ICA and X2A Launch the Certification Lab
The Certification Lab is a program that allows ICA and Member Organizations to explore custom innovative learning experiences and emerging skill areas together.
As the workplace continues to evolve, professionals need opportunities to develop new skills that help them adapt to changing technologies, business challenges, and ways of working. Many ICA Member Organizations are already creating learning experiences to address these needs.
The Certification Lab provides a way to recognize and support those offerings while exploring potential new areas of certification.
Purpose of the Certification Lab
The Certification Lab was created to:
- Explore emerging skill areas that are not currently represented in ICA's portfolio
- Support innovation within the ICA Member Organization community
- Provide learners with opportunities to develop Tomorrow-Ready™ skills
- Gather market feedback on new learning experiences and concepts
- Help inform the future evolution of ICA's certification and credential ecosystem
Who Can Participate?
The Certification Lab is available to ICA Member Organizations in good standing that have an existing course or learning experience they would like ICA to consider for Certification Lab recognition.
Courses should demonstrate clear learning objectives, meaningful learner outcomes, and relevance to emerging professional skills and capabilities.
Organizations interested in exploring participation can submit an interest form.
How the Program Works
The Certification Lab follows a collaborative process between ICA and the Member Organization.
- Submit Certification Lab Interest Form
Share your interest and learning objectives with us via the interest form. - Initial Conversation
Member Organizations share additional information about their course and discuss the opportunity with ICA. - Course Review
ICA reviews course details, learning objectives, and supporting information to determine whether the offering is a good fit for the Certification Lab. - Pilot Participation
Selected courses enter a Certification Lab pilot period, where the course can be delivered with custom Certification Lab recognition. - Post Pilot: Evaluation and Next Steps
At the conclusion of the pilot period, ICA reviews outcomes and determines whether additional opportunities or future collaboration may be appropriate.
How Certification Lab Offerings Differ from ICA Accredited Courses
Certification Lab offerings are distinct from ICA's established accreditation programs.
Unlike accredited ICA certifications and credentials, Certification Lab offerings are designed to explore emerging topics and innovative learning experiences that do not yet have established ICA Learning Outcomes.
Participation in the Certification Lab does not guarantee the creation of a future ICA certification or credential.
Benefits of Participation
For Member Organizations, the Certification Lab provides an opportunity to:
- Allow learners to earn a bespoke Certification Lab badge that distinguishes the offering from standard ICA certifications and credentials
- Differentiate your innovative learning offerings
- Add recognized certification value to emerging courses
- Explore new areas of professional learning alongside ICA
- Gather feedback from learners and the market
- Contribute to the future direction of ICA learning experiences
Current Certification Lab Offerings & Expressing Interest
A list of current Certification Lab offerings is available on the ICA website.
If you have a learning experience that helps professionals build practical, career-relevant skills and would like to explore participation in the Certification Lab, submit an interest form.