Dufek, Tanja

Vincentelli, David

English

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Article, Published VersionVincentelli, David; Dufek, TanjaHPAS – The hydrographic professional accreditationscheme by the IFHSHydrographische NachrichtenVerfügbar unter/Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11970/110696Vorgeschlagene Zitierweise/Suggested citation:Vincentelli, David; Dufek, Tanja (2023): HPAS – The hydrographic professional accreditationscheme by the IFHS. In: Hydrographische Nachrichten 123. Rostock: DeutscheHydrographische Gesellschaft e.V.. S. 44-46. https://doi.org/10.23784/HN121-07.Standardnutzungsbedingungen/Terms of Use:Die Dokumente in HENRY stehen unter der Creative Commons Lizenz CC BY 4.0, sofern keine abweichendenNutzungsbedingungen getroffen wurden. Damit ist sowohl die kommerzielle Nutzung als auch das Teilen, dieWeiterbearbeitung und Speicherung erlaubt. Das Verwenden und das Bearbeiten stehen unter der Bedingung derNamensnennung. Im Einzelfall kann eine restriktivere Lizenz gelten; dann gelten abweichend von den obigenNutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte.Documents in HENRY are made available under the Creative Commons License CC BY 4.0, if no other license isapplicable. Under CC BY 4.0 commercial use and sharing, remixing, transforming, and building upon the materialof the work is permitted. In some cases a different, more restrictive license may apply; if applicable the terms ofthe restrictive license will be binding.Towards a standardised, follow-up and international recognition of hydrographic skillsHPAS is the IFHS certification scheme, certified by the IBSC (FIG/IHO/ICA International Board on Standards of Competence), created to follow and certify professional hydrographers. In regard to HPAS multiple questions may arise: Why this need for a new certification scheme? What are the differences between HPAS and the famous Cat. A and Cat. B?We shall first outline the differences between diploma and certification. Both Cat. A and Cat. B diplomas are well known and accepted within the industry and beyond. This certification is given by the IBSC to educational programmes to award the completion of such IBSC certi-fied »scholar« path, including a minimum list of course contents. Certification schemes, such as the HPAS, certify the capacity of an individual to be a recognised hydrographer, not only thanks to the education qualification of that individual but also thanks to the experience gained during their career, the technics applied in the field, their management skills, their research, their lecture … The main objectives of a certification scheme compared to a diploma are: • to keep certifying the capabilities of individuals all along their career;An article by DAVID VINCENTELLI and TANJA DUFEKIn such an international branch as hydrography, the need for standards – especially in certification of personnel – is of great importance. The recently introduced multi-national hydrographic professional accreditation scheme (HPAS) by the IFHS (Inter-national Federation of Hydrographic Societies) including its member societies AFHy and DHyG, allows individuals to gain a professional accreditation not only based on educational qualification, but also on their practical experience and continuing pro-fessional development (CPD). The HPAS has received recognition by the IBSC (FIG/IHO/ICA International Board on Standards of Competence) earlier this year, which increases the likelihood that such personal accreditation will become more established in the professional field of hydrography.HPAS – The hydrographic professional accreditation scheme by the IFHSHPAS | personal accreditation | IFHS | IBSC | CPDHPAS | accréditation personnelle | IFHS | IBSC | développement professionnel continuHPAS | persönliche Akkreditierung | IFHS | IBSC | kontinuierliche WeiterbildungAuthorsDavid Vincentelli is managing director at the Sea Operation Division of iXblue in La Ciotat, France.Tanja Dufek is research assistant at the HafenCity University (HCU) in Hamburg, Germany.david.vincentelli@ixblue.comDans un secteur d’activité aussi international que l’hydrographie, le besoin de standards – tout particuliè-rement en ce qui concerne la qualification des individus et son suivi – est crucial. Le schéma d’accrédita-tion (HPAS) récemment mis en place par l’IFHS (Fédération internationale des sociétés hydrographiques), dont sont membres l’AFHy et le DHyG, permet à tout professionnel du secteur d’obtenir une accrédita-tion ne reposant pas uniquement sur son cursus universitaire mais également sur les acquis de son ex-périence professionnelle. Courant 2022, le schéma d’accréditation HPAS a été reconnu par l’IBSC (comité international FIG/OHI/ACI sur les normes de compétence pour les hydrographes et les spécialistes en car-tographie marine), l’asseyant davantage comme un standard de qualification des personnels employés au service de l’hydrographie au sens large.DOI: 10.23784/HN123-07In einer so international agierenden Disziplin wie der Hydrographie sind Standards wichtig – insbeson-dere für die berufliche Qualifikation. Vor Kurzem wurde das HPAS – das »Hydrographic Professional Ac-creditation Scheme« – von der IFHS (International Federation of Hydrographic Societies), darunter auch die AFHy und die DHyG, eingeführt. Das HPAS erlaubt es Einzelpersonen, sich neben ihren Studienab-schlüssen auch basierend auf ihren praktischen Berufserfahrungen und kontinuierlichen Weiterbildun-gen akkreditieren zu lassen. Anfang des Jahres 2022 hat das IBSC (FIG/IHO/ICA International Board on Standards of Competence) das HPAS anerkannt, was die Wahrscheinlichkeit erhöht, dass sich die persön-liche Akkreditierung im Berufsfeld der Hydrographie stärker etabliert.Hydrographische Nachrichten44Personal accreditation45HN 123 — 11/2022Personal accreditation• to allow personnel with academic or non-academic background in related science to be recognised as an hydrographer to a certain level, thanks to the experience gained (in its position, in the field, in office or based to ad-ditional courses taken).To develop this multinational HPAS scheme by the IFHS – a federation gathering six hydrographic societies: THS:UKI for UK and Ireland, DHyG for Germany, HSB for Benelux, IHS for Italy, AFHy for francophone countries and HSSA for South Africa – has been a long process. It was expedited by the THS:UKI and driven by the general need for such an accreditation scheme in industry, governmen-tal and educational/research institutions. All of them unite the demand for qualified people.HPAS is not the first scheme to become certified by the IBSC. It follows the path of Canada, Austral-asia and recently America in that way, with the ear-ly goal