AFRICA

• South Africa – SAQA
  The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) oversees the further development and implementation of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). The NQF is seen as an instrument of recognition for both national qualifications and foreign qualifications. SAQA plays a key role in the verification and evaluation of foreign qualifications, and it has established and maintains the information management system of the NQF including a national learners' records database which is the national student data repository of country. As part of its mandate to verify foreign qualifications, SAQA helped to establish a network of 14 credible, trustworthy verification agencies at an international seminar held in November 2014, the African Qualifications Verifications Network (AQVN). The AQVN intends to ensure affordable, quick turnaround verifications of foreign qualifications, capacity building of knowledge and skills of practitioners, promoting genuine qualifications and building the information infrastructure necessary to allow electronic exchange of information to speed up verification services. SAQA will host GDN's Annual Meeting from 17 to 19 May 2016 -- immediately following SAQA's 20th Anniversary Celebration and AQVN's Launch and Conference on 16 May.
  
  Policy on Misrepresented and Fraudulent Qualifications
  One of the huge focus areas in South Africa since last year's GDN Annual Meeting in Málaga has been the focus on developing a policy on fraudulent qualifications. SAQA has taken the lead on this initiative, after a number of high profile cases appeared in the media, and upon request of the minister to establish a register of misrepresented qualifications and fraudulent qualifications. In the process of drafting the policy, we have found that worldwide there is very little information available on such a specific policy. A draft policy has been developed and will go through the necessary legal processes, to ultimately be published by the Minister of Higher Education and Training.

ASIA

• China - CHESICC
  Enrolment of Chinese students in the Netherlands
  January 2016 will see the start of a pilot project for Chinese students coming to the Netherlands. Chinese students form the second biggest population of foreign students in the Netherlands. Three Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Netherlands are involved in the project, next to DUO and CHESICC. In this pilot, students will be able to select their educational data from the CHESICC database and then send it as a PDF file to DUO. DUO will relay the file then to one of the participating HEIs. Pending the outcome of the pilot, the project may be scaled up to include more HEIs, and the exchange format may change from using PDF to using XML.
  
  CHESICC - UK. The London School of Economics (LSE) will start to receive Chinese students' electronic college transcript verification reports through a newly integrated web service between CHESICC and Digitary.


• India - CDSL developing the Indian National Academic Depository (NAD)
  The Indian National Academic Depository is developed by CDSL - Central Depository Services (India) Ltd, which is promoted by a consortium of the Indian financial sector. CDSL offers depository services, e-voting services, e-KYC ("Know Your Customer") services, and holds more than 10 million demat accounts -- thus representing a robust, well-established Exchange Model when dealing with Digital Student Data Portability.
  
  NAD delivers a digital solution for holding academic awards in electronic form for all students of India, comprising secondary, senior secondary, higher and technical education. NAD will incrementally host more results; since July 2011, NAD has hosted:
  • CBSE - Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET)
  • CBSE - Board XII Standard Examinations
  • Andhra Pradesh Teacher Eligibility Test (APTET)
  • University of Mumbai - Convocation Certificates
  
  
  NAD's key services will include:
  • Award Lodging – New, changes, backlog by awarding Institutes
  • Demat of old awards initiated through awardee
  • Verification – Online, Bulk
  • Transcripts – Paper, Electronic
  • Value Added Services

EUROPE

• Belgium / Flanders – The Netherlands
  See The Netherlands – Belgium / Flanders

• Erasmus without Paper (EWP) Consortium
  In the summer of 2015, the EWP Consortium received funding from the European Commission in the framework of the Erasmus+ programme - Key Action 3 - Forward Looking Cooperation projects. The Consortium will start a project setting up a European-wide electronic network that will enable HEIs to exchange student data directly from their student databases, especially for exchange students. In this way it will become possible to replace paper forms (learning agreements; bilateral contracts; transcripts of records; various attestations) with electronically-generated forms, including digital signatures. The EWP Consortium also aims at setting up a European-wide organisation that will follow-up and formalize standards and protocols. This project may revolutionize the administration of exchange students (especially Erasmus+ students) and will combine the expertise from International Relations Offices with the expertise of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) managers. In a second phase, central digital student data depositories such as DHO of the Flemish Ministry of Education will also be involved. The project started on 1 November 2015 and lasts till the end of 2017.


