Badges and Certification | News
New Company Offers Third-Party Validation of Digital Badges
A new company called Accreditrust hopes to address the need for independent, third-party certification of digital badges. Its flagship offering, BadgeSafe, is a digital credential validation service that can be integrated into the learning environment to ensure badge authenticity.
"Badges are rapidly becoming a social currency that represents one's portfolio of professional and academic achievements," said Eric Korb, Accreditrust president and CEO, in a prepared statement. "And like any currency, badges must be validated to ensure their validity. Whether it's a license, a certificate, or a diploma, it is essential for stakeholders — including hiring managers, educators, government entities and procurement executives — to possess a high degree of confidence that a digital badge is authentic."
BadgeSafe, which is compatible with Mozilla's Open Badge Infrastructure, allows application developers to use a standards-based REST API over a SSL (secure sockets layer) connection to assert badges (and their associated metadata) with BadgeSafe certification. A unique secret key is issued to developers to ensure authority and security. BadgeSafe-encrypted badges can be instantly verified and authenticated even if the issuing system, service or organization ceases to respond. A BadgeSafe "keyhole" icon serves as a mark of authenticity for each badge, signifying that credentials are authentic and up-to-date.
Standard BadgeSafe services include:
- Issuer authorization key;
- Administrator control;
- Optional hosted branded criteria pages;
- Digital credential management (activate, validate, revoke, export); and
- Permanent curation in our carrier-class infrastructure.
Learn more at the Accreditrust site.
About the Author
Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].
