We don’t need no stinking badges! Or maybe you do?
Over the years there have been a few companies that have
jumped on the badges bandwagon (Foursquare, namely) that allow you to acquire
the meaningless icons upon completing certain tasks. However, this week Basno a New York Citybased start-up announced it closed $1MM in venture funding convincing its investors to take a chance on revolutionizing online certificates.
Recently I met with the Basno team and learned their aspirations
for this market and I think they are on to something! Imagine connecting with
brands, schools, your job, etc in a new certified way? Basno’s hope is to
transform your online profile into an online trophy board of your
accomplishments. Trained hard for the
Boston Marathon? Receive a badge from the marathon officials that you successfully completed the race. Graduated from Columbia Business School? How about in addition
to the diploma you have on your wall, Dean Hubbard sent you a certified digital
badge to place on any and all profiles?
I’m sincerely intrigued by Basno’s business for a few
reasons but none more important than a life passion of mine helping veterans
transition into the civilian sector. Its
common knowledge the outprocessing procedures military service members are
subject too are sub par. What is more
demoralizing is the lack of transparency between military skill sets and
civilian skill sets. John Stewart of the Daily Show had an interesting conversation with two former combat medics on how this problem is more serious than most recognize.
With DoD (Department of Defense) and the VA (Department ofVeterans Affairs) slowly addressing this issue I think Basno could step in and
provide a little assistance. If the
military could classify certain skills sets and provide civilian type
certifications it would prepare our military personnel for a easier
transition. Imagine the two combat medics from the previous video what if they both received EMT certifications
in an easy to use platform?
I recognize Basno isn’t the end all solution to the veteran
issue but I do believe they could be the mechanism to deliver certifications
once approved. It would just make things a little easier for veterans.
Do you think online badges have a future?
No comments:
Post a Comment