Military service members, Boy Scouts, and others have been wearing badges made of cloth and metal for years to show off their accomplishments, but a Chicago group’s planned innovation would take "badges" to a whole new level.

This weekend, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced that it is putting millions of dollars into a competition to generate interest in a new type of badge – one that people can display not on their clothing but on a website, blog or Facebook page while they are looking for a job. Designers have until Jan. 12 to submit their ideas for badge prototypes.

This badge system proposes to be a sort of voluntary authorization of shared personal information, in contrast to the involuntary sharing that has led to privacy concerns on the internet.

According to reports, the badges would not replace résumés or transcripts. Rather, they would be a convenient supplement, putting the spotlight on skills that do not necessarily show up in traditional documents — highly specialized computer knowledge, say, or skills learned in the military, in online courses or in after-school programs at museums or libraries.

By highlighting nontraditional skills, the digital badges would allow companies to hire better innovators in tech and science, as these areas are sometimes overlooked on a traditional résumé.

Prospective employers could click on an e-badge awarded for prowess in Javascript, for example, and be able to peruse detailed supporting information, including who issued the badge, the criteria and even samples of the work that led to the award.

“The badges are another way to tell the story of who you are and what you know,” said Connie M. Yowell, director of education grant-making at the Chicago-based MacArthur Foundation.

This system is a small example of how authorization and authentication technology is developing to meet the demand for professional networking. No longer will employers be tempted to scour the internet for social media dirt on prospective employees. However, imagine how easily a system of digital badges could lead to a situation where there are entirely too many badges from various websites, blogs, and Facebook pages.

This, in effect, would tender the badges meaningless. Anybody could end up with one ... two... or several.

With regard to the authentication of a digital merit badge, how would we be able to ensure that “certification” in a particular skill does, in fact, mean something? This could be accomplished via several ways. For instance, a badge can include a verification link that makes it possible to check with the issuer about authenticity and status, should the badge have an expiration date.

In order for this to function, though, we would need some kind of digital badge oversight to make sure the unscrupulous would not be simply handing the badges out for the right price. After all, money talks. Also, suppose someone who actually spent years in a specialized field – paid their dues – is competing with someone who only took a short correspondence course. Not fair. But then who said life is fair, right?

The whole point of the digital badge would be to quickly display qualifications, which would save employers valuable time from sifting through mounds of résumés.

The government – and a growing number of concerned citizens – believe an identity authentication model should be developed to set standards for handling personal information online. For example, the online socialization magnet, Facebook, allows users to access their medical records with their Facebook account. This sort of expansion raises red flags for many who feel that this kind of authentication has gone too far.

The digital badge system could be one innovation that would make life simpler for several people on the job front, however. Instead of the job candidate saying “Look me up,” they would have a transportable widget at their disposal, which – done properly – could be a good thing to have.