Bridging the Last Mile:
Credentials to Employment
Barriers to Adoption
July/13 2022
AACRAO Technology & Transfer Summit
Philipp Schmidt
Digital Credentials Consortium (DCC)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

DCC - Group of 12 Universities
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Delft University of Technology (Netherlands)
Georgia Institute of Technology (USA)Harvard University (USA)
Hasso Plattner Institute, Potsdam (Germany)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA)McMaster University (Canada)
Tecnológico De Monterrey (Mexico)
Technical University of Munich (Germany)
University of California, Berkeley (USA)
University of California, Irvine (USA)
University of Milano-Bicocca (Italy)
University of Toronto (Canada)

DCC - Guiding Principles | Values
Learners - Commitment to learner agency and participation● Learners retain primary control over their credentials
Issuers - Commitment to issuer control of the design of thecredential● Issuers control to whom they issue credentials, the particularachievement that the credential represents, and whichcredential options are available to the learner
Trust - Commitment to open processes, open standards (W3C VC,
CLR2.0, OBv3), and open source software● Credentials can be verified without consulting original issuer

Learner Credential Wallet (lcw.app)● Key component of the digital credential ecosystem● Fully open-source and open-standards based○ Code available on GitHub under MIT license● iOS and Android mobile apps available for download● Deployment pilots with U.S. institutions● Supported by DCC members, US Department of Education,
WalmartBridging the Last Mile Report
Semi-Structured interviews with key stakeholders:● Employer representatives● HRMS / ATS vendors● Credential Issuers
Current Observations based on interviews with 18 persons.
Final study will have observations with approx. 20 persons.
Lead researcher: Anthony F. Camilleri, Knowledge Innovation
CentreSupported by Walmart

What do Employers want from Digital Credentials?
Developing Experience Portfolios
Documenting skills acquisition while inemployment

Verifying Credentials
Checking that applicants can back up
their claims about achievements withdocumentation

Widening Access
Identifying suitable candidates who may
not typically apply for qualify for
positions

Matching Jobs to Skills
Accurately describing the full skills andcompetencies of job applicants andmatching these to positions

Simplified View of the HRMS Space

TalentManagementSystemCVmentioApplicantTrackingSystemnsCredentials

Background
CheckCompanies

Credentials
Credentials

Segmentation of Employers
Level of demand for verifiable
credentials (VCs)

Role of VCs in continuing
education of staff

Motivation for Validation /Verification

Large Employers

Verification already taken careof by credential verification /background check companies

Strong interest in increasing
metadata included incredentials for credentials
earned during employment

At application stage maininterest in metadata.
Verification more relevant atpre-hiring stage.

Small Medium Enterprises

Tends to be done in house (ornot done) - verifiable
credentials would offer
significant benefits, but only if
low barrier to entry

Hard to do - SMEs tend not tohave a training infrastructure of
their own - more somethingthat would come fromoutsourcing partners

At application stage metadata
is critical - verification of thecredential only comes at prehiring stage.

Regulated professions

Verifiable credentials are an
absolute necessity for every
application process

Strong alignment with use ofverifiable credentials forcontinuing education

Credential verification can beprerequisite to enter
application process

Towards a Tipping Point of Adoption
For high-value academic credentials (diplomas) automatic
verification only does not offer sufficient value to drive
adoption.
Existing verification systems are not bad enough toincentivize change.
Rate of uptake will be directly correlated with the volumeof credentials and the quality of metadata.

There is a gap between thevalue digital credentials

Insight

provide today and thepotential benefits they
offer in the future (andexpectations of thesebenefits)Barriers to Adoption - Processes● For simpler use cases: the ‘chicken and egg’ problem● (Potential) Issuers do not issue the types of credentials
employers need or want
● The design of CVs and their relationship to credentials isbuilt for a paper-first world● Strong interest in skills-based hiring, but few casestudies or evidence of success (to date)● Next-Gen credentials that better represent skills bringadvantages to users, but not necessarily to the issuers

The Skills-Based Hiring Paradox

Employers claim skills-based hiring is the future
while continuing to rely on degrees as proxies fortalent and not issuing skills-credentials forachievements of their own employees (which might
be the key enabler of skills-based hiring)Barriers to Adoption - Systems● Many of the standards and technologies necessary for
adoption of true skill-based hiring are still relatively new○○○Academic achievement <-> CV linking
Sectoral competence frameworks
Standards for trust● The stickiness of existing trust networks for credentials
has been underestimated● Validation of credentials (as opposed to verification) islargely unsolved

Recommendations

Moving Beyond
Pilots - Start
Issuing DataRich(er)Credentials atScale● For ‘equivalence’ credentials - issuers
should issue to entire student cohort assoon as possible, rather than continue tofocus on pilots● Only requirement is selecting widely
accepted envelope (and content) standards● In short-term, minimise risk by maintaining
primacy (or equivalence) of older forms ofcredentials● Continue piloting and experimenting withmore complex use cases, but not at theexpense of deployment

Create an ‘Open
Benchmark’ for
Digital Credentials● Demand (demonstrated) interoperability
and compliance with existing open
standards (JFF Plugfest)● Short answer: Open Badges v3 or other
W3C Verifiable Credentials based
standards (CLR 2.0 supports OBv3)● This could take the form of a ‘guidance foruse’ standard or a Gallery of Examples,endorsed by key stakeholders from acrossthe skills space

Develop Trust
Infrastructures● Leverage existing processes foraccreditation, as well as other trust
registries● Work with trust issuers in thelicencing/accreditation domain to digitise
their lists and link them to credentials● Include information on trust networks inissued credentials● Opportunity to more actively engage withprofessional associations

Enhance theEvidence Base for
Skills-BasedHiring● Implement end-to-end high-quality
deployments, performed within a closed
system that meet the following criteria○○○○

Requirement for verified credentials
Network of approved providers / qualifications
Mix of degrees and continuing professional
education credentials
Clear competence requirements / progression
pathways● Conduct additional research on skillsframeworks, and the extent to which skills
can be documented and serve as a proxy
for talentIncrease
Employer-Issuingof Skills andAchievement
Credentials● Research & Pilots○○○

Which processes in employment can be adapted
to incorporate formal skills assessments
Necessary prerequisites, both technological andmethodological
How to integrate them seamlessly into HRMS
systems, and issue credentials to them more orless automatically● Scope for significant knowledge transfer
between academia and employment in thisareaTackle
Validation● Making display and validation libraries
available would lower burden on
developers who need to support multiple
semantic standards and credential styles○APIs are also an option, but a less resilient choice● Incentivizing a network of validators (linkedto specific use cases) is key to accelerating
adoption● Regulated professions (for examplehealthcare) seem to hold most potential forthese use cases

Propose a ‘Digital
Credentials
Roadmap’● 5 year plan that makes clear what can bedone now, what is for the future, and what
are the prerequisites● With full participation of employers,
issuers, trust-providers, standardisation
experts and SIS/HRMS vendors● Could be convened by any stakeholder
with enough influence, or by government● Leveraging a wealth of existing researchfrom many orgs

Questions / Comments?