ISO/IEC 20006-1:2014

INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 20006-1
First edition
2014-07-01
Information technology for learning,
education and training — Information
model for competency —
Part 1:
Competency general framework and
information model
Technologies de l’information pour l’apprentissage, l’éducation et la
formation — Modèle d’information pour les compétences —
Partie 1: Cadre général des compétences et modèle d’information
Reference number
©
ISO/IEC 2014
© ISO/IEC 2014
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ii © ISO/IEC 2014 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
1.1 General . 1
1.2 Exclusions . 2
1.3 Areas not addressed . 2
2 Conformance . 2
3 Normative references . 3
4 Terms and definitions . 3
5 Symbols and abbreviated terms . 5
6 Competency general framework . 6
6.1 Introduction . 6
6.2 Information architecture view to support the management and exchange of
competency information . 7
6.3 Competency organization . 9
6.4 Elements of competency . 9
6.5 Semantic elements in competency expressions .10
7 Competency Semantic Information .11
7.1 Architecture of competency information .11
7.2 Competency semantic information model .12
7.3 Types of Competency Semantic information - Competency Meaning Information .15
7.4 Types of Competency Semantic Information - Competency Situation Information .20
Annex A (informative) Cases and relationships between ISO/IEC 20006 and ISO/IEC TR 24763 .23
Annex B (informative) Examples for competency information architectures .26
Annex C (informative) Patterns of competency organization by HRMLs .29
Annex D (informative) Previous use case on Japanese National Skills Standard (ETSS) .31
Annex E (informative) Application to Japanese National Skills Standard (ITSS)
................................................32
Annex F (informative) Application to Canadian Learning Management System Desire2Learn .34
Annex G (informative) Application to Canadian National Occupational Classification
(NOC) and Canadian Nurses Association Canadian Nurse Practitioner Core
Competency Framework.40
Bibliography .43
© ISO/IEC 2014 – All rights reserved iii

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are
members of ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical
committees established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical
activity. ISO and IEC technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the
work. In the field of information technology, ISO and IEC have established a joint technical committee,
ISO/IEC JTC 1.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for
the different types of document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject
of patent rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction
and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation on the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity
assessment, as well as information about ISO’s adherence to the WTO principles in the Technical Barriers
to Trade (TBT) see the following URL: Foreword - Supplementary information
The committee responsible for this document is ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology, Subcommittee
SC 36, Information technology for learning, education and training.
ISO/IEC 20006 consists of the following parts, under the general title Information technology for learning,
education and training — Information model for competency:
— Part 1: Competency general framework and information model
— Part 2: Proficiency level information model
— Part 3: Guidelines for aggregation of competency information and data
iv © ISO/IEC 2014 – All rights reserved

Introduction
From the late 1990s, some industrial and academic organizations have developed information technology
standards in the skills and competency domain, such as human resources, on a global level to address
the interoperability requirements and environmental complexities of management and sharing of
competency information amongst different organizations. Some examples include work spearheaded by
the following organizations: the IMS Global Learning Consortium Inc., HR-XML Consortium, IEEE-LTSC,
OMG, CEN TC353 and also ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 36 itself. Some typical problems encountered by stakeholders
as well as ITLET systems dedicated to the management and exchange of competency information and
[2]
where these issues may be encountered are provided in examples below:
Example 1: Technical - Competency and associated information cannot always be selected and shared
between different ITLET systems (e.g. learning management, HR, and other related platforms);
Example 2: Organizational - Competency and associated information is not easily used in human
development activities, because skills and competency information may be detailed or expressed
differently in various ITLET systems (e.g. learning management, HR, national occupational classification,
and other related systems);
Example 3: Information exchange - Skills and competency proficiency information, such as individual
status or degrees acquired, cannot be shared easily amongst different ITLET systems (e.g. HR, learning
management, national occupational classification, and other related systems);
Example 4: Individual learner - Individual developmental learning, education, and training paths
cannot easily migrate or be exchanged amongst ITLET systems;
Example 5: Systems perspective (where systems include individuals, organizations, and the
technologies that support them) - Individuals and organizations cannot easily design and integrate
informal and formal learning, education, and training opportunities to support life goals, career
strategies, and career paths using existing common dimensions within ITLET systems;
Example 6: Practical analytics - The ability to access, extract, and analyse competency and associated
information can provide evidence as to whether learning, education and training information needs
are being met in order to analyse lifelong learning, thus where competency information must be drawn
from different systems and where non-interoperable format and definitions are used;
Example 7: Assessment and evaluation - ITLET systems (e.g. acknowledgement and consideration
are needed regarding evaluation biases in human assessment, the use of varying methods and metrics
to evaluate human performance, and the need to conduct accurate skill gap analysis), where ITLET
systems that use different competency digital schema are involved; and,
Example 8: Overarching goals and outcomes - Human assessment and support for the development of
human potential requires ITLET systems that provide a more flexible, holistic integration and exchange of
competency and associated information beyond individual learning opportunities, everyday operation,
and work performance. Competency data must be generated.
Some of these identified problems have been addressed on a limited basis by the standards and
specifications produced by the organizations mentioned above. Not only is it difficult to use these
standards and specifications, however, but also the unsolved problems are still critical. It is still confusing
for stakeholders to implement and use these standards and specifications. Also, various problems
associated with ITLET related systems, which should be solved by or supported with information
technology, still remain.
Currently, organizations, such as schools, universities, institutes, and companies, use different ITLET
systems to support the use of learning content, to enable and enhance various learning activities, and
to provide other services. To meet their mission and goals, such organizations may rely on in-house
developers, others such as ITLET vendors or suppliers, or a combination of both to provide and operate
IT systems to support LET. This means ITLET operations and other organizational systems that deal
with skills and competency information, such as interrelated human resources (HR) information
© ISO/IEC 2014 – All rights reserved v

systems, need to be interoperable to allow for communication between organizations, their employees,
and outsourcing ITLET providers or suppliers.
The purpose of this multi-part International Standard is to provide a framework, models, system
architecture used for competency and proficiency information, and a way to aggregate competency
information. This standard will provide a general framework and information model to manage and
exchange information about knowledge, skills, ability, attitude, and educational objectives. Especially
this International Standard will focus on extending the concepts contained within ISO/IEC TR 24763 by
providing more detailed information regarding competency information and its information aggregation.
This multi-part standard may be used by software developers and implementers, instructional designers
and test designers, and others to ensure that learning, education and training environments satisfy
learners’ and organizations’ competency needs. In addition, this International Standard will provide
definitions of several types of competency information aggregation, which will p
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