Prediction #10: Total Learning Architecture maturity will advance significantly
Predictions, 2026 I2IDL Predictions, 2026 I2IDL

Prediction #10: Total Learning Architecture maturity will advance significantly

Prediction 10 of 10: The Total Learning Architecture (TLA) has been in development for over a decade, providing a standards-based, software-validated interoperable data architecture for enterprise learning ecosystems. But until recently, the TLA has been a vision, largely implemented in research laboratories rather than in real-world production pipelines. In 2026, the TLA ecosystem will hit several meaningful milestones. It will be better documented, better supported, and more implementable than ever before.

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Prediction #9: Data privacy solutions, such as Self-Sovereign Identity, move into the Early Adopter phase
Predictions, 2026 I2IDL Predictions, 2026 I2IDL

Prediction #9: Data privacy solutions, such as Self-Sovereign Identity, move into the Early Adopter phase

Prediction 9 of 10: The regulatory pressure for learning data privacy is growing. At the same time, organizations want richer learning analytics. These ambitions increasingly conflict with privacy constraints that limit data collection, retention, and cross-system sharing. Emerging approaches offer a path forward. Privacy-respecting data architectures are moving from Innovators to Early Adopters; some organizations will muddle through with compliance theater, but early movers will turn their stance on privacy into competitive advantage.

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Prediction #8: Verifiable Credentials and Digital Wallets will expand in pilots, with policy mandates as potential accelerants
Predictions, 2026 I2IDL Predictions, 2026 I2IDL

Prediction #8: Verifiable Credentials and Digital Wallets will expand in pilots, with policy mandates as potential accelerants

Prediction 8 of 10: The infrastructure for Verifiable Credentials is maturing rapidly. W3C published Verifiable Credentials 2.0 as a full Recommendation in May 2025. Open Badges 3.0 and the Comprehensive Learner Record 2.0 are finalized and VC-aligned. The T3 Innovation Network's Learning and Employment Record work continues advancing, with open-source tools via LinkedCreds and a new LER Resume Standard. The EU Digital Identity Wallet has a 2026 operational target. In 2026, we expect significant pilot expansion.

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Seeking Interest: the I2IDL Higher Education Council
Higher Education Council Shelly Blake-Plock Higher Education Council Shelly Blake-Plock

Seeking Interest: the I2IDL Higher Education Council

The convergence of AI-enabled education, newly ratified international data standards, and growing demand for interoperable workforce and credentialing ecosystems has created an unprecedented opening for universities to help shape the foundational data architecture of modern learning.

The question is no longer whether learning systems will become interoperable and AI-integrated.

The question is: Who will define the infrastructure?

The I2IDL Higher Education Council is where that work begins.

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Announcing the Inaugural I2IDL Technical Steering Committee
Technical Steering Committee, I2IDL Shelly Blake-Plock Technical Steering Committee, I2IDL Shelly Blake-Plock

Announcing the Inaugural I2IDL Technical Steering Committee

I2IDL relies on the Technical Steering Committee to advise on matters of technical governance and to ensure equity in the open source nature of the work of the institute. The committee is responsible for the institute’s open source policy and for consensus-first advisory on matters of technical conformance testing.

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I2IDL: Status Update
Status Update Shelly Blake-Plock Status Update Shelly Blake-Plock

I2IDL: Status Update

The I2IDL website went live 35 days ago. The idea of I2IDL itself only came to be formed about two weeks prior to that. It was an idea that came out of a bit of a crisis in the learning technology community which was discussed in our inaugural white paper released on 15 Dec 2025.

Since then, we’ve talked to hundreds of you. We’ve talked to people in government both in the United States and abroad and we are still learning about how the changes at ADL are affecting you both in terms of technological guidance and partnership and in terms of “what next”. We’ve talked to industry who were (and in many cases still are) unclear on what this all means for xAPI, Learning Record Stores, and the Total Learning Architecture. We’ve also gotten a tremendous amount of support from across industry, among commercial vendors—many of whom are competitive with one another—and their stakeholders, and through channels of service providers and learning technology consultants. From talking to the largest open source learning software vendor in the world to talking to a grad student just thinking of starting her own business, we’ve been listening.

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Prediction #2: Data quality tooling for xAPI will become a priority as learning technologies increasingly share data
Predictions, 2026 I2IDL Predictions, 2026 I2IDL

Prediction #2: Data quality tooling for xAPI will become a priority as learning technologies increasingly share data

As more tools and organizations share their xAPI data around, the question of data quality becomes (even more) urgent. A malformed statement, a non-conformant xAPI Profile implementation, or low-fidelity activity data no longer “just” create local problems; now flawed data can propagate through the network, degrading analytics and undermining trust across the digital landscape. 

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