Digital Universities Europe, 10-12 March, 2025 in Wrocław  

Digital Universities Europe 2025 took place on 10-12 March, 2025 in Wrocław, Poland, and brought  together higher education, industry and policy leaders working to accelerate change in teaching and  learning, assessment, administration and the student experience, as digital technologies reveal new  possibilities. There were more than 30 sessions, more than 80 speakers and more than 300  participants. Attendees participated through keynotes, interactive panel discussions, practical  workshops, networking and much more.  One of the sessions, entitled EU student mobility: Enabling student movement across European  universities, gathered two panelists, Janina Mincer-Daszkiewicz and Tor Fridell. Janina and Tor touched  the following questions and issues:

• The current state of the initiatives enabling student movement between European  universities. 
• Successfully sharing Erasmus+ student data in a secure and reliable way. 
• How are EWP and EMREX related to other digital initiatives like DC4EU, OOTS, personal  wallets, blockchains etc.? 
• What are the biggest obstacles to achieve a smooth digital process? 
• What will be the landscape five years from now? 
• How to facilitate online access to information, administrative procedures and assistance  services that EU citizens and businesses may need in other EU countries?

Istvan Vilmos Kovacs (moderator), Janina Mincer-Daszkiewicz and Tor Fridell  (panelists) at Digital Universities Europe 2025

6th Projectathon OOTS, 11-12 March, 2025 in Brussels  

From June 11 to 12, 2025, the sixth Projectathon OOTS took place in Brussels. DUO participated on  behalf of EMREX, and RINIS was present to host the EMREX-OOTS bridge. Projectathons are intensive  two-day testing events with peer-to-peer interoperability tests in a structured environment. The event  is organized by the European Commission (EC). Technical connections are established to exchange  (test) credentials between various Member States in order to test the development and  implementation of components of the OOTS.  DUO and RINIS successfully tested the bridge function between EMREX and OOTS and exchanged the  first data through this bridge. The EC, DG Grow, presents awards at each Projectathon to countries  that have made a special contribution in some way. This time, the award went to the Netherlands for  boosting a related system bridge in education. On behalf of DUO/EMREX, Jan-Joost Norder accepted  the award.  The next Once-Only event will take place on September 25 and 26 in Lisbon. DUO and RINIS have set  the goal of going live with the bridge during that event. It will be an exciting challenge, but both parties  are optimistic. In the long term, the aim is for more EMREX countries to make use of the bridge.

Award presented to the Netherlands for boosting an EMREX-OOTS bridge in education

Nordforum meeting, 14-15 May, 2025 in Tatru  

The 2025 NordForum collaboration meeting was held in Tartu, Estonia, on May 14–15, 2025. NordForum is an informal collaboration initiative between organizations responsible for Student Information Systems (SIS). What unites the group is that all members are national SIS providers, representing the majority of universities in their respective countries. It serves as a platform for exchanging experiences and ideas, and for identifying opportunities for both short- and long-term cooperation. Participants come from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. Below are some highlights from the participating countries since the previous meeting.

Denmark  

Denmark is implementing the EU’s Single Digital Gateway Regulation through close collaboration  between national and municipal authorities. The goal is to enable smooth access for both citizens and  businesses, with minimal migration effort required from the authorities. Additionally, the form engine  (Blanketmotoren) supports the rapid digitalization of administrative processes.  Denmark is actively involved in the European Universities Initiative, with seven full partners and two  associate partners across seven alliances. The country is also preparing to take a leading role in  chairing negotiations for the next Erasmus+ budget.  The new 4EU+ MICI project aims to develop a standardized and flexible system for designing, issuing,  and recognizing micro-credentials. Implementation of the AI Act is underway, alongside efforts to map  current and anticipated uses of AI in higher education institutions.

Estonia  

Estonia is working to establish more structured collaboration between universities. While EMREX is  supported, its usage is still limited.

Finland  

The Digivisio Opin.fi service was launched in April 2025. It aggregates study offerings from 29 higher  education institutions, with eight more to be added in autumn 2025. Offerings are automatically  transferred from source systems (Sisu/Peppi), tagged, and categorized by theme to improve search  and filtering.  The EMREX integration in the Sisu system is in production, and usage has steadily increased in both  Peppi and Sisu.   Twenty-two higher education institutions are participating in an equal number of European university  alliances, including one with significant IT investment (ECIU) and one coordinated by Finland (U!REKA).  Institutions are also piloting the planning and use of micro-credentials in collaboration with  employers.  CSC, Tampere University, the University of Jyväskylä, and Metropolia University of Applied Sciences  are jointly involved in the Data Space for Skills (DS4Skills) project, with partners in Norway, the  Netherlands, and Latvia.  The LUMI AI Factory project is coordinated by CSC and includes partners from Denmark, Estonia,  Norway, and Poland. The LUMI AI Factory is one of Europe’s largest AI-related investments (€612  million), comprising a supercomputer, service center, and quantum computing platform.

