Digitary & RECSIE join forces

RECSIE partners with Digitary to build a Japanese National Network, providing higher education learners with anytime access to digitized, portable transcripts & credentials online

The Research Consortium for Sustainable International Education (RECSIE) today announced that it has chosen and partnered with the global EdTech firm, Digitary as the solution provider for a nationwide network for official documents for higher education institutions in Japan.

The RECSIE and Digitary partnership comes together with the intention of a nationwide rollout across Japan and will be open to all Higher Education Institutions. This initiative means the Japanese higher education community will see the creation of the very first national online platform and national credential wallet for post-secondary learners.

Once fully operational, the National Network will enable learners and alumni of Japanese higher education institutions to access and share their official digitized transcripts and credentials online – anytime, anywhere in the world.

Digitary was founded in Ireland, and since its launch in 2005 has grown exponentially around the globe as experts in secure online credentials. With offices in Ireland, United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, India and Canada, Digitary is well positioned to service its growing customer base in Japan and worldwide with trusted digital solutions.

“This partnership with Digitary is incredibly exciting news for Japan’s learners, the higher education community and our partners,” says Professor Shingo Ashizawa of Toyo University and Director of RECSIE. “The National Network will have a strong impact on the realisation of UNESCO’s Tokyo Convention which promotes the mobility of students and talents in the Asia Pacific region.”

“For the first time in Japan’s history, we are creating a national, secure digital platform for sharing official digitized academic transcripts and credentials.” says Koichi Nakasaki, Chief Research Officer of Institute for Future Engineering and Director of RECSIE who is leading the nationwide program, “As the result of our 6 months international partner research across the world including Japan, we identified with Digitary’s approach and their platform which is future oriented and we believe to be the most relevant to Japanese higher education institutions.”

“Digitary is honoured to be chosen to support the creation of the Japanese National Network and we are very excited to bring Digitary’s vision and unique experience to bear in the Japanese context. Digitary’s proven technology enables millions of learners to access and share their verifiable digital credentials with organisations in over 135 countries. An established global leader in the digital credentialing space, Digitary’s platform has been chosen by hundreds of post-secondary institutions in Australia, Canada, Europe, India, New Zealand and the United States,” says Andy Dowling, Chief Executive Officer, Digitary.

Mr. Katsumi Shiraishi, Director General, The Asian Students Cultural Association  and Director of RECSIE says, “This is a huge milestone for Japan in the provision of secure digital credentials to students.” The initiative is described as a “defining moment for Japan” by Professor Hiroshi Ota of Hitotsubashi University and Director of RECSIE.

Featuring an expanding team globally and highly experienced senior leadership team at the helm, Digitary continues to invest in R&D to deliver new capabilities and improved user experience. Digitary has built an extensive suite of products and services improving the lives of students and improving the internal processes for institutions across the globe.

Features of the Japanese National Network for academic credentials, in conjunction with Digitary:

• Bilingual service and support Japanese and English
• 24/7 access to the Network by learners anytime, anywhere, on their own personal computers and smart phones
• Give learners the ability to access, view and share their verified and official transcripts, credentials, and other official documents in a secure digital format
• Enable Japanese higher education institutions to enhance efficiency, productivity and services for student and alumni, whilst preserving their autonomy and brand value over their digital documents
• Japanese higher education institutions can automate student record exchange domestically and internationally through a trusted global network
• Empower Japanese higher education institutions to implement an advanced post Covid-19 business model of higher education such as academic record portfolio, micro credentials, MOOC and others

About RECSIE

RECSIE was established in January 2014 and is a non-profit organization aiming at contributing to the internationalization of higher education, and promoting a research agenda that goes beyond the borders of our individual universities. The core objective of RECSIE is to collaborate with universities around the world for enhanced student mobility and to develop the talent of our students through cultural diversity. RECSIE joined the Groningen Declaration Network in early 2020, the first from Japan, and has taken up the digitalization initiative for Japanese higher education community. For more information visit http://recsie.or.jp or contact the project’s executive lead, Koichi Nakasaki, at k.nakasaki@ifeng.or.jp

About Digitary

Digitary was launched in Dublin, Ireland in 2005, and has grown to become a leading online platform for certifying, sharing, and verifying academic credentials. Learner-centric since the very start, Digitary enables millions of Learners to share their verified academic achievements online, securely, quickly and easily. Digitary is now used by organisations in over 135 countries.

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AVAILABLE FOR COMMENT:

Chief Research Officer of Institute for Future Engineering and Director of RECSIE – Koichi Nakasaki

Chief Operating Officer, Digitary – James Murray-Beckman

MEDIA ENQUIRIES:

Koichi Nakasaki, Director, RECSIE. E: koichi.nakasaki@recsie.or.jp

Catherine Stanley, Head of Marketing, Digitary. E: catherine.stanley@digitary.net