The Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority (Combined Authority) is helping to shape the future of skills recognition in the UK, with its pioneering work in digital badging informing a major new national report launched this week. 

The Digital Badging Commission, led by the RSA (Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) and Ufi VocTech Trust, has published its flagship report From Skills to Growth: A Plan for Digital Badging in the UK. The report sets out a national roadmap for digital credentials and lifelong learning and recommends models closely aligned with the Combined Authority’s Talent Hive system, which is already delivering on many of the Commission’s key proposals. 

While the report does not directly reference the Combined Authority or the Talent Hive platform, the region’s approach has played an important role in shaping the Commission’s thinking. Representatives from the Combined Authority, Region of Learning, and its delivery partners, including Julian from RoL, his predecessors, and SIs Impact, which delivers Talent Hive, contributed valuable insight through several interviews since June 2024. 

Beth McCabe, recently seconded to the Combined Authority from Region of Learning attended the London launch on Monday, joining skills leaders from across the UK. The Combined Authority and its partners shared practical examples of how digital badges are supporting skills development, employability, and smarter recruitment across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. The Digital Badging Commission makes three main recommendations for advancing digital credentials in the UK, all of which closely align with the Combined Authority’s ongoing work: 

1. Integration into education and lifelong learning: CPCA already embeds digital badges across Youth Guarantee Trailblazer programmes and internships, recognising both technical and transferable skills that employers value. 

2. A national skills wallet: The region’s Talent Hive platform acts as a local prototype, providing an open, interoperable space for digital badges and formal qualifications that support lifelong learning and skills recognition. 

3. Quality assurance framework: CPCA is developing its own Digital Badging Strategy to ensure local consistency and credibility, helping to build a trusted and secure credentialing ecosystem that supports a more agile, skills-led economy. 

The Commission’s findings reinforce the Combined Authority’s leadership in digital innovation and its commitment to creating a future where every skill counts — for learners, employers, and the wider economy.