EDUCATIONAL TOPIC OR AREA The human population is becoming increasingly mobile. For the profession of optometry to have enough mobility to be a truly global workforce, it is important to have a mechanism to verify the competence of optometrists through an industry recognized credential that can be carried across national borders. In Europe, the European Diploma in Optometry was developed as an accreditation program with high standards with multiple goals, one of which was to support the free movement of optometrists around Europe. Such a process on an even larger scale would be beneficial if it allowed mobility of optometrists across the globe. I propose such a program based on the ISO/IEC 17024 standard for personnel certification programmes. RESULTS/DISCUSSION In 2012, ISO (the international organization for standardization) released an updated standard to harmonize the various procedures used around the world for certifying the competence of personnel in different occupations or professions. ISO/IEC 17024:2012 Conformity assessment – General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons, provided guidance toward a global benchmark for personnel certification programmes to ensure that they operate in a consistent, comparable and reliable manner worldwide, allowing individuals to have skills that translate across national lines. Optometrists pursue credentials to demonstrate their knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the work of the profession. A program accredited under ISO/IEC 17024 should increase the potential for national and international reciprocity of the optometry credential. RECOMMENDATIONS/CONCLUSIONS To address the growing need for mobility of the optometry credential, the profession should consider a worldwide optometry assessment program based on the requirements of ISO/IEC 17024. The program could be based much on the work already accomplished in the European Diploma in Optometry, but expanded for global purposes.