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Digital Badging Supporting Training Accreditation on a Global Scale
Setting the Scene
The International Well Control Forum (IWCF) is the only independent body focused on oil and gas well training and accreditation. As a governing body for the oil and gas industry IWCF manages the assessment and certification of a large number of candidates worldwide through their global network of training centres. Assessments are presented in 17 languages and include both knowledge and practical elements.
The Challenge
In 2017 IWCF issued over 25,000 paper certificates to candidates who successfully completed their assessment. This helped them demonstrate their skills and knowledge, for a particular role, to an employer. For organisations in the oil and gas industry, being able to verify the qualifications their employees hold is an essential part of demonstrating the organisation’s compliance. For IWCF, managing the certification process was a labour-intensive, time-consuming process. In looking to make this more efficient, IWCF asked eCom for help.
The Solution
IWCF were already using a bespoke version of eCom’s assessment platform eNetAssess™, called FORUM. With FORUM, IWCF are able to easily access candidate information and monitor the skills of thousands of personnel across the industry. The next logical step was to include the option for candidates to receive electronic certification (eCerts) or digital badging. To do this, eCom extended FORUM’s capabilities, by integrating our digital micro-credentialing tool eNetBadges. This has made it possible to issue a digital badge to successful candidates, which means that IWCF and their assessment centres can now avoid the logistical challenges involved with issuing paper certificates. And to help fully optimise the process, we also created a bespoke mobile app to make it even easier for candidates to receive and share their training accreditation eCerts.
The Benefits
With their fully digital process, IWCF have been able to significantly reduce the wait time for candidate certification. This makes it easier for candidates to prove their qualifications and helps them demonstrate their certifications more quickly. IWCF eCerts are more secure than a paper certificate due to the unique code held in the digital badge. There is also meta-data included within each badge that enables accredited centres, potential employers, organisations and individuals to confirm the digital badge is valid in the oil and gas sector, and has been issued by IWCF.
The mobile app is a more convenient way for candidates to access and demonstrate their qualifications at any time, wherever they are, on the device of their choosing. They can also easily share badges across the web, including social media channels. IWCF also award an eCert to each assessment centre after the completion of a successful audit. These eCerts can be displayed on the centre’s website and social networking sites, helping the centres to promote themselves and IWCF qualifications. The eCerts are a much more cost effective training accreditation for IWCF too. Printing and shipping costs have been virtually eliminated and there has also been a significant reduction in the amount of administration time needed.
Check out their website, for more information on the IWCF eCerts.
What our clients have to say
The introduction of digital certificates within IWCF has positively impacted our accredited training centres and candidates. There are many benefits including reduced costs, increased security and the ability for candidates to share their qualifications through social media.
Joanna Taylor, Head of Operations
