Why we moved from Open Badges to Open Recognition Belgium

On March 2nd, during the Open Data Day 2019 at BeCentral in Brussels, we have decided to rename the Open Knowledge Belgium working group on Open Badges as Open Recognition Belgium.

We need to make it clear that changing name is not about moving away from Open Badges but to anchor them into the original philosophy and vision that led to their creation: when initially prototyped during the 2010 Mozilla Festival, it was under the banner “Learning, Freedom, and the Web.”

Open Badges were not just a new technological Open Standard but the manifestation of a certain view of the world, on how the recognition of lifelong learning could (and should) work.

Over the years we have seen many Open Badges initiatives raising all over the world. Many were in line with Mozilla’s original vision. Others were not.

In 2016 the Bologna Open Recognition Declaration was adopted as the platform to launch the Open Recognition Alliance to revive and expand the initial spirit of Open Badges: Open Recognition. Until then the word “open” was used in conjunction with many other words, like open education, open standards, open data etc. but not with recognition.

With the creation of Open Recognition Belgium, we want to join and contribute to the Open Recognition community which is to anchor Open Badges in their original philosophy of openness and innovation.

You can now find us at openrecognition.be , follow us via twitter.com/openrecbe and talk with us in the Belgium channel on openrecognition.slack.com .