1. Session 318
Open Badges: How IBM launched a
bold new initiative to attract, engage
and progress talent
David Leaser, IBM
Las Vegas, NV | September 30 – October 2, 2015

2. Eight problems we all face in business
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4
Increase verified talent for
our clients
Drive skills progression
toward advocacy
Increase crowd sourcing of
innovation
Increase product sales and
trials
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6
7
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Decrease support calls
Increase client confidence
with demonstrated skills
Motivate employees to
drive their own
development
Map available skills and
specific gaps

3. Open Badges: A new “nano credential” standard
Digital emblem which
symbolizes skills and
achievements
SHARE
Contains metadata
with skills tags and
accomplishments Easy to share in social
media: LinkedIn,
Twitter, FB, blogs
Tethered to IBM to
validate and verify
achievement
Provides a
progression path to
advance commitment
Analytics provide
insight into how a
program is performing
Insights shows real-
time labor market
data – jobs, salaries,
locations.

4. “Open Badges is a way to demonstrate
tangible skills that have direct relevance to
careers today.”
~ Dean Garfield, CEO
IT Industry Council
“Pearson’s open badge solution
provides validated and easy to share
proof of qualifications and skills.”
President Bill Clinton Endorses Open
Badges at Clinton Global Initiative
“Badges — not digital diplomas — seem to be the
best and likeliest bet on accreditation’s future.”
~ Harvard Business Review
The world is moving quickly to adopt badges

5. How do Open Badges benefit earners?
Broadcast Achievements
Signals skills and achievements to
peers, potential employers and others
Motivate Participation
Provides recognition for achievement;
encourages engagement and retention
Develop Personal Brand
Displays verified achievements across
the web. Improves social connections
with peers, employers and clients
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Evidence: LinkedIn profiles with credentials such as certifications and badges receive 6x the number of profile views.

6. How do Open Badges benefit you?
Generate Qualified Leads
Attracts new candidates to who seek
recognition and opportunity
Enhance Our Brand
Thousands of brand marks flooding
LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, blogs
Differentiation
You will lead the industry with a cutting-
edge nano credential program
Track and Nurture Talent
Quickly identifies skills gaps and
opportunities -- candidate or geo level
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7. How do Open Badges benefit consumers?
Verified Nanoskills
Provides a trusted “seal of approval” for
employers validating existing talent or
potential hires
Candidate Selection
Provides an easy way to identify
candidates to hire or promote
Improved Company Performance
Motivates employees to drive their own
development and improve the
performance of the organization
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8. Social media: 2.8 million views per 10,000 badges
40,000 Views 2,700,000 Views 79,000 Views
A printed certificate might reach the 8 individuals
who walk past an office and notice it on the wall

9. An important benefit: A consolidated skills registry
Name: Susan Ballesteros
Location: Manila, Philippines
Skills Tags: Bluemix, Security, Mobile, zSystems
Badge metadata and our analytics will provide a “nano view”
of a person’s skills and help us determine next steps to progress
toward our objectives.
Date Activity Location Outcome Progress To:
1/15/15 Workshop IIC Explorer Badge Hackathon
1/20/15 Hackathon Santa Cruz Advocate Badge Learnathon
2/20/15 GitHub Virtual Inventor Badge Certification
4/30/15 Certification Manila Certified Conference

10. The ROI of Open Badges affects every area of your business
Reduced Employee turnover
Recognition reduces flight risk by half,
from 51% to 25%. Replacement cost
per employee is ~$120K.
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Reduced Customer Sat Problems
Badges increase customer skills, saving
$300+ per service call.
Increased Customer Trials
Badges are motiving increased
QuickStart downloads – up 60% in
Big Data University.
Deepened Commitment to IBM
The engagement level increases
from 28% to 76% with recognition
like badges.

11. The IBM Success Story

12. Four IBM badges for resume worthy achievements
Explorer
Knowledge
Completes a quiz or
assessment
• Academic knowledge
• Formal training
• Informal education
• Mentoring
Advocate
Skills
Demonstrates a skill
or has applied the skill
• Compete in Challenges
• Competes in Hackathons
• Answer questions
• Author articles
• Hosting a meeting
• Present at an event
• Teach on the subject
• Create YouTube video
• Create references and
testimonials
Inventor
Capabilities
Designs and develops
new solutions
• Proves ability to build and
implement novel solutions
to exceptionally difficult
and complex challenges -
for IBM, clients or society
• Publishes an app on GitHub
• Publishes an app in the
marketplace
Certified
Authority
Has completed a
certification at IBM
• Provides an additional
benefit which can
automatically be shared to
social media sites or
included on their websites
or e-mails.

