A forthcoming aspect of Certified Open® is the SkillsTracker – a web-based skills assessment tool. Certified Open is currently seeking input and participation in this aspect of the programme.  Contributions from ICT stakeholders are welcome and can be made by contacting us and stating your interest.

• Mapping certifications and qualifications to the framework;

• Mapping courses to the framework; and

• Providing a methodology for manager sign-off for work-place developed skills.

The following Specialisations are planned to be included within the SkillsTracker programme:

• Operating Environment

• Interoperability

• Networking

• Hardware

• Utilities

• Applications

• Business management

• Database management

• Development

• Security

• Community Issues

• Migration

The Certified Open SkillsTracker will represent a strong value proposition for each of the key stakeholders:

• Public Authorities – readily available poll of validated skills and resources – both internal and external; basis for establishing IT Professionalism within the Free Software environment.

• Procurement – sound basis for evaluation tenders that require open source skills.

• Hiring Managers – assurance that claimed skill sets are realistic.

• External Service Providers – differentiation based on quality of staff and demonstrable support for the community; in addition, clear channel management benefits in terms of skills management.

• Free Software/Open Source Product Providers – minimisation of the impact of lack of skills on market growth.

• Training/Certification Providers – a driver for training and certification – it overcomes the key objection that IT Professionals don't know what they don't know!

• IT Professionals – demonstrate their ability within an industry recognised competency framework, providing clear career development goals, and providing an "outputs-based" CPD record of value to the community.

• Enterprise Computing – full realisation of the benefits of Free Software/open source.