensive;
  • Removing the risk of identity fraud; and
  • Issuing multiple credentials to a single learner easily, using the same streamlined process.

 

Source: Digital Credentials

More information: https://digitalcredentials.mit.edu/#mit-join