On Thursday, December 7, dozens of education and workforce policy professionals attended the Credential Engine launch event to see something rare – a CEO, a union representative, a postsecondary representative and a foundation head agree with each other. The discussion, kicked off by Eleni Papadakis, Executive Director of the Washington Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board, focused on the potential of the Credential Engine registry to catalog the thousands of credentials and certifications available in the United States and help learners and employers make sense of the credential marketplace.
The registry works by encouraging states and other credential providers to upload their credentials (and their associated outcomes) to a common platform using common language and definitions. From there, employers, non-profits and others will be able to use the open source information to develop apps to integrate into their other systems. For example, an employer could integrate the information into existing human resources databases, or states could use the information to connect labor market demand with existing credentials that might meet the state’s needs.
It is unclear how state or local governments will ultimately use this registry, or how well any of the apps developed will help learners understand not just what credentials are available, but which credentials are high quality. In fact, at the launch event, Jamie Merisotis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lumina Foundation, expressed his desire that government agencies hold back for the time being on using Credential Engine to make policy or build credential accountability systems, and instead let the registry and related apps leverage market forces to test and build the functionality of the registry as an evaluation mechanism.
While this platform is certainly still in its early stages, and much remains to be seen about how it will ultimately be used, there are a few promising indicators. The state of Indiana has already agreed to load healthcare credentials, New Jersey has agreed to load credentials from key industries onto the platform, and Credential Engine is working with the U.S. military to help translate military credentials into civilian equivalents. Additionally, more than 50 CEOs associated with Business Roundtable have committed to using registry data to meet employment needs.
For more information on Credential Engine, check out their website here: https://www.credentialengine.org/ or join their next application showcase on January 18 at 2 pm EST.
Ashleigh McFadden, State Policy Manager
Tags: business and industry partnerships, Credential Registry, credentials, Indiana, New Jersey