Credential EngineCredential Engine
Fact Sheets

Questions for Developers Building a Connected Learn-and-Work Ecosystem

These questions are intended to help potential developer partners think about the various ways you might use Credential Engine’s Registry and the CTDL schema.
Download Resource

With so many credentials being offered in America, there is a growing opportunity to advance modern data practices for a connected learn-and-work ecosystem. Credential Engine’s Registry and the openly-licensed Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL) schema are key strategic assets that can integrate with, and add value to, your products and services. The following questions are intended to help potential developer partners think about the various ways you might use Credential Engine’s Registry and the CTDL schema.

Credential Engine provides a variety of free and fee-based services to support your needs.

  1. Credential information is relevant to many different stakeholders and use cases. How have you researched how the users of your product or service might want to discover, access, link, and/or share credential information? What credential-related use cases are most valuable to you?
  2. Credential Engine’s Registry contains descriptive public information about credential offerings; it’s NOT a Registry of credentials issued to individuals and it does not contain any personally identifiable information. Do you plan to publish credential information to the Registry, consume credential information out of the Registry, or both?
  3. Credential information can be communicated in multiple ways, such as with verbal interviews, paper documents, on the web, machine-readable (Excel), non-proprietary formats (CSV, pdf, JSON), open standards (RDF, SPARQL), and linked open data formats (JSON-LD, CTDL, OpenBadges, CLR). How do you plan to use credential data with your product or service?
  4. Are you planning to use the Registry for your own research purposes or do you plan to develop an application for other people? Note: Credential Engine’s Terms of Use contains unique License and Use permissions for individual users, publishers, and developers.
  5. The CTDL schema contains over 700 terms to describe everything about a credential offering (such as, credential type, availability, costs, learning opportunities, assessments, credits, competencies, occupations, pathways, transfer value, quality assurance, outcomes, etc.). What specific credential information are you focused on relative to the Credential Registry?
  6. The Credential Engine Registry is being scaled up in multiple states and therefore the availability of credential information is geographically clustered (for details see our Registry data reports). Meaningful learn-and-work ecosystems can be developed in specific localities. Have you explored if the Registry already contains the information needed for your product or service? To view data already in the Registry, see the Credential Finder.
  7. If you plan to publish credential information, Credential Engine’s Registry and Publishers Agreement support multiple publishing methods (manual editor, bulk upload, and API) as well as different types of organizational agreements (first party publishing, trusted third-party publishing). Have you thought about how you plan to publish credential information to the Registry? What is the relationship between your organization and the authoritative owner or issuer of the credentials?
  8. If you are planning an API-based publishing service, do you have a plan for
    • creating and managing CTIDs over time,
    • mapping your data to the Credential Engine’s Registry Assistant API; and
    • ensuring you can assemble all information required in Credential Engine’s Minimum Data Policy?
  9. Credential Engine supports product and service developers at all stages of development via customized MOUs and Developer Agreements. As a nonprofit organization focused on advancing credential transparency as a public good, we are interested in forming mutually-beneficial partnerships that advance our mission while contributing to our financial sustainability. Have you reflected on the value of Credential Engine’s Registry and CTDL for your current and future business models?
  10. A strong partnership requires each organization to evaluate the opportunity and commit to its success. Considering the scope of Credential Engine’s services, who from your organization needs to be aware of this partnership opportunity and engaged in the evaluation process.

Share this Resource

Tags: Credential Registry, CTDL, Data, Developing
Fact Sheets

Publishing Jobs Data with CTDL: One-Pager

Publishing linked open data about jobs increases opportunities for people to achieve their learning and career pathway goals spanning education, training, and work. Using the Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL) and the Credential Registry offers an open standard, transparent, and data-driven approach to bridging the gap between education and work in data ecosystems. It supports informed decision-making, effective skill matching, and collaborative partnerships for the betterment of learners, employers, and the economy. This one-pager provides key value propositions for improving the connections between learning and work in data ecosystems.

