Facilitators
- Colin Tück (KIC)
- Ronald Ham (SURF)
Problem statement
Various data models and API standards currently exist for exchanging educational data (e.g. catalogues of learning opportunities, student data, enrolment data, ...) or data on educational resources.
Existing standards each have their own purpose and scope, with significant overlaps but usually no identical scopes. The landscape is characterised by a mix of open and proprietary standards. Standards have sometimes subtle, sometimes substantial semantic or technical differences.
Different approaches in terms checking or certifying compliance exist, leading to interoperability problems in some areas despite existing standards.
Use Cases
- Discover (UC1)
- Apply and get recognition (UC2)
- Manage educational resources (UC4)
- Earn a credential (UC6)
Results
- Comparison of existing relevant standards (in terms of scope, semantic and technical differences, incl. maintenance and change processes, approach to compliance/certification) that HEIs and alliances can use to inform their decisions as to which standards to use/implement – UC1: Aug 2025, UC2, UC4, UC6: Feb 2026
- Mapping of core concepts and properties mapping between selected data models to facilitate conversion, incl. mapping of controlled vocabularies – UC1: Nov 2025, other UCs: next periods
- Proposal for generic institutional API catalogues and registries, allowing institutions to expose interoperable standards – Oct 2025