The Netherlands  

The use of EMREX has increased, with nine new clients onboarded in 2024. Data is transferred  between approximately 50 clients each month. EMREX is being expanded to include Financial  Supervision Act certificates and Proof of Enrolment.  The use of Mijn diploma’s service has also grown, now offering access to documents such as the  Europass Certificate Supplement for vocational education, Financial Supervision Act certificates, and  the Citizen Exam certificate.  There is ongoing collaboration with SURF on micro-credentials. Currently, micro-credentials are used  in secondary vocational education, while higher education institutions use Edubadges.

Norway  

In 2025, SIKT has focused on five key areas: 

• A simpler organization. 
• Economic sustainability. 
• Artificial intelligence. 
• Clarification of data products. 
• Information security and privacy. 

There are also plans to use AI in student admissions. While digital certificates are available for  domestic applicants, evaluating paper-based applications from international candidates is a bit  challenging. The goal is to move from a process that currently takes weeks to one that provides  immediate feedback.  Micro-credentials are being developed with a strong focus on working life. Key elements include: 

• Certificates of competence to highlight continuing education and learning in the workplace. • Industry-related qualification and competence frameworks to systematize and promote  lifelong learning. 
• Competency points to combine and stack learning outcomes. 

Sweden  

The LADOK consortium has prioritized information security. LADOK has also passed EDU-API  interoperability testing and is awaiting official certification. EDU-API will be integrated into LADOK’s  API.  The last major higher education institution in Sweden, the Stockholm School of Economics, will join  LADOK in February 2026. The transition aims to be smooth, with collaboration focused on mapping  and converting data from the old system and reviewing business processes.  New features introduced in LADOK include: 

• Digital Degree Certificates. 
• Documentation of Study Support for Students with Disabilities. 
•  Individual Study Plans for PhD students.

EUNIS conference, 3-6 June, 2025 in Belfast

This year’s EUNIS annual congress was held in Belfast and hosted by the University of Ulster. The EMREX community was well represented and among other things held a joint panel session with EWP (Erasmus Without Paper). The conference was visited by more than 250 persons. As usual the conference offered presentations and workshops in a diversity of areas. Of course, AI was in focus but there was also presentations and discussions on how to move forward on the issues that lies on top of our minds, like 

• University alliances, 
• Interoperability, 
• Micro credentials, 
• Wallet solutions, verifiable credentials.

The EUNIS conference is a very good way to keep updated with current issues in the European digital  education area and well worth going to. Some presentations are available afterwards, see the  congress web site https://eunis.org/eunis2025/programme/. Next year the conference is planned to  beheld on June 2-5 in Timisoara, Romania.  The EMREX-EWP panel session title was Journey of member states towards digital Erasmus – challenges and lessons learned. It was a combined session focused on the factors that proved to be  good as well as the factors that were a hindrance.   Using the EMREX case as an example, we explored key insights, including: 

• A clear business need as the starting point: EMREX was developed to facilitate the transfer of  credits after mobility periods. The solution was designed to be simple and easily accessible,  focusing not on technology itself but on fulfilling the needs of students and institutions. 
• The role of central/national data repositories: Digital exchange solutions thrive when centralized  systems exist, as seen in countries with high adoption rates. In contrast, the absence of central  data sources has significantly limited growth in other regions. 
• Expanding the target audience: While initial adoption focused on higher education institutions,  recruitment companies have emerged as key stakeholders, leading to a significant increase in data  exchanges. 
• Adapting to evolving digital identity frameworks: When EMREX was launched, there was no  common European identity system so we had to build a solution that worked anyhow. The  introduction of the European Digital Identity Wallet (eIDAS 2) has changed the landscape, and  EMREX has proactively engaged as a partner in large-scale pilot projects.
•  Ensuring interoperability through data standards: EMREX originally used the at the time existing  European standard, ELMO. With the emergence of the European Learning Model (ELM), a  converter was developed to bridge the gap.
• Leveraging European legislation for new opportunities: The EU’s Single Digital Gateway (SDG)  regulation provided another avenue for expanding EMREX capabilities. A pilot is currently underway to connect EMREX with SDG technical framework without requiring modifications to  existing data nodes

Panel participants, from left to right: Tor Fridell, Geir Vangen, Carmen Díaz, Janina Mincer Daszkiewicz, Peter Leijnse 

Belfast is known for shipbuilding and as the place where SS Titanic was built. The gala dinner of the  congress was held in the Titanic Museum and the dining hall was a replica of the first-class dining hall  of the ship with its characteristic staircase.

EUNIS gala dinner in the dining hall of the Titanic Museum

EMREX Annual Assembly, 14 June, 2025 in Tatru  

On the 14th of June the Annual Assembly for EMREX took place at the Tartu University Delta Center  in Tartu, Estonia.  The meeting started with Dr. Sathyanarayanan from the Council of EU Chamber of Commerce in India  as keynote speaker. Dr. Sathyanarayanan explained the plans of India to improve the student mobility  towards Europa and as well in Asia. In the past most students were studying in the USA, but recent  developments have shown a change in direction. Students are finding their way to other parts of the  world. The EU Chamber of Commerce is therefore looking for ways to connect to the EU in order to  improve the student mobility. The Executive Commission has agreed to further discuss a cooperation  with India during a follow-up.

