Difference between revisions of "Certification"

{{Term|CERTIFICATION|Program or process (voluntary) by which an organization (professional association, specialized institution, academic institution) confirms that a product, service, system, process, material (or  a learner) conform to specific standards, as they were measured against a set of requirements (criteria or quality standards). The overal intent of certification is to inform the public that organizations or individuals (learners) who have achieved certification have demonstrated a particular degree of expertise in a particular field/area, thus offering some degree of public protection. As an outcome, it is possible to distinguish between those who have demonstrated [[Competence|competence]] - according to specific standards - and those who have not. In the case of learners the process is composed by a series of prescribed[[Assessment|assessments]] with a recognized validity and an authentication.  For organization / programmes the certification process is normally carried out by an independent agent and sometimes requires an auditing.<ref>[http://www.nwlink.com www.nwlink.com] (11 March 2008), [http://www.compad.com.au www.compad.com.au] (11 March 2008), [http://www.ibstpi.org www.ibstpi.org] (21 April 2009)</ref> See also: [[Award]] and [[UNITAR AWARDING SYSTEM|UNITAR Awarding System]]}}