# Digital Management of Competencies in Web 3.0: The C-Box(r) Approach
## 2 Background
### Open Badges  
An Open Badge is a _digital certificate_ that allows users to recognize and represent a person's competencies in a transparent and _portable_ way [3]. Open badges consist of an image that represents the recognition itself, accompanied by detailed metadata that provide additional information about the competency or goal achieved, such as information about the issuer of the badge, its recipient, the award criteria, a thorough description of the competence or achievement obtained, and the date of issue. The most important feature of an Open Badge is its portability: once it is obtained, a person can keep it and share it on different digital platforms, such as social media, online resumes, or personal portfolios. This allows individuals to effectively present their competencies and accomplishments to potential employers, educators, or community members. To achieve such portability, Open Badges are based on an _open technical standard_: the Open Badges standard--originally created by the Mozilla Foundation ([[https://web.archive](https://web.archive)]([https://web.archive](https://web.archive)). org/web/20160426204303/[[https://openbadgespec.org/](https://openbadgespec.org/)]([https://openbadgespec.org/](https://openbadgespec.org/)) archived from the no longer accessible original page, accessed on 23 October 2023) and now maintained and developed by the 1 EdTech organisation--defines a software format for Open Badges, including the badge image, associated metadata, and how it must be managed and shared. As an example, Figure 1 shows a representation of an Open Badge with JSON metadata--a lightweight data representation format particularly suitable for web applications. Version 3.0 of Open Badges was published in July 2023 ([[https://ledtech.github.io/openbadges-specification/ob_v3p0.html](https://ledtech.github.io/openbadges-specification/ob_v3p0.html)]([https://ledtech.github.io/openbadges-specification/ob_v3p0.html](https://ledtech.github.io/openbadges-specification/ob_v3p0.html)), accessed on 23 October 2023), introducing several new features and improvements towards realising the vision of Web 3.0: that is, a global effort by major web organisations to \"give the web back to the people\", pushing for maximum decentralisation of control and user-centric data ownership. This update included:  
* Support for Verifiable Credentials (VCs)--see Section 2.2.2;
* Interoperability with digital wallets capable of hosting users' VCs;
* A greater focus on data privacy and security through the use of technologies such as end-to-end encryption and data management based on user consent;
* Support for Linked Data (via the representation format JSON-LD), a technology that allows linking of the information contained in digital badges to other information on the web in order to provide a broader context. Open Badges offer numerous advantages in mapping the competencies acquired by people in all training and experiential contexts, such as (i) detailed documentation of the knowledge and competencies acquired, (ii) digital portability, (ii) easy sharing, and (iv) automated _verifiability_--a process that guarantees the _authenticity_ and _validity_ of a badge awarded to a person: that is, whether the badge has been actually issued and by what organization, and that the badge has not been altered or counterfeited. As such, they have established themselves as the de-facto standard for recognising and assessing individual competencies in a transparent and certifiable way. However, the validity of an Open Badge is closely bound to the fate of the platform that issued it in the first place: if, for any reason, such a platform discontinues its service, gets hacked, or loses data, the badge would no longer be transportable and/or verifiable ([PERSON], 2018).