Open Badges 3.0: The global standard for verifiable digital credentials
Open Badges 3.0 represent the most advanced evolution of the open standard for verifiable digital credentials. Developed and maintained by the 1EdTech Consortium (formerly IMS Global), Open Badges are a globally recognized format for issuing, sharing, and validating academic, professional, and online learning achievements.
This standard enables educational institutions, companies, governments, and communities to issue portable, secure, and interoperable digital credentials that users can store in their digital wallets and present in different contexts: from a LinkedIn profile to job applications or learning platforms.
What makes Open Badges 3.0 unique?
- Total interoperability: Based on 1EdTech guidelines and linked to technologies such as W3C Verifiable Credentials (VCs), badges can be used across multiple systems without being locked into a single platform.
- Verifiability: Each badge contains digitally signed metadata proving its authenticity, issuer, and achievement criteria.
- Global standardization: As an open standard, any institution can issue and any user can store and display their credentials without relying on a closed provider.
- Formal and informal recognition: Used not only for university degrees or corporate certifications but also for soft skills, microcredentials, and lifelong learning achievements.
The role of 1EdTech in Open Badges
1EdTech Consortium is the international organization leading the creation and evolution of this standard. Its mission is to ensure that digital learning ecosystems are open, accessible, and interoperable.
With Open Badges 3.0, 1EdTech ensures compatibility with other standards such as Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR) and W3C VCs, reinforcing the vision of a world where everyone can maintain a unique digital portfolio of academic and professional achievements, verifiable anywhere in the world.
With Open Badges 3.0, 1EdTech ensures compatibility with other standards such as Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR) and W3C VCs, reinforcing the vision of a world where everyone can maintain a unique digital portfolio of academic and professional achievements, verifiable anywhere in the world.
Benefits of implementing Open Badges 3.0
- Greater trust and transparency in validating achievements.
- Facilitates employability and skills-based recruitment.
- Promotes lifelong learning through microcredentials.
- Boosts institutional SEO, as issuing organizations are positioned as leaders in verifiable digital credentials.
Open Badges 3.0 at POK
At POK, we believe the value of a digital credential goes far beyond a simple file or image. That is why we adopted the Open Badges 3.0 (OB3.0) standard from 1EdTech, an organization we are proud to be partners with. This ensures that every certificate, diploma, or badge issued through our platform is secure, verifiable, portable, and interoperable, with international recognition.
By integrating OB3.0 with our blockchain and IPFS technologies, we make digital credentials:
This means that universities, companies, NGOs, and educational entities issuing credentials through POK are not only recognizing skills and achievements but also providing their learners and collaborators with credentials that meet the most advanced international standards.
In other words, at POK we don’t just issue digital credentials—we issue Open Badges 3.0 powered by blockchain, ready for the present and the future of learning and work.
By integrating OB3.0 with our blockchain and IPFS technologies, we make digital credentials:
- Immutable: blockchain ensures that each record is sealed and cannot be altered.
- Portable: users can take their credentials to any compatible digital wallet, without being tied to a single system.
- Interoperable: following the 1EdTech standard, badges issued by POK can be recognized across multiple educational and professional platforms worldwide.
- Verifiable: anyone can instantly and transparently validate the authenticity of a credential.
This means that universities, companies, NGOs, and educational entities issuing credentials through POK are not only recognizing skills and achievements but also providing their learners and collaborators with credentials that meet the most advanced international standards.
In other words, at POK we don’t just issue digital credentials—we issue Open Badges 3.0 powered by blockchain, ready for the present and the future of learning and work.
Frequently asked questions
For universities and higher education institutions, POK provides:
- Fraud prevention: blockchain-anchored credentials resistant to forgery, immediately verifiable by employers and institutions worldwide
- Mass issuance at scale: LMS integration enables issuing thousands of credentials in minutes with no manual effort
- Graduate visibility: one-click sharing to LinkedIn increases graduate employability and institutional brand reach
- International standards compliance: Open Badges 3.0, W3C Verifiable Credentials, European Learning Model, and Europass — enabling global credential recognition
- Cost elimination: no expenses for paper, printing, shipping, or manual verification processes
- Employment tracking: measure the real impact of credentials on graduate job opportunities — a differentiator few platforms offer
- Learning pathways: stack microcredentials into structured programs with advanced analytics
POK differentiates itself in five key areas:
- Only platform combining a 100% free unlimited plan with NFT blockchain credentials — no user caps, no setup costs, no expiration, and no lock-in.
- Security certifications: ISO 27001 and SOC 2 — independently audited standards for data protection and access management. Few credential platforms globally hold both.
- 1EdTech certified for data privacy — the international body managing Open Badges 3.0, ELM, and the TrustEd Credentials Framework.
- European Learning Model (ELM/Europass) compatible — enabling credential recognition across Europe and markets adopting this framework.
- Employment tracking and learning pathways — measuring the real impact of credentials on job opportunities, not just issuance.
A verifiable digital credential is an electronic certificate that represents an academic or professional achievement — such as a diploma, certification, badge, or license — with built-in cryptographic proof of authenticity.
Unlike traditional paper certificates or PDF documents:
POK takes this further by offering credentials as NFTs on public blockchain — the most advanced form of verifiable digital credential available.
Unlike traditional paper certificates or PDF documents:
- They include metadata — issuer identity, recipient name, issuance date, achievement criteria, and supporting evidence
- They can be verified instantly by anyone, anywhere, via a link or QR code — without contacting the issuing institution
- They are tamper-proof — any alteration is immediately detectable
- They are portable — shareable on LinkedIn, digital CVs, and professional platforms
POK takes this further by offering credentials as NFTs on public blockchain — the most advanced form of verifiable digital credential available.
A microcredential is a short, focused certification that validates a specific skill, competency, or learning outcome — smaller in scope than a full degree but formally recognized and verifiable.
Microcredentials are increasingly adopted by:
POK supports stackable microcredentials with learning pathways and advanced analytics, allowing institutions to track learner progress and measure the real impact of their programs on employability.
Microcredentials are increasingly adopted by:
- Universities offering modular learning programs and stackable pathways toward full degrees
- Companies certifying specific technical skills, compliance training, and professional development
- Governments recognizing vocational training and workforce upskilling programs
POK supports stackable microcredentials with learning pathways and advanced analytics, allowing institutions to track learner progress and measure the real impact of their programs on employability.