Align credentials and micro-credentials with the critical capabilities needed in the workforce

WINNIPEG, Manitoba and VANCOUVER, British Columbia - July 14, 2021

Align credentials and micro-credentials such as badges with skill and competency frameworks.

Skills gaps continue to be high as in-demand skills across jobs change in the next five years.

World Economic Forum, The Future of Jobs Report 2020
As the nature of work changes and new skills are required for work, educational and training organizations are under increased pressure to align courses and curriculums with the needs of employers. At the same time, businesses need to build new capabilities quickly and to recognise the emergent skills of their employees. The GoFrameworks alignment hub brings together the most important skill and competency frameworks used by educators and employers, along with other important frameworks such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

“Competency frameworks are emerging as a powerful way to understand the skills needed to perform in critical roles needed in the emerging economy,” says Dr. David Porter, a leading expert on how to connect education and training to the needs of the workforce and the former CEO of eCampusOntario. “Being able to align badges and other micro-credentials with these frameworks will help make education and training programs more relevant.”

GoFrameworks has been developed and managed in a partnership between Learning Agents in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Ibbaka Performance of Vancouver, British Columbia. Ibbaka develops and manages the Ibbaka Talent platform, the skill and competency management system that underpins GoFrameworks. Learning Agents manages CanCred, a cloud service that provides micro-credentialing and other Open Badges solutions to employers and educators across Canada. CanCred runs on technology provided by Open Badge Factory.

For its launch, GoFrameworks is featuring five frameworks: Ontario Essential Employability Skills, Shopify’s Remote Working Skills, Advanced Manufacturing Model, UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Ibbaka Open Competency Model for Design Thinking. Other frameworks will be added in the coming months.

The World Economic Forum has identified skill gaps as a critical risk to economic recovery and growth "Skills gaps continue to be high as in-demand skills across jobs change in the next five years.” Competency frameworks are the map and micro-credentials are the compass to close these gaps.

About GoFrameworks:
GoFrameworks (https://www.info.goframeworks.io/) is a partnership of Learning Agents and Ibbaka to provide competency frameworks that can be aligned with the CanCred (https://www.cancred.ca/) open badges system and other micro-credential systems based on the Open Badge Factory platform (https://openbadgefactory.com/en/). Other platforms, such as Learning Management Systems can also be supported. The GoFrameworks service can be accessed directly or integrated with other platforms using its API. Free and custom levels of access are available. Learn more about How to engage (https://www.info.goframeworks.io/how-to-engage) on the website. The prototype for GoFrameworks was made possible by a partnership with St. Lawrence College and the Government of Ontario. Ibbaka’s Open Competency Models are also available on its Library of Open Competency Models (https://www.ibbaka.com/open-competency-models-page#3).

About Learning Agents:
Learning Agents (http://learningagents.ca)
Learning Agents was founded in 2000 to connect people with skills and careers through educational technologies. CanCred by Learning Agents was launched in 2017 to bring Open Badge Factory (OBF) micro-credential technology from Europe to Canada, as a service for Canadians by Canadians.

About Ibbaka Performance:
Ibbaka (https://www.ibbaka.com) provides software for high growth companies to optimize planning and execution of key growth initiatives like customer value and company capabilities, while improving company performance. Ibbaka leverages unique data-driven analytical capabilities for unparalleled insights into drivers of and levers for growth and profitability.

The World Economic Forum Report on The Future of Jobs.
http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs_2020.pdf

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The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

For more information, press only:

PR Contact: Liam Hannaford
email: lhannaford@ibbaka.com

For more information on Go Frameworks:
Don Presant, President
CanCred by Learning Agents
email: don@learningagents.ca

Steven Forth, Managing Partner
Ibbaka Performance
email: steven@ibbaka.com