A New Model for Education Collaboration and Innovation Takes Shape

1EdTech announces a more sustainable organizational structure for public-good collaboration,
shared infrastructure, standards, and innovation

BURLINGTON, Mass., June 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- 1EdTech today announced a new organizational structure designed to expand its ability to serve the broader education ecosystem by developing the open standards that make educational technology interoperable, and advancing the research, education, and public benefit mission that gives those standards their purpose.

The new framework pairs a standards-developing consortium with a charitable organization dedicated to expanding access to portable, verifiable credentials that help learners move more seamlessly across education and workforce pathways:

• 1EdTech Global Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization purpose-built to attract and sustain investment in public-good technical, education, and research work, and
• 1EdTech Consortium Inc., which continues the organization's core work of building open interoperability standards with its member organizations.

The entities operate in coordination, with 1EdTech Global serving as the shared-services and ecosystem hub that extends 1EdTech Consortium's reach beyond what a membership model alone can sustain. 

The new structure addresses a longstanding challenge in education technology: many of the digital systems and standards that schools, colleges, and workforce organizations rely on are considered essential public infrastructure, but there has never been a sustainable way to support and grow them at scale. Through its new organizational model, 1EdTech can now bring together multiple sources of support, including philanthropy, mission-driven partnerships, certifications, and revenue from mission-aligned programs and services, to create a more stable and sustainable foundation for this shared work over the long term.

"For the last twelve months, while we were doing the work we are known for, we were also building the next 1EdTech," said Curtiss Barnes, 1EdTech CEO. "The field has been trying to solve a coordination problem with tools designed for competition. This structure gives mission-driven funders a direct path to invest in the infrastructure that makes the entire ecosystem work; not just the parts that belong to any one organization or affiliated group."

1EdTech Global will also serve as a steward for public-interest standards and ecosystem initiatives that fall outside the Consortium's traditional portfolio, including non-1EdTech standards where ecosystem-level coordination itself serves the public interest.

As the first major initiative under the new structure, 1EdTech announced that the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library has agreed in principle to join the 1EdTech family through 1EdTech Global.

The Library has become an essential reference layer for practitioners navigating Learning and Employment Records (LERs), Open Badges, digital credentials, and workforce innovation – curating more than 2,255 resources across the field.

Since partnering in 2023, the organizations discovered they were effectively solving complementary halves of the same ecosystem challenge.

"The Library curates the ecosystem's shared vocabulary, innovation initiatives, and the organizations doing the work," said Barnes. "1EdTech builds the infrastructure that vocabulary describes. We learned that neither half is fully sustainable on its own, and that combining them creates something neither could be independently, all while ensuring long-term preservation of the public assets."

Under the agreement in principle, the Library will retain its identity, editorial independence, open-access posture, and community-driven wiki model while gaining long-term operational stewardship, aligned standards infrastructure, and sustainable organizational support through the 1EdTech Global.

1EdTech's new organizational structure is official as of this week, including a new board recruitment process that is underway.

About 1EdTech

1EdTech^® is a global community committed to building an integrated foundation of open standards that make educational technology work better for everyone. Our mission is to reduce complexity, accelerate innovation, and expand possibilities for learners worldwide. Our consortium members represent K-12, primary, secondary, and postsecondary education organizations, workforce and corporate education providers, and technology providers. Together, we create and evolve community-developed technical standards and practices that support learner success throughout the lifelong learning continuum. Our organization gives a voice to all stakeholders working to improve education. 1EdTech hosts the Learning Impact Conference in the United States and Europe, as well as other engagement opportunities to advance the leadership and ideas that shape the future of learning. Visit our website at 1edtech.org.

SOURCE 1EdTech