EMREX Annual Assembly in Tartu, June 2025 

After the keynote the committee shared their accomplishments of last year. For example how  successful the trial sessions for the OOTS/EMREX bridge were during the Projectathons. The EC is very  happy to announce that the European Commission will continue to maintain the bridge software until  the end of 2027 of the project. Furthermore, the converter for ELMO and ELM is working both ways.  This was a Large Scale Pilot project. Moreover, the digital identity wallet (EUDI) is working. ELMO 2.1  is compliant with the OOTS regulation and the CBDS has created a comprehensive guide on how to  connect with EMREX.  For the new year, 2025, there are again many projects to work on. For example the new EMREG, the  register for EMREX providers and clients. The ELMO-alignment with OOTS. The governance and  development for the OOTS/EMREX bridge and many more.   Moreover, we have added a new member to the Executive Committee for the next two years: Minna  Pylkkönen, from CSC Finland. She replaces Kimmo Rautio. Tor Fridell is elected for one more year as  chair of the EC committee.  The meeting was as people say in The Netherlands ‘kort maar krachtig’ (short but effective), although  this meant for some participants abroad that they completely missed the annual meeting, because of  the timezone differences. A good lesson for next years! We’ll meet you again!

New EMREX Governance Strategy  

In the February newsletter, the EMREX Executive Committee announced it was working on a new  strategy and on improving cooperation among the current full members. In May, the first strategy  meeting was held during the annual Nordforum meeting. The participating organizations (DUO, Sikt,  CSC, MUCI, and AZVO) all expressed their support. The agreements are being formalized in a  Memorandum of Understanding. The final version is currently being completed and is expected to be  signed by the end of the summer.  The network will be informed in due course about the contents of the MoU and other agreements  that have been made. 

Get in touch  

EMREX portal is available at emrex.eu. To contact us write to info@emrex.eu. To get support write to  support@emrex.eu.

EMREX part of the Once-Only Technical System Projectathon

During the Once-Only Technical System (OOTS) Projectathon in November 2024 the EMREX community was present. There was a session focused on the integration of EMREX with the OOTS using a technical bridge, highlighting its potential for improving cross-border educational data exchange. The discussion emphasized leveraging existing systems, addressing challenges, and exploring synergies with other EU initiatives.

EMREX team (from the left Jan-Joost Norder, Tor Fridell) at the Projectathon, November 2024

The session focused on implementing several OOTS procedures that require education data and on leveraging and integrating the existing EMREX system to facilitate cross-border education data exchange, promote the OOTS platform, and address key challenges. Participants reviewed the progress made in the development and deployment of the OOTS–EMREX bridge and looked forward to its future use. They also discussed synergies with other ongoing and future relevant developments such as the EUDI Wallet and Erasmus Without Paper (EWP). The session included participants from competent authorities using EMREX, the national OOTS teams of several Member States, other relevant competent authorities as well as participants from DG GROW, DG EMPL, DG EAC and DG DIGIT. In the November 2024 Projectathon, Rinis again provided hosting of the bridge for the EMREX community. The code was updated and documented, considering requirements from EMREX. It contained functional extensions (such as error handling, formats) and leveraged new functionality for bridges in the EC Common Services. It executed successful exchanges with 2 Evidence Providers and several Evidence Requesters and fully conforms to the OOTS Technical Design Documents. The bridge functions as a translator, adapting data formats (e.g., ELMO to ELM), ensuring secure identity verification, and supporting data exchange in formats like PDFs. This approach prioritizes efficiency and avoids unnecessary duplication of systems.

Launch of the Interoperability Framework

European Higher Education Interoperability Framework (HEIF) is a European Commission initiative developed by the higher education interoperability working group and the consortium under the European Digital Education Hub (EDEH). The HEIF supports European University alliances and higher education institutions in enhancing the interoperability of European higher education ecosystems to foster collaboration, efficiency, and innovation. In January the Framework was launched, after a long development period where experts from Europe have taken part, including people from the EMREX sphere.

– During the launch period there were sessions to explore the implementation guidelines of the European Higher Education Interoperability Framework;

–  showcase the variety of tools made available to the European University alliances and higher education institutions;

– introduce the practical application of the implementation guidelines;

– explore the governance model proposal of the European higher education interoperability and its role in creating the harmonised and interoperable European higher education ecosystem that fosters collaboration, efficiency and innovation.

