From policy discussions to practical implementation of digital credentialing. Velocert joined the Microcredentials Masterclass 2026 as main sponsor, highlighting that ready-to-use infrastructure for digital credentials is already in place.
For the second year in a row, our team attended the Microcredentials Masterclass (MCMC) as a main sponsor, contributing to discussions shaping the future of learning and work.
MCMC 2026 brought together policymakers, higher education leaders, VET providers, European University Alliances, EdTech experts and labour market stakeholders to explore how micro-credentials are evolving across Europe and beyond. Under the theme “Where Technology Meets Micro-credentials”, the focus was on how policy, design and technology come together in practice.
Across three days of masterclasses, policy discussions and interactive sessions, participants explored how micro-credentials are designed, assessed, recognised and delivered. Sessions combined strategic perspectives with concrete examples from universities, alliances and technology providers, highlighting both progress and open questions around quality, trust and interoperability.
As part of the programme, Sebastjan Pirih presented “Bridging the Trust Gap for a Portable Skills Economy.” The session addressed a key practical challenge: although credentials are increasingly digital, they are often still tied to proprietary platforms or not issued in a verifiable, machine-readable format. This limits their usability across systems and keeps value fragmented across different environments.
As shown in the presentation, Velocert aligns credential issuance with key European frameworks, including EDC (for trusted, verifiable credentials), ELM (for structured, interoperable data) and ESCO (for skills alignment), while also bridging to standards such as Open Badges v3. This approach enables institutions to issue credentials that are verifiable, portable and usable across systems, while also remaining flexible in format.
While micro-credentials are often associated with short-form learning and labour market needs, they represent only one part of a broader shift toward issuing credentials that are recognised and usable across the EU. With the rollout of the EUDI digital wallet, this shift will become even more relevant.
The ecosystem is evolving, with many promising use cases already emerging. At the same time, differences in national approaches and varying levels of institutional readiness still create some uncertainty.
Events like MCMC play an important role in making the direction clearer. Our role is to support it in practice, with ready-to-use infrastructure and expertise that help institutions move from discussion to implementation.
More on this approach:
https://velocert.com/2026/01/16/announcing-open-badge-credentials-obv3/
