When you’re part of the global Linux community it can be easy to get stuck in a rut of only communicating digitally. How many of us work with people, on a daily basis, that we’ve only ever ‘met’ via Skype or email? And whilst the digital tools available make our work lives possible, there are times when you simply can’t beat a chat over a coffee or a beer. That’s why LPI wanted to get the Affiliate Family together for a few days.
From 2nd to 5th June 2016 around fifty LPI Affiliates and partners descended on the sleepy French town of Divonne-les-Bains. Future Cert’s Bill Quinn and Marketing Consultant Elephant Creative Helen Hammond were there to learn about new developments and share a few things that we’re working on over here in the UK & Ireland.
Here are our top ten ‘take homes’ and good news stories from the LPI Global Summit:
- The summit started with a group visit to CERN, combining a tour of the Data Centre and an explanation in as simple terms that you can explain the concepts around the particle research. It is staggering to consider that CERN generates 1 Petrabyte of data (over 200,000 DVDs) every day for analysis! As well as the talks, there is an interesting collection of memorabilia through the years, which included one of the two computers that were the first ever servers of the world wide web.
- After 17 years of Linux Certification, and with some of the original team rejoining LPI it was a good opportunity to reflect on what has been achieved before focusing on the future. It was great to see maddog ‘attending’ on screen as well! Some of the highlights of LPIs achievments are:
- 1999 LPI was incorporated following an initial meeting in a hotel in Utah
- April 1999 the first JTA (Job Task Analysis) was initiated with over 1,400 Sys Admins from around the world participating
- In 2000 the first exam was launched – LPIC 1
- This was quickly followed in 2001 with the LPIC 2
- In 2007 both the LPIC 301 and 302 were launched
- In 2009 the LPIC 303 launched
- In 2010 LPIC 304 launched
- In 2012 Linux Essentials was launched
- 2013 started with over 350,000 exams completed
- In 2013 LPIC 300 was launched, and the 301 / 302 retired
- Over 400,000 exams completed worldwide by 2014
- LPI exams are available in 9 different languages
- LPI Exams have been taken in over 182 countries
- Getting together is important – PUE is the main LPI Academic partner in Spain and they organise a day-long session when they present new academic initiatives in ICT official certification and training to the educational community of Spain. Their last (and third) was held on 13th April in Madrid. You can read more about it here. We particularly love how they summarise the day in tweets here. Watch this space for something similar starting in the UK in 2017…
- Data is important – One of the things we found most interesting was the increasing amount of valuable data being collected, concerning LPI certification and it’s value. We’ve already reported on the Pearson Global Candidate Survey but we also talked about data collected at a regional level – including our very own certification candidate surveys. Over the coming months we’re going to be talking a lot more about what we can learn from our candidates and the industry as a whole… and how we can use this to better influence new certification proposals.
- Links with industry – We were really inspired by the great work going on with LPI Japan. In particular their links with industry and the way they work with organisations to develop stronger links between the value of certification and businesses. We think this is something we could all be doing more of and we’re looking at formalising our already great commercial links in the UK & Ireland… and perhaps introducing a certified supplier scheme for smaller IT companies, such as they do in LPI Central Europe.
- Links with education – We were delighted to see the LPI Global Summit used as a forum for launching the work of the LPI Academic Advisory Committee. A global committee this is headed up by the UK Open University’s Andrew Smith. This group is designed to draw wisdom from the academic world to better influence the decisions made at LPI HQ… including new certification and the ways we engage students before, during and after formal education.
- Clearer communications – With passionate Linux people all over the world it can be hard to keep the LPI message front of mind, clear and consistent. A lot of great work has been over the past few months to standardise the LPI message and we’re excited to see the guidance coming from HQ. The summit gave all Affiliates the chance to discuss the LPI brand, what works and what doesn’t – as well as what we need to get the LPI story out there more efficiently.
- We don’t need to reinvent the wheel – We were all reminded that there is a lot of great material available online to support those delivering and promoting LPI certification. Not only do we have certification sheets, here at Future Cert, but the LPI wiki has a wealth of information and free training materials. As the communications plan from HQ comes out we can expect this to be expanded on and we look forward to greater sharing of information across the LPI community.
- LPI Nigeria used the time showcase their new training environment on a college campus. The training suite comprises sufficient space for 12 learners. What is impressive though is the long term commitment – a 50 year lease has been agreed by the university to LPI Nigeria.
- A key piece of conversation, which has created working parties, is what is next for LPI Certification. How does LPI build and develop its portfolio of Certifications with the needs of industry. This was an interesting conversation as it both highlighted the common needs of industry across the world, but also some very significant differences in specific regions. Watch this space for requests to contribute to objective creation and exam development.
