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A key goal within APEGGA's Business Plan is to "maintain
a strong Professional Development program." One initiative
that supports this goal is the development of PEGGasus, a
marketplace on the Internet through which APEGGA members can
search for, enrol in, pay for and arrange for the delivery
of ongoing professional development.
Under the direction of Len Shrimpton, P.Eng., APEGGA has taken
the lead in bringing together a consortium to bring the PEGGasus
concept to fruition. In addition to APEGGA, making up the
consortium are the University of Alberta (Institute for Professional
Development), the National Research Council and Terra Prime
Development. With funding in place and the development of
a project plan, activity on PEGGasus began in earnest in February
of this year.
By the end of May, personnel within the consortium had identified
the requirements for the system. Based on their experience
and a number of market research activities, system features
and functionality were established and defined, and a static
prototype and demonstration site was completed.
Currently, attention is focused on coding the functionality
and features for a beta test site and making contact with
a number of professional development providers who would like
to cooperate in the beta trial scheduled to begin this summer.
In the beta trial, a small set of professional development
opportunities will be continually loaded into the system to
test its collection and input processes. A volunteer group
of members will test the operation and features of PEGGasus.
Feedback from both activities will assist the developers in
fine tuning the system.
Full system rollout and operation is planned for the fall
of this year. As of this date, the project is on schedule
and on budget.
As PEGGasus moves into its beta trial, you will begin to see
and hear more about the project. Some of you will be asked
to become participants in the beta trial, and others of you
might come across the website (www.peggasus.ca)
or see promotional material for the project. In the late fall,
you will have full access to a state-of-the-art system to
assist each of you in planning and selecting professional
development opportunities that fit your needs, budget and
location.
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