Fact Sheets

The Value of CTDL for AI

As uses of AI and machine learning are very quickly evolving for applications like skills mapping, learning opportunity recommendations, and career exploration, CTDL provides huge advantages for improved accuracy and relevance in these applications. The CTDL schema and CTDL data in the Credential Registry are highly useful for training and refining AI models because they are structured data that is organized, predefined, and formatted consistently. And the more data that is available in CTDL, the more thoroughly AI tools can analyze patterns in the linked open data and make valuable connections. Credential Engine is working with partners on innovations that combine CTDL as a rich data schema, the huge body of CTDL data that is already in the Credential Registry, and new AI-assisted tools that publish to and consume from the Credential Registry. This resource provides an overview of structured data and the value of CTDL for AI.

Report

Equity Advisory Council Report and Recommendations

Credential Engine’s work is centered around data transparency. Transparent, linked, open data has been identified as a particularly valuable tool for revealing inequities, understanding their root causes, and then informing and driving systemic change in a number of areas, including postsecondary education and training. Credential Engine understands that in a society rife with inequities, a commitment to open data use alone is not sufficient. To support the intentional identification and publishing of key data to aid the field in assessing equitable pathways, transfer, and the recognition of learning, Credential Engine convened a broad coalition of equity-focused thought leaders, called the Equity Advisory Council (EAC). The Council, along with HCM Strategists, and Credential Engine staff worked diligently to create a report of recommendations.

Fact Sheets

Developer Agreement

Organizations that utilize our APIs are allowed a 6-month testing period, after which a developer agreement is required. Download this resource to preview the agreement.

View All Resources
Fact Sheets

Publishing Jobs Data with CTDL: One-Pager

Publishing linked open data about jobs increases opportunities for people to achieve their learning and career pathway goals spanning education, training, and work. Using the Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL) and the Credential Registry offers an open standard, transparent, and data-driven approach to bridging the gap between education and work in data ecosystems. It supports informed decision-making, effective skill matching, and collaborative partnerships for the betterment of learners, employers, and the economy. This one-pager provides key value propositions for improving the connections between learning and work in data ecosystems.

Fact Sheets

The Value of CTDL for AI

As uses of AI and machine learning are very quickly evolving for applications like skills mapping, learning opportunity recommendations, and career exploration, CTDL provides huge advantages for improved accuracy and relevance in these applications. The CTDL schema and CTDL data in the Credential Registry are highly useful for training and refining AI models because they are structured data that is organized, predefined, and formatted consistently. And the more data that is available in CTDL, the more thoroughly AI tools can analyze patterns in the linked open data and make valuable connections. Credential Engine is working with partners on innovations that combine CTDL as a rich data schema, the huge body of CTDL data that is already in the Credential Registry, and new AI-assisted tools that publish to and consume from the Credential Registry. This resource provides an overview of structured data and the value of CTDL for AI.

Report

Equity Advisory Council Report and Recommendations

Credential Engine’s work is centered around data transparency. Transparent, linked, open data has been identified as a particularly valuable tool for revealing inequities, understanding their root causes, and then informing and driving systemic change in a number of areas, including postsecondary education and training. Credential Engine understands that in a society rife with inequities, a commitment to open data use alone is not sufficient. To support the intentional identification and publishing of key data to aid the field in assessing equitable pathways, transfer, and the recognition of learning, Credential Engine convened a broad coalition of equity-focused thought leaders, called the Equity Advisory Council (EAC). The Council, along with HCM Strategists, and Credential Engine staff worked diligently to create a report of recommendations.

Fact Sheets

Developer Agreement

Organizations that utilize our APIs are allowed a 6-month testing period, after which a developer agreement is required. Download this resource to preview the agreement.

Get in Touch

Our team of experts is ready to help you embark your credential transparency journey. Whether you have questions about our technologies, services, or don’t know how to get started, we’re here to assist.

Name(Required)
Skip to content