[OSGeo-Discuss] Fwd: New FOSS certification for non profit sector

[Tyler Mitchell]

FYI - in case this applies to you or your organisation....

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Chris Bailey <chrisbailey at socialrights.org>
> Date: September 12, 2007 4:13:26 AM PDT (CA)
> To: nosi-discussion at nosi.net
> Subject: [Nosi-discussion] New FOSS certification for non profit  
> sector
>
> As part of the work for the UK ICT Hub's FOSS in the Voluntary and  
> Community Sector (VCS) project we are developing a new  
> certification for FOSS use by not for profits, Free and Open Source  
> Knowledge (FOSK). We are doing this in partnership with the Linux  
> Professional Institute (LPI) whose certification for Linux system  
> administrators has world wide recognition.
>
> We want to fill an important gap by developing a non-technical  
> certification for anyone who is "responsible for recommending and/ 
> or choosing FOSS solutions for an organization". Though the new  
> certification is initially being designed for the UK VCS there are  
> plans for it to be beta tested in the USA and Germany too as a step  
> towards establishing it internationally. A FOSK certified  
> individual will have an understanding of the Linux and FOSS  
> environments and knowledge of the solutions available in the FOSS  
> world together with an understanding of the issues involved in  
> their implementation in the VCS.
>
> We are now in the final stages of recruiting 12 Subject Matter  
> Experts (SME) internationally who have been chosen for having a  
> good cross section of skills and knowledge concerning FOSS use in  
> the not for profit sector. This SME team will begin work early next  
> week. Interestingly it will have a majority of women on it. We  
> think this can be a certification that will get away from the "male  
> geek" image FOSS often still has in some quarters and encourage  
> more women to take part in FOSS development (the figures are  
> awfully low at the moment).
>
> The syllabus for the certification will form the basis for FOSS  
> trainings for the UK VCS early next year. Accessibility issues  
> concerning FOSS use will be an important part of both the  
> certification and the trainings.
>
> Details of the new certification and a timeline for it's  
> development are now in a wiki at: https://group.lpi.org/publicwiki/ 
> bin/view/Examdev/FOSK
>
> We want to involve the widest number of people from the not for  
> profit sector in developing the certification, so we very much  
> welcome comments and suggestions through the wiki at all stages of  
> development of the certification, which we plan to launch on  
> January 1st, 2008. Registration on the wiki is open to all.
>
> Chris Bailey
> UK ICT Hub FOSS in the VCS project
>
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>
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Tyler Mitchell
Executive Director
Open Source Geospatial Foundation
tmitchell at osgeo.org
P: +1-250-277-1621
M: +1-250-303-1831