Vendor-specific certifications: lessons and experiences from two women’s training centres in the UK offering MCSE training

This paper will provide details of a qualitative research study undertaken by The Open University in the UK as part of the European Social Funded (ESF) funded JIVE (Joint Interventions) Partners project. It reports important results relating to lessons and experiences of women who have embarked on the process of seeking the vendor-specific certification of Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE). The research study is significant because it represents the first known academic study of vendor-specific certifications that focuses on the experiences of women. Given the small percentage of women working in network administration, it is hoped that results from this study will provide valuable insights into the challenges such certification presents to women. The paper describes the context for the study. It then outlines why the training providers, both established voluntary sector women’s training centres, and the women trainees themselves chose this particular vendor-specific certification. It outlines results from qualitative interviews with women studying at two Microsoft Academies, The Women’s Workshop in Cardiff (WWiC) and Oxford Women’s Training Scheme (OWTS). This section of the paper will focus on: Why study for MCSE certification: women’s reflections on why they embarked on this path; Issues associated with offering the MCSE pathway; Importance of a women-only training environment

Proceedings of the 1st international workshop on software process education, training and professionalism (SPETP 2015)

These Proceedings contain the papers accepted for publication and presentation at the first 1st International Workshop on Software Process Education, Training and Professionalism (SPETP 2015) held in conjunction with the 15th International Conference on Software Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination (SPICE 2015), Gothenburg, Sweden, during June 15-17, 2015. During the 14th International Conference on Software Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination (SPICE 2014) held in Vilnius, Lithuania, at a post conference dinner, a group of key individuals from education and industry started to discuss the challenges faced for software process education, training and professionalism, especially with the background of the new modes of learning and teaching in higher education. Further discussions held post conference with key players in the relevant professional and personal certification fields led to a consensus that it is time for the industry to rise to the new challenges and set out in a manifesto a common vision for educators and trainers together with a set of recommendations to address the challenges faced. It was therefore agreed co-located the 1st International Workshop on Software Process Education, Training and Professionalism with the 15th International Conference on Software Process Improvement and Capability dEtermination. This workshop focused on the new challenges for and best practices in software process education, training and professionalism. The foundation for learning of software process should be part of a university or college education however software process is often treated as ‘add one’ module to the core curriculum. In a professional context, whilst there have been a number of initiatives focused on the certification related to the software process professional these have had little success for numerous reasons. Cooperation in education between industry, academia and professional bodies is paramount, together with the recognition of how the education world is changing and how education is resourced, delivered (with online and open learning) and taken up. Over the next 10 years on-line learning is projected to grow fifteen fold, accounting for 30% of all education provision, according to the recent report to the European Commission on New modes of learning and teaching in higher education. It is a great pleasure to see the varied contributions to this 1st International Workshop on Software Process Education, Training and Professionalism and we hope that our joint dedication, passion and innovation will lead to success for the profession through the publication of the manifesto as a key outcome from the workshop. On behalf of the SPETP 2015 conference Organizing Committee, we would like to thank all participants. Firstly all the authors, whose quality work is the essence of the conference, and the members of the Program Committee, who helped us with their expertise and diligence in reviewing all of the submissions. As we all know, organizing a conference requires the effort of many individuals. We wish to thank also all the members of our Organizing Committee, whose work and commitment were invaluable

Internal report cluster 1: Urban freight innovations and solutions for sustainable deliveries (2/4)

Technical report about sustainable urban freight solutions, part 2 of

Інноваційні моделі навчання і підготовки кадрів для індустрії високих технологій в Україні

The problems of development of innovative learning environment of continuous education and training of skilled personnel for high-tech industry are described. Aspects of organization of ICT based learning environment of vocational and technical school on the basis of cloud computing and outsourcing are revealed. The three-stage conceptual model for perspective education and training of workers for high-tech industries is proposed. The model of cloud-based solution for design of learning environment for vocational education and training of skilled workers is introduced.У статті висвітлено проблеми розвитку інноваційного середовища навчання, неперервної освіти і підготовки кадрів для високотехнологічних галузей промисловості. Виявлено особливості організації інформаційно-освітнього середовища професійно-технічних навчальних закладів на основі технології хмарних обчислень і механізму аутсорсингу. Запропонована триступенева концептуальна модель навчання та підготовки кадрів для високотехнологічних галузей виробництва. Обґрунтовано моделі хмарних рішень для проектування середовища навчання для професійної освіти і підготовки високо кваліфікованих робітникі

