During my 25+ years of professional experience in the field of open education and e-learning, I have gained invaluable experience in a wide range of activities.I have direct experience of how (EU) public funding mechanisms evolved since the late nineties and how the application and reporting processes have become ever more sophisticated. I have also mastered how to collaborate successfully across borders and cultures, and have built a wide professional network of HE practitioners, decision makers and European Commission officials.The use of educational technologies is now an integral part of everyday practice. I witnessed the emergence of many new technologies, terms, trends and policies, and saw the Gartner cycle run through hype, disillusionment and enlightenment in many cases of education innovation - including the experimental and consolidated uses of ICT for online content delivery, OERs and MOOCs, flipped classrooms, learning analytics and the use of micro credentials. These experiences taught me not only to differentiate between robust and impracticable ICT solutions but also to identify when changes in policies and practices are needed or desirable and how to facilitate change.As edtech projects and e-learning practices were attracting and engaging an increasingly widening range of stakeholders, by tapping into my experience and expertise, and utilising my collaboration and interpersonal skills, in recent years I focussed mostly on supporting the development and uptake of innovative solutions in the fields of competence development and (micro-)credentialising. Thanks to my own non-traditional journey to professional accomplishment, through predominantly non-formal and informal learning, I am particularly passionate about informed and transparent knowledge, skill and competence recognition, and being part of the Europass Digital Credentials Infrastructure developer team has been a highlight of my career.