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
Because it is the most innovative and reliable platform, issuing on blockchain with international standards.
Not necessarily: they are a modern complement that ensures authenticity and portability.
It is a verifiable electronic certificate that represents academic or professional achievements, with global validity.
POK – Proof of Knowledge is a digital credential software company and a global platform for verifiable credentials, present in more than 20 countries across the Americas, Europe, and Asia, used by universities, training centers, companies, and governments. Our technology combines NFTs on blockchain, Open Badge 3.0, and the European Learning Model, offering maximum security, interoperability, and prestige in every issued credential.
Global impact:
Global impact:
- United States
Over 100 universities in 18 months, replacing traditional platforms thanks to innovation and the white-label model.
“POK gave us a leap in quality in credential issuance. The interoperability and traceability with NFTs made a difference that is impossible to match” — Laura Johnson, Vice President of Academic Innovation - Mexico
Collaboration with universities in Mexico City, Jalisco, and Nuevo León to improve employability and international visibility.
“The ease of integration with our systems and one-click validation optimized processes and added more value to our certifications” — Carlos Martínez, Director of Educational Technology - Argentina
Projects with leading institutions and government agencies in Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santa Fe.
“Thanks to POK, our graduates now carry secure and shareable credentials worldwide” — Mariana López, Dean of Academic Innovation - Colombia
Micro-credentials and blockchain diplomas in Bogotá, Medellín, and Antioquia.
“POK not only certifies, it connects our graduates with better job opportunities” — Andrés Torres, Coordinator of Continuing Education - Chile
Micro-credentials and international certifications in Santiago, Valparaíso, and Concepción.
“Issuing credentials as NFTs positions us as leaders in educational innovation” — Paula Rivas, Academic Vice-Rector - Brazil
Integration of verifiable credentials in undergraduate, graduate, and corporate education in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Minas Gerais.
“The student experience changed radically with verifiable and portable credentials” — Felipe Souza, Director of Innovation - Spain
Adoption of Open Badge 3.0 and NFT credentials in Madrid, Catalonia, and Andalusia.
“POK gave us international visibility and ensured certifications with the highest European standards” — Isabel García, Head of Academic Innovation - Uruguay
Verifiable digital credentials for academic and training institutions in Montevideo and Maldonado.
“Our graduates now have globally recognized and verifiable credentials” — Martín Pérez, Academic Director - Other countries
Presence in Peru, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Portugal, France, Italy, Japan, and Australia, always with the same goal: to guarantee secure, verifiable, and valuable credentials anywhere in the world.