IBM “Digital Badges” The Quantifiable Skills Report Card

Fox Business is running a series “The Boomer“. In this article reporter Casey Dowd interviews David Leaser, Senior Program Executive, Innovation and Growth for IBM. Leaser details a program of skills enrichment at IBM and 40% of enrollees are boomers.

The program has over 1,000 activities from online courses to hackathons. Participants earn “badges” for each activity. The badges are verifiable proof that the participant has successfully participated and successfully completed an assessment at the end of each.

Leaser describes the program:

Badges are a digital display of hot skills in areas like analytics, cloud and cybersecurity. At IBM, you can participate in hundreds of qualified activities, such as online courses or hackathons, to earn an IBM digital badge. Our programs require you take an assessment – you don’t get an IBM badge just for showing up.

The verification goes beyond the walls of IBM too. The proof of completion can be shared online via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and on a resume. The skills achievement is also a searchable term too, for employers looking for candidates with those badges.

The IBM program could be a model for ongoing learning with skills competency and discreet knowledge modules the new currency for hiring workers.

Link to full article: IBM’s digital badges help keep skills fresh and up to date

Photo by: Fabrice Florin