□ The Korea Education and Research Information Service (KERIS) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with 1EdTech, a US non-profit organization leading international standards in various digital education sectors, including the Open Badge standard, the international standard for digital badges, on March 7th.

○ The MOU was signed during the "2024 Digital Credentials Summit" held in New Orleans, USA, from March 4th to 6th, with the aim of active cooperation between the two organizations in digital badge initiatives and various EdTech applications.

□ KERIS has been researching various international standards related to digital education. It will operate the Domestic Digital Badge Council promoted by the Ministry of Education in 2024 to revitalize the domestic digital badge business.

○ 1EdTech has been playing a role in enhancing the reliability and status of digital badge-issuing platforms by certifying them. 1EdTech also possesses various international standards used in AI digital textbook development, and there are expected to be opportunities for cooperation with KERIS in various digital education fields in the future.

□ Sang-hyun Jang, Director of the Education Data Center at KERIS, said, "If we create an international digital credential ecosystem that can issue and distribute learner's learning outcome data, it will provide an opportunity to support not only personalized learning based on individual's abilities and skills but also national talent development policies."

Photo caption: Rob Abel, CEO of 1EdTech (left), Beatriz Arnillas, Vice President of 1EdTech (center), and Sang-hyun Jang, Director of the Education Data Center at KERIS (right)