LECOS, a leader in international standard digital badges, is celebrating its fifth anniversary. Over the past five years, CEO Nowon Seok has pioneered the domestic digital badge market, which was nearly non-existent, and is now signaling a major shift towards becoming a data infrastructure company that connects education, competency, and employment data.
Currently serving as a representative member of the government’s digital badge council, deputy head of the AI Future Education Committee, and policy chair of the Asia EdTech Summit Korea, CEO Nowon Seok is at the forefront of South Korea's digital education ecosystem. He shared insights on LECOS's remarkable achievements and future vision.
Currently serving as a representative member of the government’s digital badge council, deputy head of the AI Future Education Committee, and policy chair of the Asia EdTech Summit Korea, CEO Nowon Seok is at the forefront of South Korea's digital education ecosystem. He shared insights on LECOS's remarkable achievements and future vision.
Transforming the Paradigm of Learning Outcomes and Credentials
"The most significant change over the past five years is that digital badges have transitioned from a novel technology to an essential educational infrastructure actively utilized by universities and educational institutions. As domestic universities and public organizations have embraced internationally standardized digital badges, South Korea has emerged as one of the fastest-growing markets for digital badges in Asia," said CEO Nowon Seok.
As of August this year, LECOS has issued a total of 2.8 million digital badges through its platform. The number of issuing organizations has reached 1,200, with over 300,000 users of personal digital wallets, and approximately 270 domestic universities as key clients.
As of August this year, LECOS has issued a total of 2.8 million digital badges through its platform. The number of issuing organizations has reached 1,200, with over 300,000 users of personal digital wallets, and approximately 270 domestic universities as key clients.
CEO Nowon attributes this success to the company’s focus on establishing international standards. He explained, "We have built a robust platform based on the Open Badges international standard from 1EdTech, which supports the issuance, storage, display, and verification of badges. This has created a strong foundation for the domestic digital badge market to connect directly with the global ecosystem, rather than remaining confined to individual institutions' closed certification systems."
LECOS is also quick to adapt to the next-generation standard, Open Badges 3.0, which is not just a simple image-based electronic certificate but a foundational technology for international digital credentials that can be linked with W3C's Verifiable Credentials (VC) and Decentralized Identifiers (DID).
LECOS is also quick to adapt to the next-generation standard, Open Badges 3.0, which is not just a simple image-based electronic certificate but a foundational technology for international digital credentials that can be linked with W3C's Verifiable Credentials (VC) and Decentralized Identifiers (DID).
Expanding Digital Badges from University Programs to Lifelong Learning
The applications of digital badges are rapidly expanding. Initially, they were primarily used for university extracurricular programs and online course completion certifications. However, they are now being widely adopted across various fields, including major education, micro-credentials, internships, industry-academia cooperation, employment competencies, teacher training, and general lifelong education.
CEO Nowon noted, "Relying solely on traditional degrees and transcripts to demonstrate 'where and what one has studied' is insufficient to meet the rapidly changing demands of the industry." He emphasized that digital badges serve as a powerful and complementary credentialing tool that meticulously proves what individuals can do and what competencies they possess, based on their diverse activities and projects during their studies.
He has consistently published papers on topics such as 'Strategies for Implementing Digital Badges to Enhance Adult Digital Competencies' and 'Research on User-Centric Digital Badge Utilization,' providing a theoretical foundation for lifelong learning and digital competency certification.
CEO Nowon noted, "Relying solely on traditional degrees and transcripts to demonstrate 'where and what one has studied' is insufficient to meet the rapidly changing demands of the industry." He emphasized that digital badges serve as a powerful and complementary credentialing tool that meticulously proves what individuals can do and what competencies they possess, based on their diverse activities and projects during their studies.
He has consistently published papers on topics such as 'Strategies for Implementing Digital Badges to Enhance Adult Digital Competencies' and 'Research on User-Centric Digital Badge Utilization,' providing a theoretical foundation for lifelong learning and digital competency certification.
