City, state and national governments move to ease qualification-sharing
Government agencies in various countries have been actively involved in issuing digital credentials to their citizens and temporary residents to provide access to resources.
For instance, the New South Wales (NSW) Government has collaborated with Learning Vault to create a digital skills passport platform in Australia. This platform enables individuals to manage and share their skills and qualifications through verifiable credentials.
In Europe, Zug is the first city in Switzerland to reach a production rollout of digital credentials and is exploring diverse use cases. This includes providing digital employee certification for teachers, allowing them to access discounts at stationery stores. Similarly, the Seychelles government has introduced digital IDs for work permit holders, replacing traditional physical IDs.
Learning Vault develops a digital skills platform to share qualifications
Learning Vault, an Australian digital credentialing platform, has developed a digital skills passport platform for the New South Wales (NSW) Government’s Industry Skills Accelerator program. The platform aims to allow individuals to collect, manage, and share their skills and qualifications as digital, verifiable credentials.
Through a competitive selection process held in 2022, the Bradfield Development Authority chose Learning Vault to create the digital skills passport as part of the pilot program. The program transitioned into a commercial initiative in July 2024, expanding the scope to offer industry-led upskilling micro-credentials. The digital passport is anticipated to empower up to 1,500 workers.
Employers and other institutions can verify the digital credentials, which are encrypted, tamper-proof, and machine-readable, and comply with standards such as the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF).
The platform also offers a skills wallet feature, a digital repository for storing and managing credentials. According to the company, these credentials can be shared across over 170 platforms, including social media, email, websites, and email signatures.
“The leading-edge platform developed by Learning Vault enables learners to stack and share their micro-credentials with employers and their wider professional network,” says Peter Mackey, executive director of skills and industry capability at Bradfield Development Authority.
The platform’s digital credentials can be tailored to include specific metadata about the credential and recipient. These credentials can be configured with expiration dates for certifications that require renewal, and they also support stacked credentials to demonstrate skill progression.
Algorithms are utilized on the platform to align credentials with employer criteria. Additionally, the company collaborates with learning management systems such as etrainu to distribute credentials to learners.
Municipal digital credentials in Switzerland from Procivis
The city of Zug, Switzerland, claims to be the first to implement digital credentials as part of its eGovernment platform. The system utilizes Procivis One, a specialized software for issuing, managing, and verifying digital identities and credentials. The city aims to expand this program to the federal level by 2026 as part of the larger E-ID ecosystem.
As its first use case, Zug provides over 500 teachers with digital employee certification, accessible through the eZug mobile application. The digital certificate replaces traditional cards and allows teachers to validate their eligibility for discounts at stationery stores. Additionally, Zug is exploring using digital credentials to issue and verify permits for market stalls.
“The city of Zug can use this solution to make administrative processes more efficient while ensuring compliance with legal requirements. Moreover, we are further promoting digitization in the city of Zug and supporting innovative approaches,” says Nicolas Lemaitre, project lead for Smart City at the city of Zug.
Procivis One adheres to a privacy-by-design framework, ensuring minimal collection and exposure of personal data, Procivis claims. The company states that the software is production-ready for real-world use by public authorities and businesses.
Additionally, Procivis secured a contract to create digital credential wallets for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), along with five other companies.
Seychelles to issue digital IDs to new work permit holders
The Government of Seychelles will roll out a virtual identification card through the SeyID platform starting September 17. This will replace the physical ID cards for work permit holders. By implementing digital identity verification, the aim is to streamline the operations of the Department of Immigration and Civil Status.
Virtual identities will be granted for the duration of the active work permit. It will be the joint responsibility of the employee and the employer to ensure that the virtual ID and work permit remain up to date. Furthermore, the SeyID system will extend its digital ID services to citizens residing abroad, allowing them to access their national identification.
“The benefits to this new service will include a reduction of the administrative process, it will facilitate control and identity verification as well as reducing the number of people who stand in lines, hence improving the efficiency of the department,” Alain Volcere, principal secretary for Immigration told reporters, as covered by Seychelles News Agency.
The virtual ID services include the renewal of biometric passports at Seychelles embassies in Paris, London, and the UAE. However, individuals seeking a biometric passport for the first time must submit their documents to Seychelles for identity verification.
Furthermore, the Department of Immigration and Civil Status has developed additional digital infrastructure, such as the introduction of CertExpress. This digital platform enables Seychellois citizens to request and acquire birth, marriage, and death certificates.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Abhishek Jadhav
Quelle/Source: Biometric Update, 19.09.2024
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