What Are Open Badges?
Open Badges are portable, verifiable digital credentials that represent an individual’s skills, achievements, or certifications. Each badge contains embedded metadata—including the issuing organization, the criteria required to earn it, and evidence of achievement—ensuring that the credential is both authentic and transparent.
Open Badges can be shared across professional networks, résumés, websites, and digital portfolios, making them a flexible way to communicate validated accomplishments.
How The Open Group Uses Open Badges
The Open Group issues Open Badges to individuals who earn certifications, credentials, or other recognized achievements across its portfolio of programs. These badges:
- Provide a digital representation of an individual’s certification
- Include verifiable metadata about the achievement
- Allow certified individuals to share their credentials easily with employers, peers, and professional communities
- Support lifelong learning by enabling individuals to build a visible, portable record of their professional development
Open Badges complement The Open Group’s certification programs by making achievements more accessible, transparent, and widely recognized.
How to Opt-in?
Invitations to opt-in to the program are automatically sent when you earn your first badge, you can also opt-in manually using this opt-in link (login required)
Who The Open Group Partners With
To deliver Open Badges, The Open Group partners with Credly, a global leader in digital credentialing. Credly provides the platform used to issue, manage, and verify badges. Through this partnership:
- Badges are issued using a trusted, industry‑standard system
- Individuals receive a secure digital credential they can manage and share
- Employers and organizations can verify certifications quickly and reliably
This partnership ensures that badges issued by The Open Group meet high standards of credibility and interoperability.
Benefits of Open Badges
For Individuals
- Easy to share: Each badge has a unique URL that can be added to résumés, websites, and social media profiles.
- Career visibility: Badges help individuals clearly communicate their certifications to peers, colleagues, and prospective employers.
- Competitive advantage: Displaying verified achievements helps individuals stand out when pursuing new roles or career opportunities.
For details on how to share your badge please see the Credly support pages
For Organizations
- Improved verification: Recruiters can quickly confirm the authenticity and context of a candidate’s certifications.
- Better insight into skills: Embedded metadata provides detailed information about what the credential represents.
- More informed hiring: Clear, verifiable credentials support more accurate and thorough decision‑making during recruitment.
Open Badges Support
For support for your Open Badge, and Frequently Asked Questions and Answers see The Open Group Help Center.
Credly Open Badges Support
Visit the Credly Help Center for detailed answers to frequently asked questions.
Terms and Conditions: Issuance of an Open Badge is based on the applicable criteria, if any, for the badge. Badges shall only be used in connection with your own certifications and achievements. The Open Group reserves the rights to modify the program or withdraw the program with no notice.