The Next Frontier for Digital Badges: AI
Since its fifth anniversary, LECOS has been vigorously pursuing the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) with digital badges. Previously, educational institutions manually issued badges after verifying learning outcomes. Now, the process will shift to AI analyzing individual data to actively convert competencies and recommend suitable pathways.
"For instance, AI will analyze a college student's various courses, projects, internships, and portfolios to assess their competencies and issue international standard digital badges. Furthermore, AI can compare an individual's current competencies with their desired job roles, proactively recommending additional courses, qualifications, and customized badges," CEO Nowon explained.
This evolution signifies that digital badges will transition from being a passive certification tool that validates past learning outcomes to becoming a 'navigator' that actively designs future learning and career paths. LECOS is significantly enhancing its AI-driven digital badge services.
"For instance, AI will analyze a college student's various courses, projects, internships, and portfolios to assess their competencies and issue international standard digital badges. Furthermore, AI can compare an individual's current competencies with their desired job roles, proactively recommending additional courses, qualifications, and customized badges," CEO Nowon explained.
This evolution signifies that digital badges will transition from being a passive certification tool that validates past learning outcomes to becoming a 'navigator' that actively designs future learning and career paths. LECOS is significantly enhancing its AI-driven digital badge services.
Aiming for Asia: Evolving into a Competency Data Ecosystem
LECOS is actively targeting the Asian market, leveraging its successful domestic model. Due to differences in educational systems across countries, establishing a standardized ecosystem in Asia has been slow. However, LECOS has pioneered large-scale issuance and digital wallet accumulation models, creating a key best practice for the digital transformation of higher education in Asia.
CEO Nowon stated, "We plan to expand our business into Japan, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, diversifying our business model beyond simple platform exports to include Software as a Service (SaaS), Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), and licensing."
His ultimate goal is to build a comprehensive 'competency ecosystem' where digital badges are integrated into corporate hiring and HR systems.
"When individuals submit badges stored in their digital wallets during the job application process, companies can instantly verify the issuing organizations, acquisition conditions, and supporting evidence. This represents a revolution where the text of traditional resumes is transformed into 100% verifiable data. Companies can also thoroughly manage internal job training and project experiences through digital badges," he added.
In conclusion, CEO Nowon emphasized that the future of LECOS is a time for leap forward. He stated, "While the past five years have been a rigorous process of quietly establishing the digital badge market in South Korea, the next five years will be a time to intricately connect the millions of accumulated badge data with the education, employment, and lifelong learning ecosystems, advancing to a higher level. I believe that with the combination of Open Badges 3.0, VC, DID technology, and AI, we will enter a true era where individuals can directly own and utilize their data." He added, "LECOS will continue to evolve beyond a simple issuing platform to become a global 'education-competency-employment' data platform company."
CEO Nowon stated, "We plan to expand our business into Japan, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, diversifying our business model beyond simple platform exports to include Software as a Service (SaaS), Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), and licensing."
His ultimate goal is to build a comprehensive 'competency ecosystem' where digital badges are integrated into corporate hiring and HR systems.
"When individuals submit badges stored in their digital wallets during the job application process, companies can instantly verify the issuing organizations, acquisition conditions, and supporting evidence. This represents a revolution where the text of traditional resumes is transformed into 100% verifiable data. Companies can also thoroughly manage internal job training and project experiences through digital badges," he added.
In conclusion, CEO Nowon emphasized that the future of LECOS is a time for leap forward. He stated, "While the past five years have been a rigorous process of quietly establishing the digital badge market in South Korea, the next five years will be a time to intricately connect the millions of accumulated badge data with the education, employment, and lifelong learning ecosystems, advancing to a higher level. I believe that with the combination of Open Badges 3.0, VC, DID technology, and AI, we will enter a true era where individuals can directly own and utilize their data." He added, "LECOS will continue to evolve beyond a simple issuing platform to become a global 'education-competency-employment' data platform company."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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