Open Badges

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Open Badges is the name of a group of specifications and open technical standards originally developed by the Mozilla Foundation with funding from the MacArthur Foundation. The Open Badges standard describes a method for packaging information about accomplishments, embedding it into portable image files as a digital badge, and establishing an infrastructure for badge validation. The standard was originally maintained by the Badge Alliance Standard Working Group, but transitioned officially to the IMS Global Learning Consortium as of January 1, 2017. [1]

Open Badges represent a more detailed picture than a CV or résumé as they can be presented in ever-changing combinations, creating a constantly evolving picture of a person’s lifelong learning.

Why use Open Badges at Sugar Labs

As part of our Funding and Marketing plan, taking care of internal relationships needs to be a priority for Sugar Labs. [2]

We at Sugar Labs have articulated many talented active contributors. Still, historically we have failed to retain many of them. With the implementation of alternative programs like the Open Badges, we could try to revert this trend.

The Open Badges program at Sugar Labs has the intention of reflecting openly individual or collective expertise over a specific project, team or task. Reflection is one of the main principles embedded on Sugar's DNA, so reflecting collective and individual accomplishments is a logical step for Sugar Labs community. For the implementation team, main challenge and opportunity may be the fact that there is several graphical work inherently attached to the creation and maintenance of the Badges. Also possible integrations with Sugar, Sugarizer, Sugar Network, etc.

Open Badges are here formulated to recognize the value of the infrastructure team and key project team leaders. Thanks to infrastructure team there is a level of service that allows us to be constantly in the air to interact with each other, with the code and with our users. Thanks to our key project team leaders, Sugar adapts and evolves to specific cases of use. This interaction and close support can only enrich our upstream main project.

Still, Sugar labs is a dynamic entity and should avoid labor relationships. Instead, the adoption of "retributions by merit" and/or "awards" policies are more suitable.

Stipends for Badge Holders

Open Badges proposal contemplates to open channels for resources to flow to active contributors that have been awarded with an Open Badge. All Badges will have a nominal monthly stipend of US$ 500 attached.

Piloting the model during 2017

Seven (7) Open Badges have been formulated for the 2017 Pilot:

Infrastructure Hero: Samuel Cantero
Marketing Intern: Samson Goddy
Sugar Network Project Leader: Laura Vargas
Sugarizer Project Leader: Lionel Laske
Social Help Project Leader: Sam Parkinson
Translation Community Manager: Chris Leonard
Open Badges Samurai: Ignacio Rodriguez

List B: For piloting the model during 2017, we have the following active contributors list of self defined individuals "in need of financial resources":

Sugar Network Project Leader: Laura Vargas
...

List A: For piloting the model during 2017, we have the following active contributors of self defined individuals " not in need of financial resources" (List A):

Infrastructure Hero: Samuel Cantero
Translation Community Manager: Chris Leonard
...

The model is based on autoevaluation, then only active edition of the above Wiki text by each wiki user will change any name from List A to List B.

Other Pilot Guidelines and Notes

- Reasonable periods of time should be given for Community members to nominate themselves or another member as a Badge nominee in upcoming rounds.

- For each round, Badge nominees will have a reasonable period of time to identify them selves as "yes, I am in need of financial resources" or as "no, I am not in need of financial resources", before submitting each years Budget to the Sugar Labs Oversgight Board.

- By default all nominated active contributors are considered as not in need of financial resources (List A).

- For the purpose of simplifying bureaucracy for the pilot, I (laura_vargas) as an organizational engineer to the best of my knowledge and eliminating every possible conflict of interest attached to the proposal, have formulated the initial Sugar Labs Open Badges list as published on March 3, 2017.

Budget for 2017 Open Badges

Total active contributors self identified as in need of financial resources = 1

Total monthly need of financial resources = US$ 500

Total Budget for 2017 Round = US$ 6,000

References

Members and non members of Sugar Labs have recommended the following reading to understand more about the subject of sustainability in Open Source:

"Roads and Bridges: The Unseen Labor Behind Our Digital Infrastructure" by Nadia Eghbal.

Please share your thoughts on the discussion page.