[Ica-osgeo-labs] FW: [Ica-osgeo-lab'Charles Schweik' <cschweik at pubpol.umass.edu>s] Certification

[Hogan, Patrick (ARC-PX)]

Suchith, Charlie and the wonderful OSGeo community, without whose effective leadership this poor overconsumed planet will have a rough road keeping what little intelligence achieved in a survival mode,

I concur with Suchith on the need to focus on “learning objectives,” by the same token, I believe that additional certifications in various software tools would also be an attractive area for certification. MOOCs could provide wonderful opportunities for students to develop the necessary skills and be certified at various levels for a variety of specific skill sets. The OSGeo ‘blessing’ for these different certifications would help to certify these certifications.

And as Charlie has suggested, it would seem to benefit from a focused dialogue, conference, committee, wiki or other. I think folks like Paul Davis (GeoAcademy) would have a pretty good idea for what coursework/testing is needed at the various levels and different skill sets for different certifications.

I hope this is aligned with the ideas being discussed, if not, my humble apologies.

-Patrick

From: ica-osgeo-labs [mailto:ica-osgeo-labs-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Charles Schweik
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 12:26 PM
To: Suchith Anand
Cc: ica-osgeo-labs at lists.osgeo.org<mailto:ica-osgeo-labs at lists.osgeo.org>; tanzeel rehman
Subject: Re: [Ica-osgeo-labs] Certification

Hi,

Perhaps this discussion maybe deserves a web conference to try and get to a common understanding? Or establish a subcommittee to really try and understand Tanzeel's proposal and then perhaps move to a GeoForAll vote?

It seems that the idea of OSGeo Certification is a hard nut to crack... but we have valuable colleagues here who are passionate about this topic and are putting hard work in trying to move our community forward.

Cheers,
Charlie

[1] http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeo_Labs:_OSGeo_Certification
[2] http://www.urisa.org/resources/geospatial-management-competency-model/

On Tue, Oct 20, 2015 at 12:00 PM, Suchith Anand <Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk>> wrote:
Hi all,

For any geoeducation program, the focus should be on the learning objectives (not on any specific software or tools). Open principles in geoeducation (open education resources, free and open software, open data, open standards etc.) are key for true empowerment of staff and students globally and making geospatial education and opportunities accessible to all

Our universities and our initiatives like GeoAcademy are already doing this excellently focused on open principles in geoeducation .That is more important and helps create good global citizens .

So there need to be more detailed info that Tanzeel should provide and there should be in-depth discussion and understanding on what Tanzeel is proposing, its benefits for the students etc. before we can make any decision. Unfortunately, at this stage i cannot see the true value of this certification for the students or for the wider community. Maybe others in the list can share their experience/viewpoints on this.

Best wishes,

Suchith
________________________________
From: ica-osgeo-labs [ica-osgeo-labs-bounces at lists.osgeo.org<mailto:ica-osgeo-labs-bounces at lists.osgeo.org>] on behalf of Suchith Anand [Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk>]
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 2:33 PM
To: tanzeel rehman; franz-josef.behr at hft-stuttgart.de<mailto:franz-josef.behr at hft-stuttgart.de>
Cc: ica-osgeo-labs at lists.osgeo.org<mailto:ica-osgeo-labs at lists.osgeo.org>
Subject: Re: [Ica-osgeo-labs] Certification
Thanks for the reply but i still find it difficult to understand the procedure and details.

Is it possible to send the URL or link to your Master’s thesis to the list, so everyone can better understand what exactly that you are talking about. Thanks.

Best wishes,

Suchith
________________________________
From: tanzeel rehman [tanzeelrehman130 at hotmail.com<mailto:tanzeelrehman130 at hotmail.com>]
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 2:01 PM
To: suchith.anand at nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:suchith.anand at nottingham.ac.uk>; franz-josef.behr at hft-stuttgart.de<mailto:franz-josef.behr at hft-stuttgart.de>
Cc: ica-osgeo-labs at lists.osgeo.org<mailto:ica-osgeo-labs at lists.osgeo.org>
Subject: RE: [Ica-osgeo-labs] Certification
Thanks to all of you for raising points.

1. As Prof Behr, mentioned earlier this certification model covers three parts which are actually the sector of geospatial industry. And in my point of view either some one is using GTCM or not but in any case he is involved in data acquisition .analysis and modeling and development. These are the broader sector and we created the certification package for each sector. Using GTCM is providing the course content of Certification body of knowledge.

2. It should be industry driven. My aim was to relate the geospatial education to the geospatial practical industry that if such competencies are existed then students or professionals can have better place in market having this certification.

3. I think it would not be enough to hit only software based but it should be an extra knowledge related to implementation of skills.

4. This certification model covers all aspects like certified os data professional, certified os gis/rs analyst and so on. So i think it would be a greater opportunity to work with QGIS and other software because geospatial software has the similar characteristics as we have in our model.

5. In last. I am in trying phase to launch small company spatial junctions. And under this umbrella we will give training and workshops for this certification of course on OS. For this reason we need resources and first of all have accreditation from OSGeo. I am spreading all this around the world first in Pakistan and now in USA. Give your hands and hopefully certification chain will be longer then.

Cheers

Ps. Sorry for late reply due to conference it is very hectic schedule.
________________________________
From: Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk>
To: franz-josef.behr at hft-stuttgart.de<mailto:franz-josef.behr at hft-stuttgart.de>; tanzeelrehman130 at hotmail.com<mailto:tanzeelrehman130 at hotmail.com>
CC: ica-osgeo-labs at lists.osgeo.org<mailto:ica-osgeo-labs at lists.osgeo.org>
Subject: RE: [Ica-osgeo-labs] Certification
Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2015 11:00:37 +0000
Good points Ela . I just saw your mail.

