What are Digital Credentials?

Digital credentials are electronic representations of an individual's skills, accomplishments, or experiences that can be verified and shared online. They are often awarded by educational institutions, professional associations, or other organizations as a way to recognize and demonstrate mastery of specific knowledge or skills.

Digital credentials typically contain information such as the name of the recipient, the issuer of the credential, a description of the achievement, and a link to additional information about the credential. They can be shared and displayed online, such as on a resume, LinkedIn profile, or personal website, to demonstrate one's competencies and achievements to potential employers, peers, and others.

Digital credentials are becoming increasingly popular due to their portability, accessibility, and verifiability. They provide a way for individuals to showcase their skills and achievements in a standardized, easily shareable format, which can help them stand out in a crowded job market and advance their careers.

Digital credentials offer several benefits over traditional paper-based credentials:

1. Portability: Digital credentials can be easily stored, accessed, and shared online, making them much more portable than paper-based credentials.
2. Verifiability: Digital credentials are often issued using blockchain technology, which provides a secure and tamper-proof record of the credential's authenticity. This makes it easy for employers, educational institutions, and other organizations to verify the credentials.
3. Standardization: Digital credentials are often issued using a standardized format, such as Open Badges or Mozilla Backpack, which makes it easy for individuals to compare and evaluate different credentials.
4. Flexibility: Digital credentials can be customized to reflect a wide range of achievements, skills, and experiences, from formal education and training to on-the-job experience and volunteer work.
5. Enhanced Career Opportunities: Digital credentials allow individuals to showcase their skills and achievements to potential employers and clients, which can lead to enhanced career opportunities and higher earnings potential.

Introducing C.TI Digital Credentials

Convergence.Tech’s C.TI digital credentials solution is powered by the world’s leading identity protocol, OpenID Connect, in addition to emerging self sovereign identity standards such as W3C Verifiable Credentials and W3C Decentralized Identifiers. Unlike website-hosted badges, with unsecure centralized databases, no way to share privately, and results that can be more easily forged, C.TI takes a decentralized approach which puts the user in control while focusing on privacy and security.

What makes C.TI unique?

• Fast Start. Software as a Service (SaaS) platform, accessible through a quick start Web Application or direct API integration.
• Secure and Authentic. Credentials are cryptographically secure and unforgeable.
• LMS Integrations. Automated credential issuance with leading LMSs, SISs, or custom APIs.
• Digital Wallets. User owned and controlled by students to manage their credentials.
• Easily Shareable. Easily present & share via social channels, email, offline and more.
• Learning Pathways. Create flexible pathways that visualize opportunities for greater achievements & build portfolios that demonstrate mastery.
• Institutional Promotion. Institutionally-branded credentials promote the Issuing School.

Credentialing Solutions are taking Education, Healthcare, Membership Organizations, Company Reskilling Programs, and Government by storm, growing exponentially every year and quickly replacing traditional and outdated methods. The question is becoming, not if an organization is using digital credentials, but are they using the ones with the right standards that will stand the test of time?

For more information about our work with C.TI, visit https://www.convergence.tech/identity-and-credentials/overview