Progress report from the Large Scale Pilot DC4EU

Some of the members of the EMREX community have taken part in the EU-funded Large-scale pilot DC4EU (https://www.dc4eu.eu). The goal is to connect the EMREX Network to the EUDI wallet. Specifically the plan is to develop bridge functionality. The participation is expected to add value both to the EMREX community and other organizations handling or in need of educational data.   The aim of the project is to create a working pilot installation of a digital wallet that conforms to the EUDI wallet framework. The EMREXIANS participate in two tasks, one is to create an EMREX gateway to the wallet and the other is to create conversion possibilities between the two data formats, ELMO and ELM. This way the wallet can transport educational data between any parties, not limited to higher education institutions. The project is due to deliver later this year and so far both tasks, converter and gateway are well under way of completion. The converter can do the conversion both ways, from ELMO to ELM and also from ELM to ELMO. We expect to run the piloting activities this spring.

EMREX Executive Committee’s meeting in Warsaw 7-8 January 2025

EMREX Executive Committee had its annual hybrid meeting in Warsaw 7-8 January 2025. Executive Committee discussed on multiple actual topics related to the service, ELMO, SDG-OOTS, EUDI Wallets, governance and dissemination of the service and ELMO, upcoming events (fairs and meetings with employers) etc. At the final of the meeting, all members of the Executive Committee told actual news from each member country. It was great to hear that in 2024 the number of exchanges had increased significantly in Norway, the Netherlands and in Finland, comparing to previous year. Thank you again for all EMREX Executive Committee’s members for active participation on a meeting, and especially thanks to Janina and University of Warsaw for organizing the event.

Hybrid meeting of the EMREX Ececutive Committee in Warsaw, January 2025

EMREX updated strategy

In 2022 the EMREX Executive Committee reated a new mission and strategic goals to foster and empower the network. After three years it was time to review the progress made and the status.

The benefit of EMREX, with its electronic data exchange solution, is to empower individuals to control their own student data and exchange throughout lifespan, across borders for various purposes in a GDPR-compliant way. Regarding other purposes EMREX is used by different actors that contribute to digitalization, for the benefit of the data owner. It is constructed to empower individuals to control their own student data and exchange throughout lifespan, across borders for various purposes in a GDPR-compliant way.

At the last EMREX EC meeting in Warsaw, it was decided to renew the current mission and update the strategic goals. The new mission is more in line with the progress that’s being made in some EMREX countries where the growth in exchanges is driven by job recruitment and fraud prevention. The EMREX executive committee (EC) acknowledges these facts which resulted in the following:

EMREX wants to lead the way in the sharing of learner outcomes in a secure and reliable way to enhance the free movement of citizens worldwide to study and work where they want. Using EMREX will greatly improve the exchange of digital data, prevent fraud and will save time and costs in administrative processes for organizations

Furthermore, the EC agreed that it wants to further strengthen the collaboration – with focus on governance – between the current active full members. The plan is to do so by signing a Memorandum of Understanding between the Full members organizations. The EC aims to do so by the next annual assembly which will be hosted around 14-15 of May 2025. The exact date will follow soon. Next to this the EMREX EC also agreed on goals to increase membership and exchanges what all in all will result in a sustainable and hopeful EMREX future. The details of the new mission and strategic goals will be published on the website soon.

ELMO2.1 published

We are pleased to announce that ELMO Version 2.1 now has been released. The main update is to provide additional support for the education scenarios for Single Digital Gateway and Once Only Technical System:

• Support for Enrolment. • Adding a Duration-element in addition to the existing date period of education. • Documentation on how to add NQF level in addition to EQF.

Other updates are

• Change in the specification of country, enable us to use the complete ISO 3166 country list. • New types of attachments. • New document type: Certificate. • Temporarily reintroduce learner.bday to ease the transition to ELMO2.x. • More documentation of Result of recognition introduced with ELMO 2.0 and adding an Identifier for Result of recognition. • A new technical status element for data delivered.

More details on this release can be found here: https://github.com/emrex-eu/elmoschemas/releases.

Save the date – annual assembly

The annual assembly for the EMREX user Group will take place on May 13. It will be a hybrid meeting on location in Tartu, Estonia and online. More information will follow.

Get in touch

EMREX portal is available at emrex.eu. To contact us write to info@emrex.eu. To get support write to support@emrex.eu.

EMREX at NordForum in April 2024

EMREX was present and held presentations at the Nordforum meeting April 2024 in Stockholm.  Nordforum is an informal collaboration initiative between organizations dealing with Student  Information Systems. The glue that keeps the group together is that all are national providers of  Student Information Systems, representing a majority of universities in each country. Nordforum  consists of people from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway and  Sweden.   There were presentations about the connection between EMREX and OOTS (see separate chapter  about the Projectathon) and also of the work done by some of the partners in one of the digital  wallet Large Scale Pilots, DC4EU (Digital Credentials for Europe), where EMREX is an integral part for  delivering student credentials to the wallet. It is expected that the deliverables from the project will  be useful in many contexts. One of the deliverables is a converter between the data format used in  EMREX and Erasmus Without Paper, ELMO, and the data format used by Europass and European  digital credentials, ELM. This item will be useful also in the bridge between EMREX and OOTS which  is a good example of how projects can give benefit to each other.

