> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://experience-digital-transform.gitbook.io/experience-digital-transformation/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://experience-digital-transform.gitbook.io/experience-digital-transformation/dpi-for-education/learning-verifiable-credentials/specifications/1.-overview.md).

# 1. Overview

## 1.1 Why this matters

Every education system issues credentials, and every one of them faces the same problems when those credentials need to be trusted outside the institution that issued them.

Paper and scanned certificates are easy to forge, and verifiers have no reliable way to detect fakes at scale. Confirming a qualification usually means contacting the issuing institution, which takes days, costs money and becomes impractical across borders or when the institution no longer exists. Learners cannot easily carry their achievements between schools, employers and countries, or combine them over a lifetime, because records stay locked in institutional systems. Different formats, and the lack of shared vocabularies for levels, fields of study and skills, mean that a credential issued in one system cannot be read reliably in another. Multiple incompatible tools fragment the ecosystem, tie public investment to individual vendors and duplicate spending. And underneath all of this, there is usually no authoritative, machine-readable way to check whether an issuer is genuine and authorised to award what it claims.

Shared credential infrastructure addresses these problems together rather than one institution at a time. Through experience sharing, authorities can build trust in qualifications and work to eradicate fraudulent practices. When credentials are digitally signed in open formats, anyone can check that they are authentic and unaltered ([section 2](/experience-digital-transformation/dpi-for-education/learning-verifiable-credentials/specifications/2.-conformance-profiles.md) and [section 5](/experience-digital-transformation/dpi-for-education/learning-verifiable-credentials/specifications/5.-data-models.md)). When the education authority publishes which issuers are authorised and for what, a verifier can check the issuer as well as the document ([section 4](/experience-digital-transformation/dpi-for-education/learning-verifiable-credentials/specifications/4.-ecosystem-and-trust.md)). When formats and vocabularies are shared, credentials can be compared and recognised across institutions and borders ([section 5](/experience-digital-transformation/dpi-for-education/learning-verifiable-credentials/specifications/5.-data-models.md)). And when governments procure against a common specification, they avoid lock-in and can reuse what others have built ([section 7](/experience-digital-transformation/dpi-for-education/learning-verifiable-credentials/specifications/7.-procurement-rfp-clauses.md)).

This Building Block does not prescribe a single technology. It offers three profiles that a country can adopt according to its connectivity, institutional capacity and existing systems ([section 2](/experience-digital-transformation/dpi-for-education/learning-verifiable-credentials/specifications/2.-conformance-profiles.md)), and it builds on standards and implementations already in use rather than creating new ones ([section 8](/experience-digital-transformation/dpi-for-education/learning-verifiable-credentials/specifications/8.-sources-and-standards.md)).

## 1.2 Scope

| In scope (LVC)                                    | Out of scope (handled by)                                                                                                                                       |
| ------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Credential types and schemas for education        | Legal identity ([Identity Building Block](https://experience-digital-transform.gitbook.io/experience-digital-transformation/digital-identity-use-cases/))       |
| Issuing, presenting and verifying credentials     | Wallet storage and keys (Wallet Building Block)                                                                                                                 |
| Status and revocation                             | Consent management (Consent Building Block)                                                                                                                     |
| Checking that issuers are genuine and authorised  | Data exchange between systems ([Information Mediator](https://experience-digital-transform.gitbook.io/experience-digital-transformation/information-mediator/)) |
| Credential models, formats and exchange protocols | Learning content ([Learning Content Repository](/experience-digital-transformation/dpi-for-education/learning-content.md))                                      |
| Education ecosystem and trust framework           | Courses and assessment (Learning Management System)                                                                                                             |


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