Also i have another query to Franz-Josef, Tanzeel. If the certification is based on geospatial technology competency model does it need to be specific to any software (for example it can be QGIS or gvSIG)

So for example, the students undertaking the MOOC programs run by GeoAcademy if they complete successfully the program they should be eligible for OSGeo certification (if it is established) as they have both done a program based on geospatial technology competency model and used FOSS4G tools, open data etc.

So what happens if it is university is in UK (or any other country) that do not follow the geospatial technology competency model?

I think the idea is good but many questions to answer which i hope Franz-Josef, Tanzeel will explain more details.

Suchith

________________________________
From: Elżbieta Wołoszyńska-Wiśniewska [ela at gridw.pl<mailto:ela at gridw.pl>]
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 11:14 AM
To: Franz-Josef Behr; tanzeel rehman
Cc: Suchith Anand; ica-osgeo-labs at lists.osgeo.org<mailto:ica-osgeo-labs at lists.osgeo.org>
Subject: Re: [Ica-osgeo-labs] Certification
Dear Franz-Josef, Tanzeel,

Your conversation with Suchith it's quite similar to the one we did in Nodebo during the 1st QGIS Conference (then it was obviously related to QGIS only).

I have two general questions...
No. 1 What does it mean "FOSS4G/OSGeo certification"? What kind of competences should be covered by this certification - use of specific soft only (which one) or some broader knowledge & skills related to implementation of GI tools and spatial data?
No. 2 How is your idea related to QGIS certification (mentioned in the email)?

Regards,
Ela

----------------------------------------------------------

Elżbieta Wołoszyńska-Wiśniewska

Head of Education Unit

Deputy Country Coordinator of GLOBE Program

UNEP/GRID-Warsaw Centre

Sobieszynska 8, 00-764 Warsaw

phone.: +48 22 840 6664 ext. 116<tel:%2B48%2022%20840%206664%20ext.%20116>

fax: +48 22 851 6201<tel:%2B48%2022%20851%206201>

http://www.gridw.pl

http://mass4education.eu

W dniu 2015-10-20 o 11:45, Franz-Josef Behr pisze:

Dear Suchith,

thank you for your message and concerns. I'd like to bring in some clarification.

  1.  Basically certification for FOSS should be based on the community for the community.
  2.  Accreditation must be given by an acknowledged organisation like OSGeo, as you mentioned, and perhaps other communities (i.e. QGIS association [1]). This should be the "umbrella".
  3.  Examinations should be endorsed by acknowledged Universities (i.e. Geo4All members). Here I am looking for supporters.
  4.  Education is provided by certified trainers (still further work needed)
  5.  Organisational work and management has to be done by an agency. This could be an opportunity for Tanzeel.

In my opinion FOSS4G/OSGeo certifications can be beneficial for all participants:

  *   for the community
  *   for the further dissemination of open tools, data, and standards
  *   for the trainees
  *   for the trainers
  *   for the companies looking for employees
  *   for the organising agency
  *   for Universities (offering education).
Similar to [1] certification should have either a fixed, moderate cost, or a cost relative to the GDP/mean salary of the country of origin of the trainee

Suchith and colleagues, I'd really appreciate your support and your ideas.

Regards
Franz-Josef
[1] http://hub.qgis.org/wiki/quantum-gis/Certification
Am 19.10.2015 um 15:42 schrieb Suchith Anand:

Dear Tanzeel,

Thank you for the email and more information. The idea of open source certification model based on geospatial technology competency model is good BUT i do have concerns on your aim to commercialise this certification under the umbrella of a private company. OSGeo Board should be the one who should be able to take the decision on certification for OSGeo software training.

I was not aware of your discussions with Jeff and others on this that you mention in your mail. I am ccing this to our education colleagues, so they can give an informed answer and suggestions to this. I suggest that you email the OSGeo Board with all details, so that they will be able to give you suggestions on the best way for this.

Best wishes,

Suchith

________________________________
From: tanzeel rehman [tanzeelrehman130 at hotmail.com<mailto:tanzeelrehman130 at hotmail.com>]
Sent: Monday, October 19, 2015 2:20 PM
To: suchith.anand at nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:suchith.anand at nottingham.ac.uk>
Subject: RE: [Ica-osgeo-labs] STDF Grant for Leaders in Innovation Fellowships (LIF) UK-Egypt Newton-Mosharafa Program
Dear Suchith

Thanks for concerns .yes it is my master thesis and I develop an open source certification model based on geospatial technology competency model. I presented this topic in FOSS4g Como pre conference and it was highly appreciated even some of guys were really interested. We had a meeting also for accreditation and approval for this model and Jeff suggested that it should be project based certification. Now a days me in Spokane for gis pro conference because i want to commercialize this certification under the umbrella of my new born company spatial junction
And my second supervisor Phillip Davis appreciated a lot.
I need support and suggestions from all of you to uplift the OSGeo model
Thanks
________________________________
From: Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:Suchith.Anand at nottingham.ac.uk>
To: tanzeelrehman130 at hotmail.com<mailto:tanzeelrehman130 at hotmail.com>
CC: ica-osgeo-labs at lists.osgeo.org<mailto:ica-osgeo-labs at lists.osgeo.org>
Subject: RE: [Ica-osgeo-labs] STDF Grant for Leaders in Innovation Fellowships (LIF) UK-Egypt Newton-Mosharafa Program
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2015 08:45:14 +0000

Hi Tanzeel,

Apologies i could not understand the background discussion on the topic on certification. From Frans-Josef email some time back i understand this is something related to your Master’s Thesis. Is this correct? Did you discuss this with the OSGeo Board? If it is related to OSGeo certification then you should get approval from the OSGeo Board first.

Best wishes,

Suchith

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