Gerald Groot Roessink presenting EMREX – OOTS integration 

Johanna Westendorp, Jan-Joost Norder and Gerald Groot Roessink –  presentation on SDG regulation and OOTS

Geir Vangen presenting EMREX – Wallet integration

EMREX User Group (EUG) annual assembly 2024  

EMREX User Group’s Annual Assembly was organized 23 April 2024 in Stockholm Sweden.  After opening the meeting and accepting the agenda etc. participants were informed about the yearly report from 2023.   In 2023 most significant activities included the following:  

• Expansion of the EMREX Network to new countries, and in existing countries, many new  clients joined the network. – In 2023, 2 new full members and 10 new clients joined the network. 

• EMREX’s new strategy was fully implemented. 
• Collaboration with multiple projects and bodies, for example with DC4EU, CBDS Study,  EBSI etc. 
• Decision to have own registry (EMREG). 

A thing to mention from 2023 was also the significant increase in the number of transfers using EMREX in  Finland and in The Netherlands. Increase in Finland was over 600% from 2022 to 2023 and over 200% in  The Netherlands.  EMREX User Group’s Executive Committees most significant plans for 2024 

• Seek and strengthen collaboration opportunities. 
• Investigate needs for developing the ELMO format. 
• Update emrex.eu website. 
• Seek to increase new members to the network. 
• New own EMREX registry (EMREG). 

∙ Development of a bridge between EMREX and Only Once Technical Solution (OOTS) etc. Dissemination 2024  EMREX will do presentations on multiple events and conferences during 2024. Most significant ones are  listed below. 

• EUNIS, in Athens (June) 
• EAIE, Toulouse (September) 
• GDN, San Diego (October)

Election of the Executive Committee for a period of two years (2024-2025)  The following individuals were nominated and selected as members of the EMREX User Group’s Executive  Committee:  ∙ Tor Fridell, Ladok, Sweden (selected as a Chairperson)  ∙ Jan-Joost Norder, DUO, the Netherlands  ∙ Kimmo Rautio, CSC, Finland  ∙ Geir Vangen, Sikt, Norway  ∙ Janina Mincer-Daszkiewicz, University of Warsaw, Poland  ∙ Igor Drvodelic, ASHE, Croatia  As one of the first acts of the newly elected EMREX Executive Committee, it appointed Arn Wassmann and Michael Lierath from the German HIS eG and Guido Bacharach to its Policy Group in accordance with  the current statutes. The Policy Group advises the EMREX Executive Committee on long-term strategic  issues. Michael Lierath and Guido Bacharach were also appointed to a permanent task force, which will  also support the EMREX EC in its day-to-day business. Guido Bacharach will continue his successful work  of recent years.

Projectathon in Brussels in May 2024  

On 15-17 May 2024 a Projectathon was held in Brussels for stakeholders implementing links to the  Once Only Technical System (OOTS). Members from almost the entire EMREX network participated  in this activity, either physically in Brussels or virtually. This was the fourth Once Only Projectathon,  testing solutions to support EU’s Single Digital Gateway (SDG). This meeting looked specifically at  the education and population data domains.  Three of the processes described in the SDG regulation are within the education domain. The EMREX  network participates to offer data from EMREX to these processes. Over the past year, the  Commission has been working together with the EMREX network to build a bridge between OOTS  and EMREX. The aim of the Projectathon in May was a full testing of this from five EMREX partner  countries. 

EMREX-OOTS architecture – internal structure of the Polish node 

he testing over these days was successful, and it was shown that the EMREX-OOTS bridge enabled  the delivery of data from the EMREX nodes that participated in the test to consumers of OOTS in  several member countries. EMREX provided both structured data and PDFs as part of this test. All in all, three successful days showed that linking existing networks can provide high value.

EMREX/OOTS team at Projectathon in Brussels 

Official certificate for the EMREX team 

EMREX at the PBSA Europe Summit 2024  

EMREX was present at the yearly European PBSA conference this May, hosted  in Amsterdam. EMREX showcased the goals, vision and how the partners could  connect and streamline their business with use of digital data. Many of the  organizations showed their interest during and after the presentation,  hopefully resulting in many new EMC’s in the near future.   PBSA, founded as a non-profit trade association in 2003, was established to represent the interest of  companies offering employment and tenant background screening services. The Association currently  represents over 650 member companies engaged in employment and tenant background screening across the globe. Member companies range from Fortune 100 companies to small local businesses,  conducting millions of employment related and tenant background checks each year as part of the hiring  and leasing process.  

