Susan McKenzie

WCI - World Certification Institute

World Certification Institute (WCI) is a global certifying body that grants credential awards to individuals as well as accredits courses of organizations. During the late 90s, several business leaders and eminent professors in the developed economies gathered to discuss the impact of globalization on occupational competence. The ad-hoc group met in Vienna and discussed the need to establish a global organization to accredit the skills and experiences of the workforce, so that they can be globally recognized as being competent in a specified field. A Task Group was formed in October 1999 and comprised eminent professors from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada, Australia, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, and Singapore. The group proposed 2 broad categories of occupational certification. The first is a category of Accredited Practitioners, who have acquired adequate years of experience in a specified field of occupation in order to be recognized as globally competent in the field. The second is a category of Certified Professionals, who meet requirements of Accredited Practitioners, but additionally have academic or professional qualifications from WCI-accredited institutions. World Certification Institute (WCI) was officially established at the start of the new millennium and was first registered in the United States in 2003. Today, its professional activities are coordinated through Authorized and Accredited Centers in America, Europe, Asia, Oceania and Africa. WCI is the leading global body to recognize cross-national skills, competencies and professional practices that are indicative of occupational capability and derived from internationally accepted best practices.