Digital Badges Market

Digital Badges Market Size, Key Insights & Analysis

The size of the Digital Badges Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 16.5% during the forecast period to reach USD 0.5 billion by 2028 from an estimated USD 0.2 billion in 2023. Using blockchain technology in the digital badge enhances security, prevents fraud, and builds trust among the issuers.

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Digital Badges Market Dynamics

Driver: Increasing focus on employees’ professional development

Businesses invest a lot of resources on the professional development of employees.  Professional development programs have been introduced by a number of large businesses, including IBM, SAP, SAS, and Oracle, to support the culture of ongoing learning and development. The visible recognition of staff skills through the digital badge system promotes professional development. Employees are encouraged to take part in professional development programs, and their completion of learning programs is acknowledged. Similar to this, IBM has introduced a number of courses and gives its staff members the chance to advance their education and demonstrate their expertise by earning digital badges.

Restraint: Lack of IT infrastructure in developing countries

For the market for digital badges to expand, a strong IT infrastructure is one of the key factors. Digital badge implementation in educational institutions is hampered by poor IT infrastructure. For example, due to a lack of suitable IT infrastructures and connectivity options, the adoption of digital badges in Africa continues to be raised.  There is virtually limited internet usage in nations like Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda. An additional obstacle to the expansion of the digital badges market is the absence of proper roadmaps for utilizing digital technologies, such as eLearning, social learning, and adaptive learning in emerging nations.

Opportunity: Gamification in the education industry

Gaming-based learning is known as gamification. It is fundamentally a collection of course materials that functions like a game and is growing in popularity among students. It enables the application of game-design ideas to engage students in problem-solving. Gamification brings 3 major elements, i.e., mechanical components, personal aspects, and emotional components in the education industry. Additionally, it encourages reluctant and unmotivated students to participate in the learning process. Gamification provides students with a secure setting in which to overcome obstacles in practical settings. This idea is centered on providing learners with interactive experiences to encourage motivating learning. Many digital badge vendors are attempting to seize this market potential. They supply badging APIs that are combined with gamification tools in learning programs.

Challenge: Lack of digital badge equivalents

One of the key issues impeding the growth of digital badges is the lack of an equivalent. Badges awarded by an organization or region are rarely accepted by other institutions or nations.  Equivalence is one of the most important considerations when introducing digital badges in academic institutions like schools and colleges. Both validating and portable badges are required. Across a range of issuers and audiences, they must share the same instantly recognizable characteristics.  

Digital badges market Ecosystem

The digital badges market comprises solution providers, service providers, regulatory bodies, and end users working together to deliver digital badges solutions for skill enhancement and motivation.

By offering, services segment holds the highest growth rate during the forecast period.

Market vendors provide digital badge services to help badge issuers set up an easy issuance process. Designing, development and support, training, and advising services are just a few of platform providers' many professional services. Designing services also involve graphic and program design. Service providers can aid in the process design for issuing badges. They may assist in defining the appropriate proof, establishing learner criteria, outlining the awarding process, and many other things. The platform interface and brand selection are both included in the visual design services. Services for development and support include assistance for development and maintenance problems and end-user support available around the clock. Training services aid in educating program managers about a company's digital credential program.

By end user, government is expected to register the fastest growth rate during the forecast period.

Digital Badges are slowly growing in Government organizations as it has significant benefits it implemented correctly can help efficiently operations within any kind of organization. Digital badges enable government agencies to validate and manage the skills and competencies of their employees. By awarding badges for specific training programs, certifications, or achievements, agencies can ensure that their workforce possesses the necessary expertise to fulfill their roles effectively. This promotes accountability and helps align employee skills with organizational objectives. Digital badges provide a standardized approach to skill recognition and competency assessment across government agencies. Badge programs can be designed based on established frameworks and industry standards, ensuring consistency in training and development efforts. Digital badges contribute to public transparency and trust in government services. By showcasing badges earned for compliance training, ethics, or specialized expertise, agencies can demonstrate their commitment to accountability and professionalism. Badges can be publicly displayed on government websites or profiles, providing transparency and instilling confidence in the public.

North America is expected to hold the largest market size during the forecast period.

The adoption of digital badges in North America is growing rapidly. Being a fast technology adopting region, North America is expected to have the largest market share in the digital badges market. North America holds the highest degree of competitiveness, and it accounts for the presence of more than 40% of the total digital badges providers. The US and Canada are the major contributors in the North American region. The region has well established large number of prominent educational institutes with quality education provided by them. Technological advancements have led to a rise in the adoption of digital badges in educational and corporate sectors. Digital badges help entities in these setups document and verify specific skills, thereby focusing on an individual’s credentials. There are numerous factors driving this growth, including adoption of online learning, the growing recognition of the value of digital badges by employers, the development of open badge standards, and the increasing availability of digital badge platforms in the region. The US is a leading country in the region in terms of digital badge adoption. The Digital Badges market is expected to be dominated by North America, and this trend is expected to continue during the forecast period. The presence of firms that utilize the digital badge technology has also contributed to the growth of the market.

Market Players:

The major players in the Digital badges market are Pearson (UK), Instructure (US), SkillSoft Corporation (US),  PeopleCert (UK), Accredible (US), Parchment (US), EbizON (India), Accreditrust Technologies (US), Badgecraft (Lithuania), Badge List (US), Bestr (Italy), Basno (US), Saarni Learning Oy (Finland), ForAllSystems (US), LearningTimes (US), Nocti Business Solutions (US), Knowledge Catalyst, Learning Vault, Hyperstack (US), TruScholar (India), CredSure.io (Germany), CertifyMe (US), Convergence.Tech (Canada), Open Badge Factory (Finland), Sertifier (US), Certopus (India), and Virtualbadge.io (Germany). These players have adopted various growth strategies, such as partnerships, agreements and collaborations, new product launches and enhancements, and acquisitions to expand their footprint in the Digital badges market.

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Scope of the Report

This research report categorizes the Digital badges market to forecast revenues and analyze trends in each of the following submarkets:

Based on Offering:

• Platform
• Services
  • Professional Services
  • Managed Services

Based on Type:

• Certification Badges
• Recognition Badges
• Participation Badges
• Achievement Badges
• Contribution Badges

Based on End User:

• Academic
• Corporate
• Government
• Non-profit Organizations
• Other End Users

By Region:

• North America
  • United States (US)
  • Canada
• Europe
  • United Kingdom (UK)
  • Germany
  • Spain
  • Rest of Europe
• Asia Pacific
  • China
  • Japan
  • India
  • Australia and New Zealand
  • South Korea
  • Rest of Asia Pacific
• Middle East and Africa
  • Middle East
  • Africa
• Latin America
  • Brazil
  • Mexico
  • Rest of Latin America

Recent Developments

• In April 2023, Accredible partnered with Cengage Partners to offer Digital Badging and Micro-credentials and integrate it with Cengage Partners learning platform.
• In November 2022, Credly by Pearson and NovoEd partnered Credly will integrates its services for NovoEd’s learning journey learning and development professional would issue digital badges to let learners track progress and celebrate their achievements.
• In April 2022, Instructure acquired Concentric Sky the creator of Badgr a micro-credentialing platform, Instructure expands its offering in credential space through this acquisition.
• In June 2021, PeopleCert acquired Axelos UK based provider of framework and certification strengthening its position in exam and certification delivery and management.

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