# Digital Learning Passport

> The Digital Learning Passport is an open credential trust framework for Sri Lanka. It defines how universities issue learning records that graduates hold themselves and employers can verify, using existing international standards rather than a new national format.

## Key facts

- It is a framework (process and policy), not a new credential standard and not a product.
- Universities issue signed learning records; graduates hold them; employers verify the signature directly, without contacting the university and without a third-party verifier.
- Convened by Knivok Private Limited (https://knovik.com), Colombo, Sri Lanka.
- Free to adopt: implementing the framework needs no licence, fee or registration. The framework text is licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Details: https://www.dlpassport.org/licence/
- Made for Sri Lankan institutions: developed with partner institutions in Sri Lanka to fit how local universities award, record and correct qualifications. It is a shared framework, not a credential service, so records stay verifiable whichever tools an institution uses.
- Status: framework in drafting; no production system is running yet.
- Framework document: first public draft expected December 2026.
- Contact: contact@dlpassport.org

## Standards it builds on

- [W3C Verifiable Credentials Data Model 2.0](https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-data-model-2.0/) (W3C Recommendation, May 2025): The underlying credential format: how a signed claim is structured and checked.
- [Open Badges 3.0](https://www.imsglobal.org/spec/ob/v3p0/) (1EdTech): Achievement and skill claims, expressed as verifiable credentials.
- [Comprehensive Learner Record 2.0](https://www.imsglobal.org/spec/clr/v2p0/) (1EdTech): Bundling individual achievements into a full learning record.
- [Europass](https://europass.europa.eu/) (European Union): referenced as an implementation pattern
- [DigiLocker](https://www.digilocker.gov.in/) (Government of India): referenced as an implementation pattern

## Research

- Paper at International Conference on Advances in ICT for Emerging Regions (ICTer 2026) (link to follow).

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the Digital Learning Passport?

The Digital Learning Passport is an open credential trust framework for Sri Lanka. It defines how universities issue learning records that graduates hold themselves and employers can verify, using existing international standards rather than a new national format.

### How is this different from digital credential services already available in Sri Lanka?

It is not a credential service. It is a shared framework, developed with partner institutions in Sri Lanka, that sets out how local universities, graduates and employers adopt international credential standards consistently. It is written around how Sri Lankan universities already award, record and correct qualifications. Because it rests on open standards, a record issued under it stays verifiable whichever tools or provider an institution chooses.

### Is the Digital Learning Passport a new standard?

No. It does not define a new credential format. It builds on the W3C Verifiable Credentials Data Model 2.0, Open Badges 3.0 and the Comprehensive Learner Record 2.0, and defines what each party is responsible for when using them.

### How will an employer verify a Sri Lankan degree with it?

The graduate shares their record. The employer checks the university's digital signature on it. If the record was issued by that university and has not been altered, the check passes. The employer does not need to call or email the university, and there is no third-party verifier in between.

### How does it help with fake or altered degree certificates?

A record that has been edited after issue, or that a university never issued, fails the signature check. Addressing credential fabrication is the first phase of the work. The framework also sets out how an employer knows a signing key really belongs to the institution it names, for example because the key is published by the university itself.

### Do graduates keep their records after they leave university?

Yes. The graduate holds the record, not only the institution, so access does not end with enrolment. They can keep it and share it for as long as they need it.

### Can a graduate share only part of their record?

That is the intent. The framework defines how a graduate shares a scoped view with each recipient, for example a degree and its classification without the full transcript. How finely a record can be split depends on how the institution issues it, which the framework sets out.

### Does verification need an internet connection or a call to the university?

Checking the signature does not require contacting the university. The verifier needs the university's public key, which is published and can be stored in advance, so the check itself can run offline.

### Does it replace paper transcripts and verification letters?

Not at first. During a pilot, verifiable records are issued alongside a university's existing transcripts and certificates. Each institution decides how far and how fast to go.

### Can we adapt or translate the framework for our institution?

Yes. The framework text is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0). You can copy, adapt and translate it, including for commercial use, as long as you credit the source and say what you changed.

### Is it running today? Can my university use it now?

There is no production system yet. The framework is being drafted, one university partner is onboarded, and a reference prototype has been demonstrated on a public dataset. Universities interested in a pilot can get in touch now.

### What does it cost a university to adopt?

Nothing. Adopting the framework needs no licence, fee or registration, and the framework text is published under an open licence (CC BY 4.0). Institutions choose their own tools to issue records, and the framework does not depend on any particular product.

### Who runs the Digital Learning Passport? Is it a government programme?

It is not a government programme. It is convened by Knivok Private Limited, an applied AI company in Colombo, working with partner institutions in Sri Lanka. Knivok also builds commercial products that implement the framework; the framework is not dependent on any of them.

Website: https://www.dlpassport.org