• France - Verifdiploma
  Verifdiploma, a French commercial service provider offering educational credential verification services since 2000, attended the GDN Annual Meeting in Málaga and subsequently visited GDN partners in China (CDGDC, CHESICC and CSCSE), the United Kingdom (HEDD) and the USA (National Student Clearinghouse) in a move to start talks on possible pilots. Also, Verifdiploma aims at authorized agent status in France so as to be able to function as an authorized central student data depository.


• The Netherlands – Belgium / Flanders
  Pilot on two policy goals
  1. e-Enrolment - Supporting the Enrolment Process
  This project aims at supporting the cross border enrolment process in Europe, using the data available in central / national data depositories like DUO's Diplomaregister in the Netherlands and AHOVOKS' LED in Flanders (Belgium). As a rule, the use of existing facilities is the preferred method, to which may be added the use of two building blocks of the large scale EU project eSENS: eID and eDelivery. DUO joined a consortium that will bring out a bid for EU project funding. In 2016, two projects will start: one involving eID - cross border authentication, the other involving eDelivery - cross border data exchange.
  
  In the meantime, DUO and AHOVOKS work with HEIs in both countries on the data specification and on the process flow. The data that AHOVOKS can supply are tested in a small pilot with one Dutch HEI. For the purpose of this pilot, AHOVOKS achieved the permission of the Flemish privacy council VTC, so the process can be run without the student being involved.
  
  2. Checking Student Enrolments in Framework of Student Loan Portability
  Dutch students may study abroad, taking their Dutch study loan there, thanks to the EU Student Loan Portability policy. This also applies for Flemish students. For the system to work properly, governments in mother and host countries need to ensure whether a given student is actually enrolled abroad. At the moment, the burden of proof lies with the student who has to prove his enrolment by having a paper form filled out by the HEI of enrolment. DUO and AHOVOKS now execute this process digitally for Dutch students in Flanders, yielding a tremendous reduction of the administrative burden on the student, the HEI and DUO. By 2016, this process will extend to Flemish students studying in the Netherlands as well. It has also given birth to the new GDN Task Force Empowering Cross Border Enrolment and Student Loan Portability.


• Nordic countries, Poland, Italy - EMREX project
  The EMREX project addresses the EU 2020 target that 20% of higher education students should be mobile during their studies. It also addresses similar national policy goals of the countries participating in the project. Furthermore, the project was initiated because of fiscally strained national public resources that require more effective and efficient education systems and services supporting them. Academic recognition in higher education is seen as a challenge in learner mobility and also as a potential area for the improvement of a more efficient education system in general. The EMREX project has received funding from the ERASMUS+ program, more specifically from Key Action 3: European policy experimentation.

NORTH AMERICA

• Canada – ARUCC
  The Association of Registrars of the Universities and Colleges of Canada (ARUCC) intends to spend much of 2016 consulting with the Canadian postsecondary stakeholder community with two goals in mind: To raise awareness about the Groningen initiative and to identify future participation in provincial and/or pan-Canadian data exchange initiatives, particularly the development of a Canadian model for exchanging digital postsecondary student information, such as transcript data. The initial interprovincial achievement within the Canadian Transcript Exchange Network involved universities in Ontario and British Columbia.


• USA – National Student Clearinghouse (NSC)
  Australia / New Zealand: National Student Clearinghouse is responding to an Expression of Interest from Universities Australia and Universities New Zealand to help inform the development of a data eco-system for data collection, storage, exchange, verification and analysis. Regardless of who wins the bid, the Australian and New Zealand students, alumni, institutions and policy makers all stand to gain from the positive step toward digitization.
  
  Mexico / South Africa: Progress has been made regarding the rules around sharing data and the creation of meta-data while protecting student privacy. Determining the potential value of the modelling data and the individual data has also been discussed.
  
