On January 30th, 2020, Learning Economy hosted the C-Lab Kickoff in Denver, Colorado.
Over 120 stakeholders attended a day of workshops, presentations, and panel discussions for the official launch of the C-Lab, an initiative intended to provide the whole state of Colorado with a unified but decentralized ecosystem for collaborative innovation, investigation, and experimentation around the future of education and employment.
In partnership with the Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) and History Colorado, and sponsored by Odigia, Whiteboard Advisors, and ETH Denver, the C-Lab Kickoff marked the beginning of efforts to catalyze and harmonize a multi-system, multi-agent state ecosystem with a shared interest in pioneering revolutionary public-good infrastructures. Attendees spanned higher education, K-12, government, non-profits, students, and more.
The shared objectives for the kickoff were to:
1. Establish a shared understanding of the state agency and council work,
current state initiatives, and history regarding blockchain exploration in Colorado.
2. Establish a shared understanding of the national education perspective,
outlook, and opportunities regarding emerging technology.
3. Build a shared understanding of the C-Lab goals, protocol, timeline, and
intended 1 and 3-year outcomes.
4. Build coalitions and come to consensus regarding workgroups, pilots, and
research for 2020 and beyond.
The Kickoff included an inspirational welcome from CDHE director, Dr. Angie Paccione, and included the following expert panels:
- National Outlook Panel - Moderator: Sharon Leu, US Department of Education, OET with panelists Megan Raymond (WCET), Lexi Anderson (ECS), and Lewis Brown (CAEL)
- CO Projects and Outlook Panel - Moderator: Spencer Ellis, CDHE with panelists Michael Vente (CDHE), Matt Stevens (Brighthive), Thad Batt (Governor’s Office of OIT), Shala Burroughs (Radar), Kristin Klopfenstein (DU/Colorado Lab), and John Paller (ETHDenver)
- C-Lab in Action Panel - Moderator: Jackson Smith, Learning Economy with panelists Scott Cheney (Credential Engine), Greg Nadeau (PCG/IMS), Trev Harmon (Evernym), Phil Long (ASU/TLN), Reid Kallman and Jenny Primm (CU Boulder), and Kim Bartkus (HR Open Standards)
In a survey provided to stakeholders and attendees of the event, one attendee said:
“It's wonderful to see the imperfectly swirling notions I've been trying to formalize reified into a couple of slides.”
These are exciting sentiments which we hope to build on in the coming months.
Stakeholders can still register to participate in any of the proposed workgroups (Digital Credentialing, Trust Infrastructure, User/Learner Experiences, Credential Distribution, Outreach & Awareness, Investigation & Analysis, Equity & Inclusion, Fundraising); all in support of an initial pilot exploring Digital Wallets and Portable Degrees.
