Summary
Professional development (PD) is essential to establishing and maintaining a standard of excellence within a professional discipline. Work of the PD Committee involves raising awareness, coordinating PD activities and providing a large breadth of learning opportunities to members within a specific discipline in an effort to guide and advance the profession itself. This can be accomplished by facilitating communication and information related to relevant academic degrees and other learning opportunities such as certifications, courses, conferences/symposiums, professional events and access to mentors. Further to the guidance around the provision of information related to learning opportunities, professional development mandates include extensive research, and compilation and dissemination of findings on information relating to career paths, job descriptions, titles and salary surveys.
PD programs and resources are provided by numerous professional organizations and it is critical that the same be done for data management professionals. Within any professional discipline, supporting a process of collaborative conversation and planning among partners is best done at the community level. Therefore, to assist in the delivery of PD opportunities and tools for data management professionals within the petroleum industry; the PPDM Association established the Professional Development Committee whose directive is to identify, assess and assist in the professional development of data management professionals.