ISACA is using Open Badges technology to underpin the web-based credentials, and they’re available for individuals who have earned the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT) and/or Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC) certifications.
The badges are essentially secure digital representations of the ISACA credential and can be embedded into a résumé, emails, personal websites, and social and professional networking websites, including Facebook and LinkedIn. Displaying an open badge across several platforms offers employers and others single-click access to verify and evaluate the individuals’ achievement.
When a prospective employer or anyone else clicks on it, the badge calls up a standardized set of metadata that verifies the certification, the qualifications needed and the process required to earn it.
“ISACA credentials are in demand by employers worldwide, and we are glad to offer our certification holders the opportunity to utilize open badges to demonstrate their accomplishments,” said Allan Boardman, international vice president of ISACA and chair of ISACA’s Credentialing and Career Management Board, in a statement. “Open Badges offer an efficient method for current and potential employers to validate a certification, and also give certification holders a simple and effective opportunity to tell their professional story and enhance their recognition.”
To make it happen, ISACA partnered with Pearson using a new open standard for communicating learning, called Mozilla Open Badges. The Girl Scouts, NASA, the Smithsonian and Intel are all using the non-proprietary technology. As Mozilla describes it, if a digital badge is an online representation of a skill that’s been earned, “Open Badges take that concept one step further, and allows you to verify your skills, interests and achievements through credible organizations. And because the system is based on an open standard, you can combine multiple badges from different issuers to tell the complete story of your achievements — both online and off. Display your badges wherever you want them on the web, and share them for employment, education or lifelong learning.”
ISACA badges can be claimed, stored and transmitted on Pearson’s Acclaim website. Certification holders will receive an email from Acclaim to opt into Open Badges for no charge, ISACA said.
According to ISACA, the CISA credential, established in 1978 as a standard of achievement for information systems audit, has been earned by more than 106,000 individuals since inception. The CISM designation, designed for experienced information security managers, has been earned by more than 23,000 professionals since it was established in 2002. More than 5,800 IT governance professionals have earned CGEIT since its inception in 2007. And CRISC, introduced in 2010 for risk and control professionals, has been earned by 17,000 individuals.