As part of our role in running the Open Badges floor at Mozfest next week, at Digitalme we have been reflecting on some of the great examples of badges in action that we have been lucky enough to work on over the last year.
The adoption of Open Badges continues to grow globally and in the UK we have experienced first hand how they are beginning to transform the way organisations work and help people think differently about how we recognise and validate skills.
Here are a couple of our favourite case studies from 2016:
Sussex Downs College: Using badges to create local pathways into employment
The Sussex Downs College project began in June/July 2015 after successfully receiving funding from the UFI charitable trust. It aimed to address the perceived gap between formal education and the world of work, particularly in terms of ‘employability skills’.
Many students who graduate from Sussex Downs College go on to work for local employers or set up their own businesses in the locality. As a result, staff involved in the project felt there was an opportunity to rapidly respond to hyperlocal needs.
O2 Telefonica: Using Badges to help match talent with opportunities.
Recent research by O2 showed that there will be 2.2 million digital job opportunities between 2015 and 2020. There is therefore a need for a digital pipeline of talent into the tech industry.
“Despite the recognition that the UK is fast becoming a technology powerhouse, it is no secret that the business world is still in need of an influx of digital expertise and experience. We know from research we undertook with Development Economics that Britain still needs over two million additional digitally skilled workers by 2020 to satisfy the UK’s digital potential.” (Ronan Dunne, CEO of O2 in the UK)
O2 has been using badges for a number of years to explore how they can help them think differently about how they identify, grow and nurture talent into and within their business.
Mozilla Web Literacy: Our first Open Source Badge project
Matt from Digitalme has been exploring how Open Badges can be truly open by enabling anyone to take, remix and use a badge scheme anywhere on the web.
Digitalme joins the City & Guilds Group
Finally, our true highlight of 2016 was becoming part of the City & Guilds group, an international charity and awarding body operating in 80 countries. This clearly shows that people are getting serious about Open Badges and the huge potential they offer to enhance life-long recognition of talent and achievements in a truly 21st century way
“We have always been at the forefront of skills development, ever since we were first established in 1878, so our new digital credentialing business is a natural next step for us…By adopting the Open Badge standard and combining it with our expertise in accreditation and assessment, we can help even more people validate their skills and competencies. Our strong brands and complementary values — as well as our commitment to shaping the future of skills development — will position us to lead this emerging global movement.” Chris Jones, CEO, City & Guilds Group
Come and visit us at Mozfest in London 28th – 30th October to see these case studies in action.
Are you running an open badge project? We’d love to hear about it – share it via the map, join the OBN network or get in touch!
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Hello,
for recognition of skills it might be also interesting to look at the ESCO project, which aims at building a unified classification of skills across EU (https://ec.europa.eu/esco/portal/escopedia/European_Skills%252C_Competences%252C_Qualifications_and_Occupations_%2528ESCO%2529). I have discussed this in a bit more detail Johannes Konert in this document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y4O-gX5hAGvS3shWFRBERe2T4A6w_9DPs7vjB4j43u4/edit#heading=h.gjdgxs
What do you think about this approach?
Kind regards,
Jan
Um, have I missed the point somewhere ? I realise this is a self-assessment badge but I was surprised that I couldn’t add in some evidence ?
Apologies this appears to be in the wrong place somehow !