IPMA Individual Competence Baseline (IPMA ICB)

In 1998, the concept of a universal international system of certification of project management professionals was approved at a congress of the Council of IPMA delegates. To solve the problems of professional certification, a standard was needed that establishes the norms and requirements for the competence of specialists necessary for them to successfully pass certification. Such requirements were determined by systematizing the experience gained in that area in project management and described in the ICB. The main purpose of the standard is to establish international generally accepted requirements for the knowledge, skills and qualities necessary for managers (managers) to manage modern projects, programs or portfolios of projects (or for teamwork). Today, the standard is a generally accepted basic document, the installations of which all national associations-members of the International Project Management Association IPMA are obliged to adhere to when conducting international certification of project management specialists .

The standard is based on the competence approach: the standard describes a set of key elements of competence, which generally constitute the competence of the project manager (manager). IPMA ICB identifies three groups of elements of competence in managing projects, programs and portfolios: technical, personal and social, and contextual. The group of technical elements of competence is intended to describe all the processes of project management, programs and portfolios in all functional areas. The group of personal and social elements of competence is intended to describe the elements characterizing personal qualities and managerial skills that are important for organizing management and interaction in project teams, programs and project portfolios. The group of contextual elements of competence is intended to describe elements related to the project environment.

IPMA ICB was created on the basis of national competency requirements ( eng. National Competence Baseline ) of the following national project management associations: ARM ( United Kingdom ), VZPM ( Switzerland ), GPM ( Germany ), AFITEP ( France ).

• The first version of the standard IPMA ICB, V. 1.0. was published in 1998 .
• Since 1999, the second version of the standard IPMA ICB, V. 2.0.
• In March 2006, IPMA ICB - 3.0 was edited.
• In the autumn of 2015, version 4.0 of the IPMA ICB standard was approved.

• The standard can be the basis for describing the competence of specialists in project, program and project portfolio management in general.
• The standard can serve as a “framework” for creating various competence models for project management specialists for various countries, subject areas and specific organizations, as well as a basis for developing various educational programs for training project management specialists, programs and project portfolios.

• Tovb A.S., Tsips G.L. Standards and norms in project management // Journal "Project and Program Management" 2010 - № 01 (21) - C.76-79 - URL: www.grebennikov.ru
• Tsips G.L., Tovb A.S., Voropaev V.I., Klimenko O.A. Competency standards - harmonization through structuring // Journal “Project and Program Management” 2013 - №1 (33) - P.52—60. - URL: www.grebennikov.ru
• Project management: Fundamentals of professional knowledge, National requirements for the competence of specialists, V. Voropayev , M .: CJSC "Project Practice", 2010 -256 p. ISBN 5-904574-03-1

• IPMA official website