DAMA and Wilshire wow Tampa at Enterprise Data World

April 14, 6:08 PMMiami Technology Careers ExaminerFrancine Adams

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Miami Technology Careers Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

DAMA Board leaders man the booth at EDW

It was a meeting of the minds; the best minds in the world in data management at Enterprise Data World presented April 5-9, 2009 at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida.  DAMA International , the premier organization for data professionals worldwide was founded in Los Angeles in 1980 and Wilshire Conferences was founded in 1999 with the objective of bringing high quality educational conferences to information technology professionals.  This annual conference is "the business world's most comprehensive vendor-neutral educational event about data and information management".  Attendees traveled from all across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Sweden, Norway, Japan, Tanzania and Australia, just the short list of countries of origin shared each day over lunch.  Formerly known as the DAMA International Symposium & Wilshire Meta-Data Conference, the now Enterprise Data World Conference is shorter on name but  long on delivery as the attendees participated in 200 hours of tutorials, hands on workshops, practical sessions and keynote speakers.  A bonus at the conference were the Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP) workshops that prepared prospective professionals for the CDMP certification.

By attending the workshop, purchasing the exam guide(s) and sitting for the three(3) required exams, 8 ambitious professionals earned their certifications at the conference, an effort that can take as long as three years to complete on alternate tracks.  The Institute for the Certification of Computing Professionals (ICCP) which has certified 55,000 professionals thus far, conducted the workshops and testing at the conference under the direction of ICCP Liasons, Pat Cupoli and Eva Smith.  Yours truly assisted with exam proctoring.  Attendance at the exam sessions was high and there was a majority interest in certifying for the CDMP by many attendees, at some point in their careers.  ICCP, the standard bearer for professionals in the computer industry for 35 years and DAMA have jointly constructed the Data Management Professional designation for the global data industry. 

The highlight of the conference was the release of the The DAMA Guide to the Data Management Body of Knowledge on April 5, 2009 which was available for sale for the duration of the conference.   Future certification for data management prospects is expected to map to the newly defined Guide.  The full weeks activity consisted also of the Southeast Enterprise Modeling Users Group (SEEMUG) anniversary celebrated at ChampionsGate, inside the Tampa Marriot Waterside. The week culminated with a live webcast with  Dr. Peter Aiken, DAMA's Vice President of Communications on April 10, 2009 speaking from the local SEEMUG Chapter office close by.  As the activities winded down attendees drifted off to enjoy the beach, museums, shopping, restaurants and sightseeing in downtown Tampa.