  France: During Verifdiploma's visit to NSC, representatives explored the different exchange methods used for both domestic and international verifications. NSC invited Verifdiploma to join them in China to discuss with the corresponding Chinese entities what are the different exchange methods being employed and the possibilities of China-France cooperation.
  
  China:
  • CDGDC: More than a year ago, CDGDC began piloting NSC's secure data exchange platform to verify university-based degrees. In the Fall, NSC formally executed its commercial business arrangement with CDGDC to verify Chinese credentials through NSC, leveraging automated data exchange technologies. The platform is expected to be up and running this March.
  • CHESICC: NSC continues to develop XML and EDI standards with the CHESICC team. The goal is to develop an international transcript, degree and certificate standard that most countries can use -- and have this format approved by US and international standards organizations. The ability to move from PDF to data transmissions will greatly enable student mobility.
  • CSCSE: NSC is in the early stages of conversation with CSCE, seeking a path to turbo-charge its existing data exchange arrangement in the US with an extension to CSCSE. The goal is to create automated standardized data feeds. Validated institutional data reported directly from the institution needs to be available so that the appropriate credential assessments can be delivered. Challenges include US credentials (US associates degree in particular) that do not have a corresponding credential in China. NSC is coordinating a follow-up meeting between the American Association of Community Colleges, regional accreditors, US-based two- and four-year schools that engage in transfer in order to have an open dialogue about establishing a new credential evaluation.
  
  
  Latin America - Iberia project (Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Spain): NSC intends to make international student transfers more efficient by eventually eliminating the Apostille requirement among these entities plus a few South American countries under certain conditions (validated institution-to-institution transfer of data). Institutions involved in piloting the concept:
  • MESyCT in the Dominican Republic
  • Education Department in Puerto Rico (along with a couple of sponsoring pilot institutions)
  • Ministry of Education in Mexico
  • Possibly several Spanish institutions
  The pilot would begin with transcript and degree information. The basic concept would be that if a student from Country A is applying to a school in Country B (that requires Apostille) then the documents would go electronically, and the student can be provided provisional acceptance to the institution. Once the originals with Apostilles arrive, they will be compared to the electronic versions. The goal would be that after a year of proving the system out, the bilateral request to eliminate the Apostille under the electronic transfer system can be made and approved. This pilot may get under way this calendar year.


• IERF - USC - SPEEDE
  Toward the Digitization of Credential Evaluations for Universities, on the collaboration between International Educational Research Foundation, Inc. (IERF) and the University of Southern California to digitally align the certification of overseas studies and credential evaluation reporting to universities, using EDX standards and SPEEDE.


• The Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council (PESC)
  In June 2015, The Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council formed an inter-organizational task force focused on Academic Credentialing and Experiential Learning that aims for more consistent and comprehensive documentation of the student academic experience. Chairing the task force is Thomas C. Black, Associate Vice Provost for Student Affairs and University Registrar at Stanford University in California. "We've finally reached the tipping point whereby we can leverage technology to accomplish what the student needs not only while they are in the classroom learning, but beyond as well," Tom noted. "PESC's mission and their collaborating stakeholders are creating an open and transparent environment needed to affect the landscape on a broad scale."

SOUTHERN PACIFIC

• Australia - Universities Australia and Universities New Zealand
  Two peak bodies that represent the university sector in the two countries, Universities Australia and Universities New Zealand, join forces to deliver Data on demand via the Digital Student Data Project.
  
  A team backed by all Australian and some New Zealand universities is working on a system to manage and provide digital records of all individual student data. Years in the planning, the project, which involves Universities Australia, requires a planned funding injection to continue. The project's objectives are to provide digital academic records to third parties, reducing the need for students and graduates to acquire printed statements and the expensive obligation for universities to produce them. While the project initially addresses higher education, observers suggest it could extend to non-university HE (Higher Education) providers plus VET (Vocational Education and Training) colleges and potentially secondary schools. Observers also say there is demonstrable and documented enthusiasm for the project, which will go to a meeting of Universities Australia's Deputy Vice Chancellors / Corporate in 2016 for adoption of the business case. This impressive slide show sums up what has been achieved so far in less than two years, and what lies ahead.