MONALISA 2.0 and the sea traffic management - a concept creating the need for new maritime information standards and software solutions

Postprint (published version

Harmonisation of an environmental health and safety management system

Management systems are a business powerful tool when efficiently monitored and continuously improved. This project focused on the improvement of the existing Environment, Health and Safety Management System (EH&SMS) at Siemens Magnet Technology with the aim to improve the EH&SMS by reviewing and harmonising its documentation and procedures with the existing documentation and procedures from Siemens Healthcare in Germany. This project was developed taking in consideration the company’s requirements and the relevance of the topic. In order to have the implemented changes in place, the standards and schemes related to environment, health and safety management systems were consulted and the implementation of new changes followed the requirements set in the relevant standards and schemes. The international BS ISO 14001:2004 and BS OHSAS 18001:2007 set out the framework to properly build an effective revision and implementation of the improved EH&SMS. An initial combined EH&S internal audit took place to identify the strengths and areas for improvement, the efficiency of the MS and how well the environment health and safety aspects were covered in the current MS. The audit allowed a deep analysis in each process part of the MS which determined the effectiveness of the implementation of SMT EH&S standards. For the purpose of document control, SAP EDM system was used to store all the procedures and documentation. It was understood that, by inserting all the documentation under one common area, it allowed different business units to consult the EH&S documents and procedures regardless their location enabling a transparent and quicker approach whenever there is an environment, health and safety related topic in the company’s agenda. This project found that, by following the requirements set in the international standards mentioned and improving the communication while implementing a new change, employees will increasingly engage and feel motivated to participate. Employees were involved in different stages of the project, leading to an increase of the interest in the EH&S areas and a wider understanding of the benefits from an intuitive MS

e-Skills: The International dimension and the Impact of Globalisation - Final Report 2014

In today’s increasingly knowledge-based economies, new information and communication technologies are a key engine for growth fuelled by the innovative ideas of highly - skilled workers. However, obtaining adequate quantities of employees with the necessary e-skills is a challenge. This is a growing international problem with many countries having an insufficient numbers of workers with the right e-Skills. For example: Australia: “Even though there’s 10,000 jobs a year created in IT, there are only 4500 students studying IT at university, and not all of them graduate” (Talevski and Osman, 2013). Brazil: “Brazil’s ICT sector requires about 78,000 [new] people by 2014. But, according to Brasscom, there are only 33,000 youths studying ICT related courses in the country” (Ammachchi, 2012). Canada: “It is widely acknowledged that it is becoming inc reasingly difficult to recruit for a variety of critical ICT occupations –from entry level to seasoned” (Ticoll and Nordicity, 2012). Europe: It is estimated that there will be an e-skills gap within Europe of up to 900,000 (main forecast scenario) ICT pr actitioners by 2020” (Empirica, 2014). Japan: It is reported that 80% of IT and user companies report an e-skills shortage (IPA, IT HR White Paper, 2013) United States: “Unlike the fiscal cliff where we are still peering over the edge, we careened over the “IT Skills Cliff” some years ago as our economy digitalized, mobilized and further “technologized”, and our IT skilled labour supply failed to keep up” (Miano, 2013)

Mitigating the High Cost of ISO 14001 EMS Standard Certification: Lessons from Agribusiness Case Research

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) account for an estimated 90% of the world's economic activity, implying that environmental management strategies customized specifically for such organizations are important in a global environmental management initiative such as ISO 14001. The cost of third party ISO 14001 standard registration can be extremely high, and generally beyond the means of SMEs. Three dimensions to ISO 14001 EMS standard registration, which can substantially affect the cost associated with developing, implementing and obtaining ISO 14001 accreditation, were examined: i) whether the EMS implementation and registration process is direct or indirect; ii) how an organization can demonstrate compliance with ISO 14001 requirements; and iii)scale of the ISO 14001 certification process. In addition, case studies are used to highlight important ISO 14001 certification considerations, and assess how the organizations studied mitigated the high cost of ISO 14001 registration.International, ISO 14001, Small/medium interprises, Environmental entrepreneurship., Agribusiness, Environmental Economics and Policy,