Credentials are under rising pressure from many forces, including changes in education, the workforce, and society. 

• Distrust in institutions, political polarization, and new competitors are reshaping the field. 

• Growth of credentials and microcredentials requires stronger evaluation and quality measures. 

• DEI initiatives bring both challenges and opportunities to expand equitable access. 

• Changing demographics and workforce shortages drive demand for alternative and global credentials. 

• Organizations must build agility to thrive in a volatile, uncertain, and complex environment. 

The role of government in credentialing will grow more uncertain as the forces of political polarization intensify. 

• Credentialing may become a battleground for ideological agendas. 

• Deregulation or alternative practice pathways could gain bipartisan traction in the name of equity or efficiency. 

• Organizations must demonstrate value to stay central despite counterforces. 

• Monitoring emerging credentials and managing jurisdictional conflicts will be critical. 

• Polarization could create credential divides across state or provincial borders, impacting licensing, markets, and education. 

Credentialing faces a wave of transformational change from technological innovations.  

• Continuous worker monitoring could offer new ways to measure competency. 

• Technologies like VR and AR can enable new processes for using experiential simulation to assess competency.  

• Digital credentials need open standards and cross-compatibility to avoid Big Tech dominance. 

• AI and machine learning can support assessment, but human oversight remains essential. 

• Providing standards for digital accessibility is increasingly important to ensuring inclusion.