13. Generating significant results for IBM
WHAT BADGE EARNERS ARE SAYING
"I find the badge program a great way of
learning and hope more badge options will be
offered soon.”
"In a recent interview, this badge gave me a
chance to elaborate about a learning activity
that helped improve my skills.“
"More people are viewing my LinkedIn profile
after adding the IBM badge to my list of
accomplishments.“
"A truly worthwhile initiative that allows
validation of my knowledge and skills. Way to
go IBM! Thanks."
IBM BADGE EARNER SURVEY – JULY 2015
IBM badge earners are also leveraging
the power of Twitter and Facebook to
promote their IBM emblem

14. 81 countries within our first eight weeks
75% 69% 63%
48%
33%
16% 15% 9%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
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03
09
30
07
09 03
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Regional Penetration
Percentage of countries by region
where IBM badges have been claimed
Number of Countries by region where
IBM badges have been claimed

15. Dynamic labor market data in every IBM badge

16. Evidence: real value to employers and earners
Allow employer to verify your credentials
Verify a job applicant's credentials
Receive notifications about job opportunities
Display your credentials online
81%
77%
73%
76%
“A lot of people in my
LinkedIn list did not know
that I am CCE certified till
I posted my badge.”
“The ability to show customers
the badge eases their minds
when thinking about allowing me
(the engineer) to get close to
their environment.”
“A potential
employer was
able to verify my
credentials.”
“As an IT Consultant I have noticed that
during job interviews for new customer
assignments the interviewer has already
checked the consistency of my resume
with LinkedIn.”
“I was contacted for
a job by someone
who saw the badge
activity.”
“While my "alphabet soup" has
always been listed, changing that for
graphic badges has increased
attention, comments and
understanding of my credentials. “
Top four responses to Pearson VUE’s surveys on where badges show value:

17. Getting Started: Checklist to begin badging
 Identify your badgeable activities (who, what,
where, when, why and how many)
 Determine how you will assess completion,
track and maintain attendees
 Establish a landing page for the activity –
badge needs to point to an external page
 Incorporate the badge promotion into the
activity and market like crazy
 Issue badges and notify badge earners
 Survey results
 Repeat!
• Develop a solid communication
plan.
• Badge issuer must own the
relationship with the badge
earner
• Build consent (privacy, info
sharing) into the activity
• Provide strong benefits
statements (marketing) into the
intro letter to badge earner
• Add certification / skills paths
into the metadata for all badges
• Retro badges are less
successful; limit time period to
90 days
• Names of badges are
important!

18. Use Cases: Badges will help drive the behavior you need
Solidify the client
base
Build a loyal
developer base
Proliferate skills Track skills at the
nano level
Increase license
sales
Reduce customer
service
Objectives Build advocacy and
strengthen client
relationship and
commitment to IBM
Increase the number
of developers using
our offerings
Build a vibrant and
large pool of skilled
labor to support our
products
Create a heat map of
critical skills for
achievements earned
across the globe
Drive potential
customers to act by
downloading trial
versions of our
offerings
Motivate
customers to
develop skills to
reduce support
calls and critsits
Benefits to
earners
Earners will be
recognized as having
increased eminence
on IBM solutions.
Earners receive a nano
credential they can use
to increase job and
opportunity prospects,
build a personal brand
in social media.
Earners receive a
nano credential they
can use to increase
job and opportunity
prospects, build a
personal brand in
social media.
Provides a progression
path and skills journey
as we target offerings
based on our analysis
of their skill level and
need.
Easy connection
between a
completed badge for
a "how to" course
leads immediately to
a free trial product
download
Earners receive a
nano credential
they can use to
increase job and
opportunity
prospects, build a
personal brand in
social media.
Benefits to our
clients
Badges count for
points in a program
that rewards
customers with
conference seats,
services or marketing
activities.
Verified application
development skills in
employees and
potential hires.
Badges motivate
internal employees to
self-manage and
progress their
learning.
Verified skills in
employees and
potential hires.
Badges motivate
internal employees to
self-manage and
progress their
learning.
Verified solution skills
in employees and
potential hires.
Employees come to
the table with a
fundamental
understanding of the
product and the
benefits, the
beginning of a POC.
Reduced cost,
customer
satisfaction and
opportunity cost.
Badges motivate
internal employees
to self-manage and
progress their
learning.
Benefits to your
organization
Increased public
advocacy, references,
case studies, plus as a
social media drip
marketing campaign
generated by badges
Expanded developer
base eager to advance
with IBM.
Skilled labor to
support installations.
Reduced risk of poor
deployments.
Ability to locate and
progress deep
technical skills for key
IBM solutions
Increased exposure
to IBM solutions
through downloads.
Reduced cost,
customer
satisfaction issues
and costs.

19. The engagement level of employees who
receive recognition is almost three times
higher than the engagement level of
those who do not.
~IBM Smarter Workforce Institute

20. Thank you!
David Leaser
david.leaser@us.ibm.com www.ibm.biz/badging
This presentation is also on Slideshare:
http://ibm.biz/devlearn2015