Jan-Joost Norder presenting EMREX at the PBSA Europe Summit 2024

Report from the EUNIS 2024 conference  

The 2024 EUNIS conference was held in Athens on 4-7 June. Over 250 people gathered to discuss IT  in higher education from different angles. As usual there was a wide variety of subjects ranging from  IT-security to tools in teaching and learning. And as expected several presentations concerned AI.  EUNIS is highly recommended to attend, it gives a good and quick overview of the state of the art of  IT-development in higher education! The program and many of the presentations can still be  reached here: https://eunis.org/eunis2024/.  EMREX gave a presentation of the cooperation between Directorate-Generale for Digital Services  (DG DIGIT) and EMREX EC. The cooperation was about building and deploying an OOTS-EMREX  bridge so that institutions that provide an EMREX interface would be able to connect to OOTS at  minimal cost and impact (and vice versa). This was demonstrated in a so-called Projectathon in  Brussels on May 5-7 and it turned out successful. Five EMREX data sources connected to the bridge  and the information requester could fetch data. The joint work demonstrated the feasibility and  benefits of using a bridge between the OOTS and EMREX.  

• Procedure portal systems can retrieve education data from data sources using only the  OOTS interface, without needing to be aware of the EMREX technical specifications.  ∙ EMREX data sources makes data available to users without having to be aware of the OOTS  technical interface specifications.  

The cooperation will continue with the goal to make the system production ready.

Tor Fridell, chair of the EMREX EC, presenting EMREX-OOTS bridge at EUNIS 2024

ELMO 2.0 release  

We are pleased to announce that ELMO Version 2.0 now has been released. This is a version not  backwards compatible to 1.x versions because of some changes to harmonize ELMO to other  standard formats.  The main update is adding support for results of recognition, adding data deliveries from Enic-Naric  organizations into the EMREX network. This is solved with adding a completely new main entity to  ELMO.   There are also some changes to the original parts of ELMO. A deprecated “level”-element has now  been removed, identifier for LearningOpportunitySpecification is now mandatory and added support  for external grading schema identifiers. Learner’s bday has been changed to dateOfBirth and ELMO  now includes support for non-latin names for learners.  The work has started on the next version 2.1 to build in more support for Once Only Technical  System data exchange.

ELMO 2.0 recognition model

Get in touch  

EMREX portal is available at emrex.eu. To contact us write to info@emrex.eu. To get support write  to support@emrex.eu.

EMREX General Assembly in Oslo, 9th of May 2023

The 2023 EMREX Annual Assembly was held in Oslo as a physical meeting with courtesy of SIKT. The yearly report from 2022 was presented and accepted, just as the yearly plan for 2023. The election of the Executive Committee resulted in the re-election of Tor Fridell as Chairperson (see Get in touch with the Executive Committee). Apart from usual agenda items there was a presentation by Riikka Rissanen of the project improving cross-border digital services for studying abroad in the Nordic and Baltic countries. The project has been initiated by the Nordic Council of Ministers and is described in a separate news item (see CBDSStudy initiative). There was also a presentation of the DC4EU project (see Digital Credentials for Europe, DC4EU). At the meeting we had the pleasure of welcoming new members. We especially welcome the new full member from Chile, Universidad de Talca! • Universidad de Talca, Chile (Full member), • Swedish Council for Higher Education, Sweden (Associate member), • NARIC-Vlaanderen, Belgium (Associate member). All documents can be found at https://zgfreestyle.hr/emrex/documents/.

EUNIS conference 2023

EMREX was presented at the European biggest conference on IT in higher education, EUNIS (https://www.eunis.org/eunis2023/). This year the conference was held in Vigo (Spain) 12-16 June. There were at least three presentations related to EMREX and all of them in some way outlined the new digital European landscape that is forming. Tor Fridell presented the paper “The future is in your wallet – how EMREX plans interaction with the EUDI wallet” The goal is to connect the EMREX-network to the EUDI wallet via participation in the DC4EU-project. Specifically the known EMREXians – SIKT in Norway and Ladok in Sweden – will develop bridge-functionality. The participation is expected to add value both to the EMREX-community and other organisations handling or in need of educational data.

Tor Fridell, chairperson of EMREX, at EUNIS 2023

Lluís Alfons Ariño Martin from Universitat Rovira I Virgili presented the paper “DC4EU – New paradigm for education” The presentation gave an in depth knowledge of eIDAS 2, European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI wallet) and architecture Reference Framework (ARF) and how the large scale pilot that the DC4EUproject (https://www.dc4eu.eu) project is developing will affect all aspects of the education sector. Hermann Strack from Hochschule Harz presented “EU CrossBorder and OOT for HEI/Edu Workflows and Infrastructures with Interoperability, Standards and Security” The presentation gave an overview of current efforts and strategies for digitalization of EU EGovernment, also looking at the different states and (central/de-central) structures in some EU Member States as well cross border, where already digital services and standards are used, like EMREX/ELMO and EWP. Against this background, there were proposals for some improvements for interoperability.

