OSOR: Could you start by explaining what EMREX is and its primary purpose?

Guido Bacharach: EMREX is a procedure for the international and electronic exchange of student data, such as transcripts of records, between universities and potential employers. It's developed by an international network known as the EMREX User Group (EUG).

OSOR: What is your background, and how did you get involved with EMREX?

Guido Bacharach: My background is in IT. I worked in public IT for 15 years, around the university’s student management system. Later, I became the IT Chief at the Foundation for University Admissions. I encountered significant challenges with discrepancies between paper and digital systems, which piqued my interest in this area. Initially, I focused on projects within Germany, working for example with the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and several ministries of the different German states. Starting with a contact to the DUO authority in the Netherlands, I expanded my activities to include international digitization projects, especially in the education sector. This is how I got to know EMREX and the EMREX Executive Committee. As a result of our mutual appreciation, I was appointed to the policy group advising the EMREX Executive Committee and the supporting task force years ago.

OSOR: How did EMREX come about?

Guido Bacharach: EMREX originated from an EU-funded project that ran from 2015 to 2017. The aim was to simplify and improve the quality of the credit transfer process following student exchanges. Since then, the EMREX service network has been self-sustaining, making it one of the few EU projects that continues to grow and sustain itself.

OSOR: Where is EMREX used at the moment?

Guido Bacharach: Currently, it is operational in several European countries and in Chile. In Finland, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden it is used by all Higher-Education-Institutes.

OSOR: Can you provide more details on the technical aspects and resources available for EMREX?

Guido Bacharach: EMREX provides a transport layer – A protocol defining transport of educational data between data owners and processing institutions – and structured data through the definition of a set of data, using ELMO, an implementation of European standards.

You can find detailed presentations and the new structure of EMREX information on Github. Additional resources include:

• Homepage: www.emrex.eu
• Github: https://github.com/emrex-eu

OSOR: How did EMREX develop in Germany?

Guido Bacharach: EMREX became known in Germany through a contact with the Netherlands. The aim of this contact was to digitize leaving certificates and university entrance qualifications in Germany. EMREX was then first used by the Foundation for University Admissions so that Dutch applicants for German university places could securely access their Dutch digital Upper Secondary School Certificates via the Foundation's platform. EMREX is currently being used productively by 2 universities in Germany and the largest German provider of student management systems supports EMREX in all its functions. Nevertheless, it must be said that there is still a lot of potential for development in Germany with regard to the use of EMREX.

OSOR: Can you elaborate on how EMREX functions?

Guido Bacharach: EMREX is, in short, a network where a student or former student can access their assessment data and share this data with a third party, e.g. another university, both as machine processable data and as pdf. This can be, for example, transcripts of records, diplomas and diploma supplements. EMREX can support use cases such as Erasmus mobility, Admission, Recruitment systems, Lifelong learning portfolios (like Europass), Professional licenses, Automation of processes (like recognition) and Exchange of data within European Universities Alliances.

Technically speaking, EMREX uses its transport layer to connect an existing application portal via a registry with a database in any university, authority or company in which the assessment data is stored in ELMO format.

OSOR: What data standards does EMREX use?

Guido Bacharach: EMREX uses ELMO and other standards. Currently, a converter is being developed between European Learning Model (ELM) and ELMO to ensure compatibility with and interoperability in a wide number of digital ecosystems.

OSOR: Can you discuss the governance structure of EMREX?

Guido Bacharach: EMREX started as an EU-funded project and is now driven by a community of users, primarily from countries using EMREX extensively. This so-called Executive Committee consists of representatives from these countries, and there's also a policy group and a task force supporting and advising the Executive Committee. Development is ongoing within the user group, mainly in Norway. Although the further development of EMREX has so far been in the hands of a few organizations on the EMREX Executive Committee,  there's still room for governance improvement if new members join, similar to an open source governance model.

OSOR: What are the challenges facing EMREX?

Guido Bacharach: Funding remains a major challenge, as so far only the user countries have contributed in terms of conceptual and development work (and occasionally in terms of a financial contribution). Thus, the responsibility for the further development and growth of EMREX rests on the shoulders of the members of the Executive Committee. 

OSOR: What are the future prospects for EMREX?

Guido Bacharach: The Interoperable Europe Act presents a significant opportunity for EMREX, potentially providing a label and maybe even funding. We're hopeful that this will enhance our capabilities and support the continued growth and integration of EMREX. With projects like the recent bridge built between the Once-Only Technical System and EMREX, we aim to improve data access and potentially have an integration into the EU digital ID framework, the Single-Digital-Gateway ecosystem and staying interoperable in the European digital world.