4/5/2006 -- Yesterday the Linux Professional Institute (LPI) and Canonical Ltd. jointly announced a new Ubuntu certification for IT professionals.

To obtain Ubuntu Certified Professional title from Canical, candidates will be required to pass a single certification exam as well as hold LPI's Level 1 certification, which requires passing two vendor-neutral Linux administration exams.

According to the announcement, the Ubuntu exam is currently in development and will debut in May at LinuxWorld Johannesburg. By June, a computer-based version of the exam should be available at Prometric and Pearson Vue testing centers worldwide for $100.

“Ubuntu use in the enterprise is increasing, leading to an increasing demand from engineers and managers for a certification which proves an individual's Ubuntu skills," Jane Silber, spokesperson for Canonical, commented in a release statement. "LPI's entry-level LPIC-1 program is the right basis for our own professional certification, and their global delivery structure will ensure the availability of our program to candidates around the world.”

Jim Lacey, president and CEO of LPI, said in the same statement that the new title "demonstrates how Linux software developers can leverage our existing distribution-neutral program to create professional certification programs for their own software packages.”

To view the official announcement of this new certification, go here. -Becky Nagel