The growing open source geospatial software market needs qualified professionals. In general IT qualification proof is often provided through a certification program, for example as offered by the Linux Professional Institute Certification (LPIC). The open source geospatial domain has no comparable programs. This lack has been discussed for years in and around OSGeo which would be on of the more obvious contenders to provide such an independent certification. But certification is a decidedly difficult topic to tackle with many slippery slopes. Creating and then executing a certification program needs continuous engagement by paid staff which requires a regular stream of income. As it turns out OSGeo has (for now) decided to not employ staff but instead continues to rely on volunteer work, foster communities and stay independent of investors. Some businesses offer training for Open Source geospatial software. This provides for a source of revenue and helps to professionalize the market. Some of the curricula are jointly developed and maintained by the software projects and the training providers. This is a good thing but as yet there is no independent third party committed to quality assurance. The same situation can be found in the standards domain: The Open Geospatial Consortium has celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. It has implemented test suites for automated certification for software but as yet there is no certification program for individuals. The metaspatial Institute was launched with the mission to close these gaps by offering a certification program. It is geared towards individuals who want to acquire an independently recognized confirmation of their skills and businesses who want to certify their staff for a growing number of software packages. The metaspatial certification program is developed and maintained in close cooperation with Open Source software projects, academia, businesses and user communities. This presentation will discuss how the body of knowledge of participating software projects is developing and gives an overview of the current state of affairs.