Use of Digital Credentials for Membership Organizations

How to use digital credentials for the benefit of both the organization and its members is a crucial question. Another question being should we issue digital certificates or digital badges or both? If both are to be issued should we issue them separately or together?

Digital credential consists of Digital Certificates and Digital Badges.

Digital certificates are the digital equivalent to paper-based certificates. They can be issued as a high-stake credential for obtaining a degree, completing a qualification or accomplishing a project. The anatomy of a digital certificate consists of the organization credentials, recipient name, qualified degree credentials, date of issue and digital signature of the respective authority.

Digital badges are low-stake credentials awarded for making a progress, obtaining a soft skill and hard skill, loyalty-based reward, engagement in an activity, displaying a quality or qualification and so on. Digital badges are set under technical standards of Open Badges founded by Mozilla which are backed with meta-data that verifies its authenticity.

Digital credentials are shareable, portable and verifiable. Both digital certificates and digital badges save time and expenses that go into issuing physical certification and badges.

Use of Digital Credentials for Membership Organization:

Digital certificates:

states the name and achievement of the member providing recognition can be downloaded, scanned and printed to display in a portfolio, CV, resume, or any other requirement verify the qualification and acts as an evidence for the qualification are digitally signed by the authority adding to the verification and validity

Digital Badges:

can be issued for volunteering, engaging and interacting in an activity, task or a project can be issued to its employees, volunteering people or board of members Is the most efficient way to recognise a members contribution to the organisation

In Conclusion:

Digital credentials are shareable and verified credentials that can be used to display and share across all digital platforms. Digital credential cuts the costs that initially goes into the physical issue of certificates and badges.