Digital Credentials for Europe, DC4EU

One of the strategic goals of the EMREX Executive Committee is to aim for a wallet solution, preferably in cooperation with others in a large EU-funded project. The EMREX User Group (EUG) is not an entity that can be a legal partner in a project so partners from the EUG were encouraged to apply separately. One project with participants from the EMREX community, Digital Credentials for Europe (DC4EU, https://www.dc4eu.eu), has been approved for funding. The aim of the project is to create a working pilot installation of a digital wallet that conforms to the EUDI wallet framework. The project consists of over 80 partners from 23 countries and with a wide coverage of use cases. The main characteristics of this project are:

• The EUDI Wallet is an element of hybridization for cross-use cases (Identity, Signature, Educational Credentials and Social Security). • Hybrid bridges, to connect existing solutions based on other protocols (e.g. those used by the European Digital Credentials Initiative, EMREX, ELM, ELMO or eduGAIN in the educational field) with this new paradigm based on citizen empowerment and verifiable credentials.

Some of the members from the EMREX community, SIKT in Norway, the Ladok Consortium in Sweden and some single consultants, are part of the work package 5 in this project. They participate in two tasks, one is to create an EMREX gateway to the wallet and the other is to create conversion possibilities between the two data formats, ELMO and ELM. This way the wallet can transport educational data between any parties, not limited to higher education institutions.

Improved cross-border digital services for studying abroad in the Nordic and Baltic countries (CBDS-Study initiative)

CBDS-Study initiative aims at developing fluent cross-border digital services between the Nordic and Baltic countries in the field of studying abroad in higher education and upper secondary education. At the moment, most digital services are planned and implemented within one country, and crossborder digital services are rather an exception. As digitalisation advances everywhere, it is also theexpectation of the citizens in the Nordic-Baltic Region that digital services work anywhere and at any time. Citizens interested in studying abroad in the neighbouring countries will expect smooth and flexible digital services before, during and after their study abroad period. The project will contribute towards making all by improving interoperability of existing digital systems and data, like using EMREX as a possible solution for sharing verified study data. As an example of project’s current activities, CBDS-Study promotes EMREX at EAIE 2023 Rotterdam under the title Sharing digital study records smoothens processes and saves time and money. More information about the project is available at: https://wiki.dvv.fi/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=133734294

Chilean University shares EMREX experience with other HEIs in Latin America

Anne Sennhenn, University of Göttingen After successfully implementing EMREX at the University of Talca (UTalca) in Chile (as the first institution in Latin America), colleagues from Talca shared their experience with further higher education institutions in Chile and other Latin American countries during an international workshop. The international workshop with the topic Digitalización del Proceso de reconocimiento académica para movilidad internacional (Digitization of the academic recognition process for international mobility) was organized by the UTalca together with the University of Göttingen (UGOE) and held online with simultaneous translation in English and Spanish. Among others the workshop invitation was disseminated through the CRUCH and MetaRed networks and initiatives, which are international and cross-institutional stakeholders focusing on digitalization and internationalization. Representatives from many higher education institutions in Latin America were invited, with a specific focus on colleagues from IT departments and international offices. Finally, more than 30 interested HEIs from different countries followed the invitation and participated in the workshop. In the first part of the workshop, Bettina Bube from UGOE showcased EMREX as a user-centered solution for electronically transferring student data. She elucidated the technical prerequisites for implementing EMREX and provided a step-by-step explanation of its functioning, using practical examples for better comprehension. In the second part of the workshop, Alexis Rojas and Mario Seguel from UTalca shared their practical experience regarding the implementation process of EMREX. They also shared their future plans for utilizing EMREX to facilitate cross-institutional processes associated with both national and international student mobility. Following that, a collective discussion took place among all participants regarding potential applications and benefits of EMREX. Various questions were raised regarding its potential to foster connections and collaboration among initiatives, across institutions and countries as well as to facilitate national as well as international student mobility. Some useful links: • https://news.utalca.cl/rrii_digitalizacion_proceso_reconocimiento_academico/ • https://www.uni-goettingen.de/liveSciences3 • https://www.metared.org/global/index.html • https://www.nafsa.org/

Bridge between EMREX and SDG/OOTS under development

In a cooperation between the EMREX Community and the Directorate General of the European Commission DG DIGIT, a bridge between EMREX and the Once-Only-Transport-System (OOTS) of the Single Digital Gateway (SDG) is currently being developed. The bridge continues the work that’s done on existing bridge between the SDG/OOTS and the European Car and Driving Licence Information System (EUCARIS). It is planned that in future this bridge is for organizations in the OOTS-network to get data from the EMREX network. The first prototype is already finished and a presentation is planned at a hackathon in Brussels in October.

First Dutch meeting with EMREX clients

In April DUO hosted a first meeting with currently connected EMREX clients in the Netherlands. The participants are mostly private companies, such as (pre)-employment screening agencies, contractors in healthcare of semi-public bodies. Next to that also some new and interested organizations joined, so the meeting started with a small introduction of EMREX. This was followed by a short overview of current development in the Netherlands and within the EMREX network. The second part of the meeting was used for questions and feedback that resulted in a fruitful discussion and was helpful for participants who also learned from each other. All contenders found it a very useful meeting and a follow-up is planned for fall this year.

ChatGPT answers the question: Is EMREX a good system to use?

