This year marks a two-decade milestone for Orbis – 20 years of experience, in an industry that slows down for no one. At Orbis, we believe that each of our experiences shapes us, bringing us closer to fulfilling our unique potential. Our story began in September 2001, with the design of a CD-ROM! Yes. You read that correctly. Depending on your age, you may need a refresher as to what that is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD-ROM. To paint you a picture of the time, Napster was just becoming a thing, Microsoft was touting the release of Internet Explorer, the iPod was new and cool and we were still a couple of years away from being friends on MySpace, (not Facebook, MySpace).
In writing this, it is hard to believe how much has changed in 20 years. Technology moves quickly, and the impact it has on shaping our lives in both positive and negative ways can not be understated. The prevailing belief is that age doesn’t always align with innovation. We disagree. In fact, where some see wrinkles, we see a competency map. We are deeply committed and passionate about using our innovations to make an impact that will benefit generations to come.
The innovations we push forward today can deliver on the promise of a future of fulfilled potential. Data projects can provide the information we need to address discrimination and systematic inequity. Competency has the ability to become a unifying currency for how we build and evolve as a society. Credentialing all of these things provides an opportunity for open digital ownership of learning – this gives people power and control over their own information.
In celebration of two decades of innovation in higher learning, we’re bringing forward a number of initiatives. This week marked the launch of Orbis’ “Mindset in Motion“, an audible series discussing the ideas, pathways, and innovations shaping the future of higher education. We’ve been having these types of conversations with our individual partners for years – and “Mindset in Motion” aims to deliver these thought-provoking conversations and ideas on a larger scale. Our Experience Matters campaign will see our peers and community celebrating their career journeys and lessons learned.
Starting a business is hard. Running a business takes an incredible amount of hustle, hard work, and an enormous amount of personal sacrifice. It also requires being lucky enough to be surrounded by amazing people. The partnerships we have are what has made this organization, it will be those partnerships that move us to that vision of a future of fulfilled potential. Over twenty years, we’ve been so incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by and partnered with some of the best. To everyone who has made this twenty-year journey possible, on behalf of the entire team at Orbis, we thank you.
We hope you are all staying safe, healthy, and continuing to take care of each other.
Cameron
