ISO/IEC 19788-1 provides metadata for learning resources (MLR) and consists of a set of data element concepts and conceptual domains (as defined in the ISO 11179 series) allowing the description of a conceptual level independently of any particular representation. This means that any educational metadata schema can be specified using MLR.

Schemas describing competencies are used in many information models related to learning, education and training, such as school transcripts, learning objectives, curricula descriptions, employer job requirements, professional association competency frameworks and national occupational classifications.

Therefore, with the development of the different parts of the ISO/IEC 19788 series and the increasing demand for information models' interoperability, the description of a “competency” in the MLR format appears as a necessity.

Use of MLR can support different types of approaches such as structured database, linked data and RDF models. This means that MLR can be used to describe objects that are used to support the development, identification, and evaluation of competencies within IT systems that use heterogeneous approaches and have varying forms, among which are included those proposed in ISO/IEC 20006-1[1] and ISO/IEC 20006-2[2].

This document provides a generic representation of a “competency” that will facilitate the exchange of information between systems using different data models to represent competencies, and the linkage of competency models to other metadata models.

This document can be used either alone or together with other standards to express and compare contextual views of schemas that describe competencies.