The Groningen Declaration Network (GDN) Annual Meeting is the international event where stakeholders from across the world convene to share best practice in the exchange of digital student data. As happened all over the world, the Covid-19 Pandemic disrupted our meeting which was to be held in April 2020 in Delhi, India.

The program contained rich content which we now bring to you 'virtually' in the form of a series of webinars commencing in June 2020. 

In 2020, the Network constitutes a global, broad and interconnected ecosystem including large digital student data depositories, educational institutions, government bodies, and other stakeholders. Participants in this ecosystem work together to guarantee trust by encouraging safe administration, processing, consultation, exchange, acceptance and recognition of digital student data, in addition to appropriately verified paper-based records, using the best standards and technology available. 

Registrations are open for part 2 of the webinar series commencing on 15 September.  

Microcredentials in the digital credential ecosystem

When: Wednesday 21 October 2020
Time:   8:00pm (Melbourne, Australia) / 11:00am (Bonn, Rome, Johannesburg)/ 5:00am (Washington DC, USA)

Facilitator: Michael Hörig, Head of Division Strategic Planning at DAAD, the German Academic Exchange Service
Presenters: 

• Barbara Dale-Jones, Founding partner and Director at The Field Institute, South Africa
• Emeritus Professor dr Beverley Oliver, Principal Consultant at EduBrief, Australia
• Simone Ravaioli, Director Strategic Initiatives, Digitary 

The Art of the Possible: Creating Sustainable Interoperability Through Collaboration

When: October 27, 2020 
Time: 10.00am EDT (Washington DC, USA, Ottawa, Canada)/ 8:00am CDT (Puebla, Mexico)  

Moderators: Joanne Duklas, Founder, Duklas Cornerstone Consulting Inc.; Executive Lead, ARUCC National Network; Artist, Joanne Duklas Fine Art and  Ricardo (Rick) Torres, CEO, National Student Clearinghouse, Washington, D.C. area; Director on the Inaugural Board of Directors, GDN; Chair, Advisory Committee, GDN 

Presenters:

• Romesh Vadivel, President, ARUCC; Assistant Registrar & Director, Service Point, McGill University, Canada
• Melanie Gottlieb,Deputy Director, AACRAO, USA 
• Francisco Maldonado Altieri, President of the Executive Board, ARSEE - Association of School and Student Service Managers, Mexico; Registrar, UPAEP – Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico 

PREVIOUS WEBINARS IN THE SERIES LISTED BELOW
Webinar recordings will be made available to signatories to the GDN. 

Not a Signatory?

Digital Credentials in Europe

When: Tuesday 15 September 2020
Time:   4:00pm (Brussels, Belgium) / 10:00am (Washington DC, USA) 

Facilitator:  Tessa Mouha, AHOVOKS, Belgium

Panelists: 

• Dr David Vannozzi (CINECA) - 'Unbundling and sealing the academic degree with digital credentials'
• Dr Hans Pongratz (Technische Universität München, TUM) - 'Update on the Digital Credentials Consortium (DCC)'

• Ulrika Seydler (Ehrenstrahle), Per Zetterval and Erik Johansson - 'Digitalizing the Ivory Tower: The Case of Sweden'

• William O'Keefe, Europass Digital Credentials, European Commission

Life Long Learning and Digital Learner Data Portability

When: Tuesday 29 September 2020
Time:   7:30am (California, USA) / 10:30am (Washington DC, USA) / 4:30pm (Paris, France; Brussels, Belgium; Johannesburg, South Africa) / 8:00pm (New Delhi, India) 

Facilitator: Dr James Keevy, CEO, JET Education Services
Panelists: 

• Alex Kaplan, Global Leader, Blockchain and AI for Learning Credentials, IBM Talent and Transformation
• Dr Borhene Chakroun, Director for Policy and Life Long Learning Systems, UNESCO
• Manuela Geleng, Director Skills, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission
• Dr Pankaj Mittal, Secretary-General, Association of Indian Universities.

Credential Mobility: Asian Perspectives

When: Friday 9 October 2020
Time:   7:00pm (Singapore, Beijing, China) / 8:00pm (Tokyo, Japan) / 7:00am (Washington DC, USA)

Facilitator: Darren J. McDermott, Team Leader Designate, SHARE programme - EU Support to Higher Education in the ASEAN Region, Singapore 
Presenters: 

• Koichi Nakasaki, Chief Research Officer, Research Consortium for Sustainable International Education (RECSIE) & The Institute for Future Engineering (IFENG)
  ‘Establishing a Credential Mobility Model for Japan’
• Zheng Wei Quah, Accredify Pte. Ltd 
  ‘How Singapore Put an Entire Nation’s Education Credentials on the Blockchain’
• Dr Cheng Weixing, CHESSIC (China Higher Education Student Information and Career Center) Translated by Wenjun Chen, Project Manager of International Promotion Department. 
  A Road of Sustainable Development: Chinese Student Information Management for 20 Years