During October we have celebrated the 25th anniversary of the first Linux Kernel release, and to coincide with this, we are releasing our mission statement for the next 25 years.
This anniversary year is a great time to reflect both on the huge growth and success of Linux, as well as the challenges ahead and the barriers we still need to bring down within the industry as a whole.
Our mission statement is bold and sets some challenging targets, including attracting more young people to the industry, encouraging women to train in Linux, and to raise the profile of what is thought of by some as a ‘geeky’ industry – but yet powers so many of the everyday items we use each day.
However, when you compare these goals to the amazing growth and success of Linux around the world over the last 25 years (and from such humble beginnings) they perhaps don’t seem so unachievable.
And anyway, we must set out a strong vision for Linux training in the UK and Ireland if we are to meet the demand of the rapidly growing tech industry. We simply must encourage more young people to train and work with Linux to supply the market, we must find ways to attract women to the industry as well to create better and more balanced workplaces. Whether we are able to reach these goals or not, they are important targets to work towards.
Future Cert: Our mission for the next 25 years
- To see a 25% increase in the number of women taking LPI Certification, which would go some way towards improving the gender imbalance within the industry.
- To attract the younger generation into Open Source careers and increase the number of under 21s taking LPI Certification by 25%.
- To see all schools in the UK and Ireland offering basic Open Source introductory training as part of their IT lessons from the age of 12 onwards.
- To see all sixth-forms and FE Colleges promoting LPI Certification alongside IT courses.
- To see an additional 25 universities become LPI partners, offering LPI Certification to students.
- To raise awareness of Linux and Open Source to the wider public.
- To make LPI Certification easily accessible to all, and at all levels of training and ability.
- To have a 1% impact on the UK and Ireland unemployment figures by providing Linux and Open Source certification that satisfies the skills shortage in these countries.