EMREX (Electronic Management of Student Data Exchange) is a system designed to facilitate the exchange of academic records and transcripts between educational institutions. It aims to simplify the process of transferring student data across borders and institutions, promoting efficiency and interoperability. As an AI language model, I don’t have personal opinions. However, I can provide you with some information about EMREX to help you evaluate its merits. EMREX has gained recognition and support from various organizations and institutions involved in higher education. It is backed by the European Commission and has been implemented in several European countries. It aims to address the challenges and administrative burdens associated with the manual exchange of student records, reducing the time and effort required for data transfers. Some potential benefits of EMREX include:

1. Improved efficiency: EMREX automates the process of exchanging student records, reducing administrative work and processing times. It allows for quick and secure transfer of data between participating institutions. 2. Enhanced mobility: The system enables smoother student mobility by simplifying the recognition of prior learning and facilitating credit transfers. It can support students who want to pursue studies across different institutions or countries. 3. Interoperability: EMREX follows standardized formats and protocols, promoting compatibility between different systems and ensuring the seamless exchange of data. This interoperability is essential for efficient data sharing among participating institutions. 4. Data security and privacy: EMREX emphasizes data protection and privacy, ensuring that student records are transferred securely and in compliance with relevant regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

While EMREX has the potential to streamline administrative processes and improve data exchange in the education sector, its effectiveness may depend on various factors, including the level of adoption among institutions, compatibility with existing systems, and support from relevant authorities. It’s important to note that the implementation and experience of using EMREX may vary across different countries and institutions. Before adopting any system, it is advisable to research and consider the specific requirements and circumstances of your institution or organization. Overall, EMREX appears to offer advantages in terms of efficiency, mobility, interoperability, and data security. However, it is recommended to conduct a thorough evaluation and possibly seek feedback from institutions or organizations that have already implemented EMREX to determine its suitability for your specific needs.

ChatGPT answers the question: EMREX and Europass are two transport systems for educational data. What are the advantages and disadvantages of these two systems in comparison?

Both EMREX and Europass are systems designed to facilitate the exchange of educational data, but they serve different purposes and have distinct advantages and disadvantages. Here’s a comparison of the two systems:

EMREX:

Advantages: 1. Efficiency: EMREX aims to automate and streamline the exchange of academic records, reducing administrative burden and processing times. 2. Interoperability: It follows standardized formats and protocols, promoting compatibility between different systems and facilitating seamless data exchange. 3. Mobility: EMREX supports student mobility by simplifying the recognition of prior learning and facilitating credit transfers across institutions and countries. 4. Data Security: The system emphasizes data protection and privacy, ensuring secure and compliant transfer of student records. Disadvantages: 1. Adoption and Compatibility: EMREX’s effectiveness depends on the level of adoption among participating institutions and their compatibility with the system. It may not be universally implemented. 2. Regional Focus: EMREX has primarily been implemented in European countries, which means its availability and support might be limited outside of this region. 3. Technical Requirements: Implementing EMREX may require institutions to make certain technical adjustments or integrations with their existing systems.

Europass:

Advantages: 1. Standardization: Europass provides a standardized format for documenting and presenting educational qualifications, skills, and experiences, making it easier for individuals to create a consistent and comprehensive profile. 2. Portability: Europass allows individuals to store their educational data in a centralized platform and share it with potential employers, education institutions, or other parties when needed. 3. European Recognition: Europass is recognized and supported by European institutions, employers, and education providers, which can enhance the visibility and recognition of individuals’ qualifications within Europe. Disadvantages: 1. Limited Scope: Europass focuses primarily on the presentation of educational qualifications and skills, and it may not cover all aspects of academic records or transcripts. 2. Data Completeness: The accuracy and completeness of the information in Europass profiles depend on individuals’ input, and there may be variations in the level of detail provided. 3. Compatibility: While Europass aims to ensure compatibility with various systems and formats, integration with specific institutional systems or regional frameworks may require additional effort. It’s important to note that the advantages and disadvantages mentioned above are based on general observations and may not capture the full extent of the systems’ functionalities or limitations. The effectiveness of each system can also vary depending on the specific context of implementation and user requirements.

Get in touch with the EMREX Executive Committee

The Executive Committee consists of the following persons. Don’t be afraid to contact any of us. • Igor Drvodelic, Croatia, igor.drvodelic@azvo.hr • Tor Fridell, Sweden, tor.fridell@liu.se (Chairperson) • Janina Mincer-Daszkiewicz, Poland, jmd@mimuw.edu.pl • Jan-Joost Norder, the Netherlands, janjoost.norder@duo.nl • Kimmo Rautio, Finland, kimmo.rautio@csc.fi • Geir M Vangen, Norway, geir.vangen@sikt.no • Arn Wassman, Germany, wassmann@his.de Connected to the EC are also two experts. • Guido Bacharach, Policy officer, guido.bacharach@freenet.de • Mirko Stanić, CTO, mirko.stanic@inversius.hr

Some members of the EMREX Executive Committee at the EUNIS conference in Vigo