Imagine you're hiring and a candidate hands you a CV full of degrees but you have no idea what they can actually do. EPICA built a digital portfolio system where students collect proof of real skills — not just course names — so employers can see exactly what someone is capable of. It was tested at 4 universities across East Africa and Europe, and comes with a ready-made package for any university or company that wants to roll it out.
Employers across emerging and developed markets cannot reliably assess what graduates can actually do — degrees and transcripts list courses taken, not competencies gained. This skills-visibility gap leads to costly hiring mistakes, extended onboarding, and a persistent mismatch between what universities produce and what the labor market needs.
EPICA built a competency-based ePortfolio platform integrated with university Learning Management Systems, delivered as both a working prototype and a final validated version tested at 4 universities. The project also produced an "ePortfolio Implementation Pack" combining technology, consultancy, and support for scalable deployment.
If you are a university or EdTech platform struggling with graduate employability metrics — this project developed a competency-based ePortfolio system piloted across 4 universities in 3 Sub-Saharan countries plus 1 EU university. It integrates directly with existing Learning Management Systems and lets students document verified skills that employers can actually evaluate.
If you are an HR tech company dealing with unreliable candidate skill claims — this project built an ePortfolio ecosystem that captures competencies from both formal and non-formal education. The final version was validated with real users at 4 universities, producing structured skills data that could feed directly into recruitment matching algorithms.
If you are a corporate training provider or employer in emerging markets facing a skills mismatch between graduates and job requirements — this project created a scalable implementation pack combining technology, consultancy, and support. It was designed with market input from industries across 6 countries to ensure the portfolio reflects actual workplace demands.
The project budget details are not available in the dataset. However, EPICA designed an 'ePortfolio Implementation Pack' bundling technology, consultancy, and support specifically for scalable deployment. Pricing would need to be discussed directly with the consortium.
Scalability was a core design goal. The system was built to integrate with existing Learning Management Systems and was piloted at 4 universities across 3 Sub-Saharan countries plus 1 EU university. The consortium specifically involved local companies and hubs in the commercialization process to ensure broader take-up.
The ePortfolio platform was developed by an 8-partner consortium led by the International Council for Open and Distance Education (Norway). Based on available project data, IP arrangements would be governed by the consortium agreement. Interested parties should contact the coordinator for licensing terms.
The ePortfolio was specifically designed to integrate with existing Learning Management Systems. Both the prototype and final version deliverables document integration with the LMS systems of the 4 piloting universities. This suggests standard integration protocols are already established.
While piloting focused on 3 Sub-Saharan countries (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda), the consortium spans 6 countries including Germany, Spain, and Norway. The Open University of Catalonia (EU) was also a pilot site, and the competency-based approach addresses a universal skills-visibility challenge.
The project used a market-oriented approach involving end-user communities including employers throughout the design process. The validation phase collected data on end-users' behavioral responses. However, specific employer adoption metrics are not available in the project data.
The 8-partner consortium spans 6 countries across Europe and East Africa, led by the International Council for Open and Distance Education from Norway — a well-positioned coordinator for international education technology. The mix includes 4 universities (providing real pilot environments), 1 research organization, and 2 SMEs that bring commercial perspective. The 12% industry ratio is modest, but the project explicitly engaged local Sub-Saharan companies and hubs for commercialization. The presence of partners in Germany, Spain, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda gives the solution credibility across both developed and emerging education markets.
International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE), Norway — reach out via their institutional website for licensing and implementation inquiries
Want to explore implementing EPICA's ePortfolio system or a similar skills-visibility solution? SciTransfer can connect you with the research team and help evaluate fit for your organization.
