[OSGeo-Discuss] Certification commitee

[Venkatesh Raghavan]

Dear All,

I reproduce some of the points from our earlier discussion.
Hope they are of some use in the present context.

a)	What are the objectives of the courses?
The main focus would be on providing a solid foundation on Geoinformatics 
technology using OSGEO tools as a means of enhancing learning.

b)	Who will be the actual customer? Is it the individual who pays for the course 
or would it be the institution or organisation which would ultimately employ our 
graduates?
We can think of regular and corporate sponsored.  Also focus on tailor-made 
courses. Direct marketing to potential clients would require lot of efforts. 
Maybe we need to think of providing packaged educational solutions (franchising) 
to institutions and universities.

c)	Which kind of institutions/companies would employ our graduates?
Geoinformatics industry, Government Institutions, NPO, NGO, Self-employed,
Geo-contents service providers etc.

d)	What would be the entry strategy? Will it be with high end courses or low end 
courses – i.e. in terms of pricing, content, etc?
We have to see what is presently available and at what cost. Most of info 
available from Google Search are summarized at 
http://www.institute.redlands.edu/kemp/ certificates.html#Related. Details of 
two institutions presently offering courses in India are 
http://www.gisinstitute.net/ and http://www.symbiosissociety.org/sig/home.htm. 
One example from Thailand is available at http://www.gac.ait.ac.th. Pricing info 
at the above Asian sites could be a reference.
    The course contents have to be decided after more discussions. I think the 
course should be modular introduced in a phased manner 6-8 weeks

Level 1: Introduction to GIS and Web Mapping Technologies
        Basically how to install, use, producing maps using
        OSGEO tools
        Completion of this level will result in certification as “XXXYYY
        Certified OSGEO Application User”
Level 2: Geo-spatial database development
        Open data standards, Remote Sensing, GPS, mobile data logging systems,
        RDBMS. Completion of this level could result in certification as “XXXYYY
        Certified OSGEO Database Manager”
Level 3: Advanced Module for Application Developers
        Spatial data analysis using GRASS, Web GIS application development,using
        Mapserver Script languages, PHP, Javascript
        Completion of this level could result in certification as “XXXYYY
        Certified OSGEO Application Developer”
Level 4: Advanced Module for Software Developers
        Developing Geoinformatics software and cross-platform GIS solutions
        GRASS Libraries, Data Exchange Libraries, C programming, Cygwin,
        Qt, Mingw,  Plug-in development for QGIS. Software packaging (RPM etc.)
        Completion of this level will result in certification as “XXXYYY
        Certified Geoinfromatics Engineer”

Option to get a Master degree after completion for 4 Levels and conducting 
project research (in 16 to 18 weeks) could also be considered at a later stage.

What kind of a market would the graduates have?

institutional, private sector organizations, international.
Geoinformatics industry, Government Institutions, NPO, NGO, Self-employed , 
Geo-contents service providers etc.