Transforming Talent: T3 Innovation Network’s Vision at the 2024 Badge Summit
A Badge Summit Preview with Taylor Hansen
The T3 Innovation Network has been an exciting Presenting Sponsor of this year’s Badge Summit because of their collaboration in curating activations that will be meaningful for conference attendees. An initiative of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the T3 Network is involved as a leader and supporter of important work to help Learning & Employment Records (LERs) mature and scale, including several key infrastructure initiatives that are helping to foster the LER Ecosystem.
With our conference theme, it takes an ecosystem, this makes the T3 Network an authentic and organic fit. In addition to hosting their Mid-Year Meeting on Wednesday, August 7th, there will be a dedicated track of breakout sessions during the conference.
“We are committed to this work to ensure that all learning counts, skills are used like currency, and learners and workers are empowered with data…”
For a preview of what to expect, as well as insight into why the T3 🤝 Badge Summit partnership makes sense from their perspective, we interviewed Taylor Hansen, Executive Director, Workforce Policy & Programs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
For those who are unfamiliar with the T3 Innovation Network, can you please share an introduction?
Since 2018, the T3 Innovation Network (T3 Network) has been focused on our mission to help facilitate the digital transformation of the talent marketplace. We have aimed to do this by promoting data interoperability across diverse stakeholders, including employers; education, training, and credentialing providers; government agencies; and technology partners.
We are committed to this work to ensure that
- all learning counts;
- skills are used like currency; and
- learners and workers are empowered with data, in the form of Learning and Employment Records (LERs), as they pursue education and employment opportunities. The T3 Network is a community of more than 1,200 individuals who are part of the ecosystem supporting this digital transformation.
The Badge Summit and the T3 Network have so many great members and experts who are willing to share their lessons learned and expertise — all you need to do is ask!
What are some of the big initiatives that the T3 Network is working on this year?
We are always engaged on a number of projects and initiatives designed to advance adoption and scale of skills-based hiring and advancement (SBHA) and LERs. One of our major current initiatives is developing our SBHA & LER Toolkit, which will be a set of resources to support LER pilots and demonstrations. We will be publicly releasing this toolkit at the Badge Summit!
This year, the Chamber Foundation is sponsoring the Badge Summit at CU Boulder and holding the T3 Network’s Mid-Year Meeting in conjunction. Why did you choose this venue and audience to host this year’s meeting?
The T3 Network is excited to hold our Mid-Year Meeting in conjunction with the Badge Summit! The missions of the T3 Network and Badge Summit are very closely aligned. While there are a lot of synergies between the T3 Network and the Badge Summit, both networks attract different stakeholders to the conversation around digital credentials and LERs.
This is a great opportunity for the T3 community to come to the Badge Summit and learn more from the digital credential community. At the same time, we feel that it is also a great opportunity for the Badge Summit community to come and learn what digital credentials and LERs can offer to support skills-based hiring and advancement.
What can attendees expect from the exclusive T3 Network session track and Mid-Year Meeting at the Badge Summit?
Those who attend sessions for T3’s track at the Badge Summit will also get to hear about the LER Toolkit and other T3 Network projects:
- LER-Resume Standard (LER-RS) project, which is focused on supporting the sending and receiving of LERs. Learners and workers will be empowered with the ability to organize their LERs and share them with employers in a resume presentation.
- LinkedClaims is a project, where we are developing a tool that will allow individuals to make claims about skills, have those claims validated, and then publish this skills-based digital credential. Users will then be able to move that LER into a digital container or wallet.
- Experience You explores how emerging technologies are providing new and exciting opportunities for supporting the adoption and scale of LERs. Through our Experience You projects, we will be designing field tests to explore ways artificial intelligence (AI) can support generating LERs for individuals by bringing their past experiences and achievements forward in the form of LERs.
- Data Ecosystem Schema Mapper & Competency Explorer are tools designed to help connect data systems and competency libraries.
T3 Network and the Badge Summit are in alignment on many topics, including fostering a strong network community. What are some of the ways in which participants can get involved in the T3 Network as attendees at the Badge Summit?
The T3 Network is always looking for new members to join our community! If anyone reading this has not already signed up to become a member of the T3 Network — sign up here. This will ensure you stay up-to-date on all our projects and initiatives. Members also are provided with opportunities to participate directly in our projects. For example, T3 Network members could sign up and participate in a series of focus groups to help our LER resources team build the LER toolkit.
For many, the digital credentialing ecosystem may feel daunting to address, and both the Badge Summit and T3 Network are focused on demystifying that mindset. What advice would you give to those who are just beginning their journey in this space?
Once you have committed to start your LER and digital credential journey, I believe that patience and a willingness to “do your homework” are key to ensuring the start of your journey sets you up for future success. By “do your homework”, I mean dedicating time and energy to researching, networking, asking questions, and engaging in collective action and impact whenever possible to both learn from and grow the ecosystem. The Badge Summit and the T3 Network have so many great members and experts who are willing to share their lessons learned and expertise — all you need to do is ask! The T3 Network is always willing to help anyone on their journey (and at any stage of their journey) to adopt and implement LERs.
The 2024 Badge Summit will be August 5–7 in Boulder, Colorado, and online August 20. Registration is live at www.thebadgesummit.com where you can also get more information about the conference and see content from previous years. If you’ve got awesome work to share, please connect and share with us on LinkedIn so we can amplify how you too are changing the world!
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