Toward an Ecosystem for Digital Credentials: Projects and Challenges of the University of Turin for Lifelong and Lifewide Learning Certifications

Lifelong learning has become increasingly important over the last few years due to the need to implement and constantly improve one’s competencies and knowledge to adapt to social and professional changes. This made informal and non-formal learning as crucial as formal learning, and it has promoted the development of a system of digital certifications complementary to the traditional certificates. The University of Turin has been testing methodologies and technological innovations for the digital transition since 2016 using Bestr—one of the most important Italian digital credentialing platforms—to valorize the competencies acquired in the academic system and connect them with the job market and the employers’ needs. This article aims to delineate the development phases of the various and complementary projects implemented on this matter, which have allowed the IT Systems, Website Management, E-Learning Division to reach in 2023 the necessary IT and teaching expertise and to realize a project entitled “Bestr Ecosystem for digital credentials at the University of Turin: Open Badge, Blockcerts and Blockchain for lifelong and lifewide learning” (the title will be shortened as “Bestr Ecosystem”). This project aims to streamline the certification of qualifications, strengthen the employability of students, optimize the recruitment process of potential employers, and start an automated system for the assignment of digital credentials of academic qualifications. The authors will analyze the strengths, weaknesses, and corrective actions taken to achieve the objectives set in the projects.