to bridge the interest of the six associated societies, becoming a cross country standard, and the ambition to be recognised by all other IBSC ap-proved schemes, helping the employment of pro-fessional hydrographers worldwide and increasing the confidence of the employers and clients of hy-drographic professionals. How to apply?HPAS offers three levels of accreditation. For each level multiple pathways are possible (Fig. 1). Level 2 (AH-L2) is a practical hydrographic surveyor who can execute various survey tasks and instructions. A level 1 (AH-L1) surveyor has progressed in their career to a supervisory/senior level and is able to plan and lead complex multidisciplinary field pro-jects. Level 0 (AH-L0) is the highest level given to professionals who have not only advanced their knowledge but also developed management and leadership skills and become people of repute in the profession. The minimum duration of work experience giv-en in Fig. 1 have to be understood as an absolute minimum. The variety of tasks and types of exe-cuted projects as well as the assigned responsibili-ties and roles are of greater importance. The affiliate is not a level and therefore does not provide an accredited professional status but ad-dresses students/trainees who want to show com-mitment to the profession during their education/training.To apply for a certain HPAS level, the proof of the educational qualification and work experience have to be provided. The particular required docu-mentation varies according to the level sought and the preconditions of the applicant and might include: • a CV with two referees,• a logbook of hydrographic survey activities,• two recent survey reports with a critique providing detailed information about the ap-Fig. 1: HPAS levels and pathways46 Hydrographische NachrichtenPersonal accreditationplicant’s role in the provided projects as well as an evaluation,• an experience matrix, which lists different sur-vey types and tasks according to the subjects of the IHO standard S-5 (these S-5 subjects need to be covered by IBSC certified Cat. A or B programmes). The applicants have to indicate which kind of pro-jects and in which responsibilities they have been involved. Depending on the level applied for, a certain number of tasks and types as well as roles are expected to be accomplished. A qualification mapping is necessary for the applicants who have not completed a Cat. A or B programme. The mandatory theoretical compe-tencies required by the IHO S-5 for the IBSC recog-nised Cat. A or B programmes need to be covered by the applicants by other formal courses or train-ings.A level-specific overview of necessary docu-ments, examples of filled forms and a detailed ex-planation of them for each level are given in the HPAS applicant guide published online (https://hydrography.earth/hpas). The submitted applications are reviewed by the HPAS panel. In case certain aspects in regard to the accreditation level cannot be clarified based on the provided documentation, the applicant can be invited to an interview. The panel consists of at least eight members from IFHS societies coming from industry, aca-demia or government and are in office for three years. IFHS will advertise the vacant panel seats an-nually and nominations are then received by the HPAS steering committee, which selects the panel member. The steering committee consists of rep-resentatives of the IFHS societies and gives strate-gic direction and guidance to the HPAS. There are two HPAS application deadlines per year: 31st of March and 31st of October. The time between application deadline and being informed about the decision might take about 15 weeks. The regular accreditation fee of 140 to 200 € (de-pending on the level sought) is reduced to 70 to 100 € for members of the IFHS societies. The an-nual renewal is about 30 to 50 € for members. How to maintain an HPAS level?To maintain an HPAS level, members have to show annually that they have been employed in the hy-drographic field for at least six months of the last twelve and submit a record of at least 40 hours CPD from that year. The CPD log ensures HPAS members currency of knowledge and practical ex-perience as well as the enhancement of skills. For the CPD record different professional, educational or volunteering activities related to hydrography are supported. They also include non-technical skills to improve personal qualities as well as formal and informal time. The minimum required time of formal CPD is 20 hours per year and includes activi-ties of structured learning that have a clear learn-ing objective like a professional course, technical authorship or a learning activity with assessment measures. Informal CPDs are self-managed learn-ing like private study, on-the-job practical training, attendance at informal seminars or events focus-ing on knowledge sharing. HPAS accredits can also transition from one level to the next higher one after gaining more experience and educational or other qualification. Depending on the transition level, the applicant has to hand in some or all of the documents listed above for the regular appli-cation.ConclusionThe first two sessions of HPAS have well demon-strated the interest of public and private sector professionals lacking standard hydrographic back-ground to apply for HPAS accreditation, indeed a large majority of applicants were missing Cat. A or Cat.  B recognised courses. However, this success needs to be confirmed by a larger interest from the Cat. A/Cat. B hydrographer community.As within the area of IFHS such personal accredi-tation is new, the scheme needs to be advertised and introduced and acquainted in the community. Its successful establishment in such an interna-tional operating branch like hydrography has a lot of benefits. It facilitates, for example, the staff re-cruitment, tenders, company-internal CPD or gen-eral administration. If the CPD keeping becomes a larger focus, a greater and international training industry offering e-learning and online trainings might develop further. HPAS is not the only personal accreditation scheme in hydrography: in Canada, Australasia and America similar schemes – also with IBSC-rec-ognition – are in place. Succeeding to obtain a mu-tual recognition between them would be of great importance for the overall international establish-ment and implementation of these schemes. They constitute the foundation for a new international standard in the hydrographic profession. //

HPAS – The hydrographic professional accreditation scheme by the IFHS

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HPAS – The hydrographic professional accreditation scheme by the IFHS

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