What Will It Take to Stay Relevant in a World Where Skills Expire Overnight?

Rethinking the Promise of Micro-Credentials

Abstract

Rapid technological disruption is accelerating skills obsolescence, exposing the limits of traditional education systems and threatening employability and workforce resilience. This keynote positions micro - credentials not as add-ons, but as a fundamental re-thinking of lifelong learning, responding to shifting industry demands driven by digital transformation, sustainability pressures, and education – industry misalignment. It highlights both the potential and the challenges of embedding micro - credentials at scale and calls for coordinated action to establish them as trusted and sustainable bridges between learning and work in a rapidly changing world.