Have you read about Mozilla's Open Badges infrastructure project? It's the most worthwhile and inspirational open source initiative I've read about in some time.

The Open Badges project is intended to create a reliable, open mechanism for documenting individuals' education, experience, achievements, and skills.

Mozilla envisions a future in which organizations large and small validate individuals' achievements by issuing badges – essentially, just graphic images, but the images are linked back to the issuing organization so you can see exactly what the person did and who the certifying organization is.

Here's what they say about the project's goals at Mozilla:

If we’re successful, the benefits to learners will be tremendous. Open Badges will let you gather badges from any site on the internet, combining them into a story about what you know and what you’ve achieved. There is a real chance to create learning that works more like the web.

Also, this sort of badge collection may eventually become a central part of online reputation, helping you get a job, find collaborators and build prestige. This is another reason Mozilla wants to build an open badge format: it can show the real potential of open identity tools on the web.

The home page for the project is here: openbadges.org. For a more detailed view of the project's goals and the technologies Mozilla envisions embodying in it, read the white paper: Open Badges for Lifelong Learning.

The MacArthur Foundation is partnering with Mozilla in setting the early direction for the initiative. The charity has its own whitepaper here: Learning can happen anytime, anyplace, at any age. This news release details the substantive ways in which MacArthur is helping to support the Open Badges concept.

Open Badges has the potential to help all of us document the learning we have done outside of academia, the accomplishments we have made outside the workplace. It's an idea whose time has come. But don't take my word for it. Check out the site, sign up for the mailing list, and get involved.

After all, if you wind up contributing, you can earn a badge.

Web recommendation: It's been a good year for Serbia in the world of sports. I already pointed you to the Web site of Serbian tennis star (and perhaps, currently, the world's best player) Novak Đoković. This time, I am pleased to report that Serbia's men's volleyball team has beaten Italy to win EuroVolley 2011. You can read all about it here: Serbia is the 2011 European champion! J.D. says check it out.

J.D. Hildebrand has written hundreds of articles for dozens of publications and online communities dedicated to software development. He recently relocated to a small town outside Belgrade – stop by if your travels take you through Serbia.