Learn

The foundation’s learning track rejects the two modes that dominate the industry today: one-week vendor certifications that expire with the product line, and multi-year degree programmes that trail deployment reality by half a decade.

The RELISAV ConnectedEdge Academy sits in between. It is a practitioner programme built on open curricula, recognized credentials, and evidence of shipped work — designed to travel with you across roles and across employers.

The Academy

The Academy is the teaching and assessment arm of the foundation. Its curriculum is authored and maintained by members, peer-reviewed by the Technical Steering Committee, and versioned publicly — you can see exactly what changed between releases and why.

What you learn

• Wired media fundamentals. Ethernet, coax, phoneline, powerline, fiber, and the physics that makes them behave the way they do.
• Interoperability patterns. How mixed-media networks actually work when the plant is messy and the clock is ticking.
• CRA- and NIST-aligned security. Threat models, SBOMs, secure update flows, hardening baselines.
• AI-assisted operations. Closed-loop remediation, anomaly detection, and capacity forecasting at the wired edge.
• Reference architecture adaptation. Taking a canonical design and making it work for your plant, your regulator, and your budget.

How you learn it

• Self-paced modules. Reading, labs, knowledge checks — attempt on your own schedule.
• Cohort sprints. Four- to eight-week cohorts run several times a year, with live office hours and a final lab.
• Sponsor-hosted labs. Member companies host hands-on labs with real silicon and real plant. Travel scholarships available.
• Teach-back. Senior students author or improve modules as part of progression to higher tiers.

Certification paths

Four tiers. Each tier requires the one below it. Progression is evidence-based — portfolios and labs, not multiple choice. Vendor budget is not a substitute for shipped work.

Code	Tier	Duration	Audience	Covers
CERT-A	Associate ConnectedEdge Associate	20–30 hrs	Engineers entering the wired edge space	Wired media fundamentals (ethernet, coax, phoneline, powerline, fiber) Interoperability principles Basic security baseline
CERT-P	Practitioner ConnectedEdge Practitioner	60–90 hrs + lab	Implementing engineers and integrators	Cross-media deployment patterns Reference architecture adaptation CRA / NIST-aligned hardening
CERT-AR	Architect ConnectedEdge Architect	Portfolio review + oral defense	Senior architects with shipped deployments	Multi-site, multi-media design AI-assisted operations design Contribution to open foundation assets
CERT-I	Instructor ConnectedEdge Instructor	Peer-reviewed teaching portfolio	Educators and internal training leads	Curriculum authorship Hands-on lab design Assessment integrity

What makes these credentials different

• Skill-indexed, not product-indexed. They describe what you can do with wired infrastructure, not which product line you touched last.
• Public portfolios. Practitioner and above tiers publish a linkable portfolio of shipped work — your credential is a verifiable record.
• Renewable by contribution. Contribute to foundation assets (code, specs, reviews, teaching) and your credential stays current without re-testing.
• Portable across employers. Because the foundation is neutral, the credential travels with you.

Live and on-demand training

Academy content ships in two modes.

• Live training — instructor-led cohorts on a published calendar, with enrollment caps small enough for real feedback. Typically 4 to 8 weeks, with a final hands-on lab.
• On-demand training — self-paced modules with knowledge checks and optional lab vouchers. Free for individual members at the Associate tier.

Corporate training engagements (private cohorts for member companies) are available and run by the same instructors who built the public curriculum — not outsourced to a training subcontractor.

Credentials & badges

Every passed credential produces a verifiable digital badge. The badge metadata links to your public portfolio entry, so employers and collaborators see the underlying evidence — not just a logo.

Badge anatomy

• Signed metadata. Each badge is cryptographically signed by the foundation and independently verifiable.
• Portfolio link. One click takes a verifier to the shipped work, labs passed, and contributions that earned the tier.
• Expiry and renewal. Associate badges are lifetime. Practitioner and Architect tiers renew through contribution, not re-testing.
• Instructor track. Instructor badges require a peer-reviewed teaching portfolio and carry authoring privileges on the curriculum.

Share your credential

Every badge is built on an open, verifiable digital-credential format, so it travels wherever you do. Add it to your LinkedIn profile in one click, post it to your network, or drop the verification link into a CV or email signature — each share resolves back to your signed, portfolio-linked record.

Instructors and curriculum authors

Authoring the Academy curriculum is a recognized contribution path to the foundation. Instructors are credited on every module they author or substantively review, and Instructor-tier credentials carry voting rights on curriculum direction.

If you teach wired infrastructure today — at a university, inside a member company, or independently — we want to hear from you. Bring a sample lab or module outline to contact and we’ll route you to the curriculum council.

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Ready to start? Pick the tier that matches where you are, or drop into an introductory cohort to figure it out.