[OSGeo-Discuss] Certification commitee

[Paul Spencer]

Would it make sense to have OSGeo be the holder of certification  
standards.  Individual projects could set the standards for  
certification and 3rd parties (i.e. commercial companies) could then  
develop certification processes that would meet the standards.  OSGeo  
would promote and support the creation of standards, and facilitate  
accrediting a 3rd party?

Cheers

Paul

On 15-Mar-06, at 11:04 AM, Dave McIlhagga (mobile) wrote:

> Hi Uchoa
>
> This makes complete sense to me - I'm glad you are thinking along  
> these lines and am keen to support this effort within the  
> technologies we are engaged with.
>
> I look forward to your material for the wiki.
>
> Dave
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Helton Uchoa <uchoa at geolivre.org.br>
> Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006 10:08:37
> To:discuss at mail.osgeo.org
> Subject: Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] Certification commitee
>
> Hi Dave,
>
> The key word is "complementation". I understand (point of view) the  
> FOSS
> GIS market like this:
> - OSGeo makes a certification as a indepedent organization;
> - Companies make the training program to prepare users for OSGeo
> certification tests.
> So, certification can helps others companies to make business.
>
> The Frank's suggestion to make a "farm out" certification under
> supervision of OSGeo can possibility a certification more widely with
> low cost.
>
> I will put ideas in the wiki and start a work planning.
>
> []s
>
> Uchoa
>
> Frank Warmerdam wrote:
>
>> dmcilhagga at dmsolutions.ca wrote:
>>
>>> Another consideration on this is that certification is often a  
>>> value-add
>>> that companies provide around open source technologies, so there is
>>> potential for this to cause competition between OSGEO and the  
>>> companies
>>> that are selling services and products around the technologies.
>>
>>> The open source geospatial industry has not yet begun to offer  
>>> this kind
>>> of service, but it may come quickly given the rapid maturation  
>>> that is
>>> currently happenning.
>>
>>
>>
>> Dave,
>>
>> I'm not sure I have seen many certification efforts where a third  
>> party
>> company does all the certification stuff.  I guess I am most familiar
>> with certifications where a company certifies people on their own
>> technology
>> (like Microsoft and MSCE).
>>
>> Are you concerned about a scenario where a companies wishes to  
>> promote
>> a certification on a product (say GRASS for example) that it does the
>> testing and certification for?  And that OSGeo might be competing  
>> with
>> that company if it also tried to provide a certification for GRASS?
>>
>> While I suppose this is possible, it seems to me that a certification
>> would (or could) have more credibility if coming from a relatively
>> neutral
>> organizations, like OSGeo, that doesn't pursue the certification  
>> from a
>> profit motive.  In any event, if we were to do so, I think the effort
>> would
>> have to be in cooperation with the PSC of the affected projects.
>>
>> On a number of fronts I too am concerned about OSGeo possibly
>> competing with
>> it's own members.  But this hadn't occured to me as one that might  
>> be an
>> issue.
>>
>>> I'm not saying that this shouldn't happen -- just that it should be
>> done
>>> with sensitivity to the issue. I'd be hopeful that a certification
>> process
>>> could be done in a way that is complementary to services offerred by
>>> companies around open source.
>>
>> Well, I certainly think if we pursued certification it should be  
>> because:
>>  o It helps services companies convince clients of their  
>> professionalism.
>>  o Gives user organizations a way of identifying competent  
>> integrators.
>>
>> That is, my objective would be to grow the size and effectiveness  
>> of the
>> open source geospatial services sector.
>>
>> As Uchoa noted, this could be quite important in government  
>> procurement
>> situations in Brazil and elsewhere.
>>
>> One thing I was wondering was whether it would make sense for  
>> OSGeo to
>> "farm out" the certification process to a private company to  
>> administer
>> under the supervision of the project PSC(s) and an OSGeo  
>> certification
>> committee.  There is some risk in apparent favoritism in selecting  
>> one
>> company to do such a job, but farming it out in this manner might be
>> necessary to getting things off the ground in a serious and  
>> professional
>> way.
>>
>> Best regards,
>
>
> -- 
> Helton UCHOA :: uchoa@{opengeo.com.br;geolivre.org.br;open3dgis.org}
> Consultant in Free Software for Geomatics - 55 21 8272-4899
> OpenGEO :: On-demand training and solutions :: www.opengeo.com.br
> Geolivre Conference 2007 :: FOSS GIS solutions :: www.geolivre.org
> GEO Livre community:: Because Geoinformation should be free ::  
> www.geolivre.org.br
> Open3DGIS.org :: The Open Source Web 3D GIS :: www.open3dgis.org
> Be free by using Free Software, such as MapServer, uDIG, Open 3D  
> GIS, QGIS...
>
>
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|Paul Spencer                           pspencer at dmsolutions.ca   |
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|Applications & Software Development                              |
|DM Solutions Group Inc                 http://www.dmsolutions.ca/|
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