Edalex announces launch of openRSD Rich Skill Descriptors (RSD) library with global access

Edalex, the EdTech company that unleashes the power of skills data, digital assets, and personal credentials, announces the creation and general availability of openRSD, an open library for the storage of Rich Skill Descriptors (RSDs). In establishing openRSD, Edalex is able to utilise its open source technology stack to promote RSD use by creating locally- and globally-relevant libraries of RSDs that are open to all contributors and consumers of RSDs. At launch, openRSD contains RSDs created by organisations in the US as well as Australia, with additional RSDs under development.

An RSD is a powerful data package that structures skills data and adds context around a particular skill. An RSD is human and machine readable, it gives a common definition of a skill and provides the context behind the skill, it allows interoperability in credentials, and it establishes a shared language between educators and employers. An RSD is a digital tool that allows curriculum to connect tightly with the skills that employers need and helps match emergent and hidden talent with employers in need of skilled workers. The metadata within RSDs provide transparency and empowers learners to tell the story of the skills they have gained.

The creation of openRSD reflects Edalex's strong commitment to evolving the skills ecosystem, and builds on years of work surfacing evidence of workplace skills with Credentialate. Edalex gathered real-world context from a client skills initiative as well as participation in recent Open Skills Network (OSN) Skills Collaborative projects. Edalex partnered with The University of Melbourne and Education Design Lab, and separately with Intrinsic Learning, to provide a skills library demonstrating how 21st Century Skills as well as domain-specific RSDs can be integrated into technology to contextualise learning.

During the OSN Skills Collaborative, Edalex and our partners validated the imperative for an RSD library that enabled localisation, approval workflow, version control and other important functionality. Any such RSD platform would need to complement the Open Skills Management Tool (OSMT) to enable the production and storage of RSDs around the globe. openRSD is a permanent SaaS environment that enables RSDs to be contextualised to local frameworks, occupations and job data, regardless of the organisation’s location around the globe.

“We chose the openRSD library to manage rich skill descriptors sourced from job descriptions, corporate curricula and Australian competencies. It enables rich search options, easy maintenance, an API to our learner dashboard and supports self recognition in our evidence-based learning systems,” said Mark Keough, founder and CEO of Intrinsic Learning.

openRSD provides a free SaaS environment compatible with the RSD data standard, alongside paid models enabling increased flexibility on functionality such as available taxonomies, workflows, and institutional branding.

"openRSD enables organisations anywhere in the world to quickly launch RSDs, contextualised to their local environment. With openRSD we’re leveraging two decades of experience and technology enabling the creation, discovery and sharing of content," said Dan McFadyen, Managing Director, Edalex. "Continuing collaboration with the Open Skills Network and broader support to the RSD community are key long-term imperatives to help strengthen and develop the skills recognition movement around the world."

openRSD is available today at openrsd.com. To create an account, or for more information, please visit edalex.com/openrsd.

Media Contact:
Kristine Chompff
Marketing Manager for Edalex
+61 409 598 408
kristine.chompff@edalex.com