Concentric Sky

Concentric Sky is a software development company located in Eugene, Oregon. The company was founded in 2005 by Wayne Skipper,[1] and has since grown to nearly 90 employees.[2] In 2015, Cale Bruckner was promoted to President of the company. Skipper continues to serve as CEO.[3]

Concentric Sky
Privately held company
Founded2005 (2005)
FounderWayne Skipper
Headquarters
Eugene, Oregon
ServicesSoftware Design & Development
Websiteconcentricsky.com

History

Concentric Sky has grown steadily since it was founded in 2005.[4][5] In 2008, the company announced a partnership with GoldMoney to create an iPhone app to allow the transfer of digital units of gold.[6]

In 2009, the company formed a partnership with Encyclopædia Britannica to launch a series of iOS apps for the K-12 education market.[7][8][9] That same year, the company released the official iOS app for NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day[10][11][12][13][14] and also developed the website for film maker Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story.[15]

In 2010, Concentric Sky Founder Wayne Skipper was asked to submit expert testimony to the Federal Trade Commission regarding Google's acquisition of Admob.[16][17] That same year, the company partnered with the World Bank[18] to develop a series of data visualization apps and partnered with National Geographic to design and build a series of official study apps for the National Geographic Bee.[4] In 2010, the Internet Engineering Task Force voted to make the company a development partner.[19]

In 2011, the company partnered with the United Nations to develop a data visualization app to support the UN's annual reports.[20] That same year, the company was named "the only App Developer officially endorsed by Mashable."[21]

In 2012, the company designed and built an iPad version of the Encyclopædia Britannica.[22] The app received widespread recognition,[23][24][25][26][27] including an Appy Award.[28]

In 2013, products featuring Concentric Sky's work for partner Cengage Learning won 2 Codie awards.[29] That same year, the company's work resulted in a US patent for usability improvements to electronic medical records.[30]

In 2014, the company joined the Open Badges movement and launched the Oregon Badge Alliance with partners including Oregon State University.[31] Later that year, the company released an open source Android viewer app for Khan Academy content.[32]

In 2015, the company led the development of Open Badges 2.0 in partnership with MacArthur Foundation spin off, Collective Shift.[33][34] That same year, the company launched the open source project Badgr with partner edX.[35] The use of Badgr grew rapidly,[36] and by early 2018 the product had grown to serve nearly 10,000 organizations around the world.[2]

In 2016, the company announced a broad partnership with Collective Shift focused on advancements in education technology and workforce readiness. Under this partnership, the company developed LRNG and took over development of GlassLab Games, which included the educational variants of several popular video games including Civilization and SimCity.[37] GlassLab Games was shutdown at the end of 2018, and Concentric Sky worked to release many of the games open source.[38]

In 2017, the company became a founding member of the IEEE Industry Consortium for Learning Engineering,[39] and announced partnerships with the California Community Colleges System,[40] Georgia Department of Education,[41] and SURFnet.[42][43] The success of the company's Badgr product led to Founder Wayne Skipper being interviewed broadly in the education community,[44][45][46][47][48] as well as Badgr's inclusion in the European Commission Joint Research Centre's 2017 "Blockchain in Education" report.[49] That same year, the company offered digital badges to commemorate The Great American Eclipse,[50] and another product featuring the company's work for partner Cengage Learning won a Codie award.[51]

In 2018, the company expanded the digital badges ecosystem by releasing an open technology standard called Open Pathways,[52][53][54][55] which became a primary component of the Comprehensive Learner Record.[56] That same year, Mozilla announced the retirement of the Mozilla Backpack and the migration of its users to Badgr,[34][57] the company announced a new suite of open source tools for edX,[58] Badgr was selected as the native badging solution for the Canvas Learning Management System,[59] the company announced a 4 year partnership with the community college system of Washington state,[60] and products featuring the company's work for partner Cengage Learning won another 2 Codie awards.[61] Later that year, the company’s EdRec initiative was named a winner of the US Dept of Education Reimagining Higher Education Ecosystem Challenge for its blockchain-based approach to digital transcripts,[56][62] and the company’s work was featured in the book "The Interconnected Individual.”[63][64]

In 2019, SURFnet announced a plan for The Netherlands to adopt a national digital credential strategy based on the company’s Badgr platform,[65] the company launched a series of tools in partnership with the California Community Colleges System designed to help prospective community college students and their families identify regional educational programs and employment opportunities,[66][67][68] and company founder Wayne Skipper was invited to speak at SXSW EDU on the topic of “Open Standards & the Quantification of Learning."[69] During 2019, the company’s work was featured by Digital Promise,[70] EdSurge,[71] Educause,[72] IBM,[73] The Inter-American Development Bank,[74] and the Technology Association of Oregon.[75]

Culture

Concentric Sky is known for its creative company culture.[5][76][77] In 2012, the company dubbed its local metro region the Silicon Shire,[78] and hosts Shire-themed events to promote the region[79][80][81][82][83] including the annual Shire for the River fundraiser in partnership with the McKenzie River Trust.[84]

References
  1. "Wayne Skipper: Executive Profile & Biography". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 10 January 2018.
  2. "Badges of honors: Eugene company gives personal achievements digital life". The Register-Guard. 7 January 2018.
  3. "Business People". The Register-Guard. 5 October 2015.
  4. "Tech company aiming high". The Register-Guard. 15 June 2010.
  5. "Creativity, beauty mingle at Concentric Sky". The Register-Guard. 7 October 2013.
  6. GoldMoney (9 March 2009). "Launch of GoldMoney iPhone Exchange Application".
  7. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. (14 September 2010). "New Britannica Kids Apps Make Learning Fun".
  8. Britannica Apps. 24 February 2014 – via YouTube.
  9. "Britannica Kids apps now on iPad". Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2 December 2010.
  10. "About APOD". NASA.gov.
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  12. "Worth a thousand words: 6 beautifully designed tablet apps". VentureBeat. 25 April 2012.
  13. "Astronomy Picture of the Day (for iPad)". PC Magazine. 21 March 2013.
  14. Gill, R. M. & Burin, M. J. "Enhancing the Educational Astronomical Experience of Non-Science Majors with the use of an iPad and Telescope". The Society for Astronomical Sciences.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. "Web firm lands big contract". The Register-Guard. 10 October 2009.
  16. "Merger Review in Technologically Dynamic Industries: An Analysis of Google-AdMob" (PDF). Cornerstone Research.
  17. "Mobile app developers talk Google-AdMob". Google Public Policy Blog. 10 May 2010.
  18. "INCHING UPWARD". The Register-Guard. 20 February 2011.
  19. "Minutes of the IETF Administrative Oversight Committee". IETF.org. 11 February 2010.
  20. "Concentric Sky and U.N. Release UN CountryStats for iPhone and iPad". PRWeb. 27 March 2012.
  21. "Thanks to Mashable's Socially Savvy Supporters". Mashable. 4 November 2011 – via Yahoo.
  22. Encyclopædia Britannica for iPad. 24 February 2014 – via YouTube.
  23. "Encyclopædia Britannica Now Fits Into an App". AllThingsD. 28 September 2011.
  24. "Encyclopædia Britannica new iPad app". The Chicago Tribune. 24 November 2011.
  25. "App Of The Day: Encyclopædia Britannica For iPad". The Huffington Post UK. 18 April 2012.
  26. "Encyclopædia Britannica reinvents itself for iPhone and iPad". The Telegraph. 18 April 2012.
  27. "Britannica App Can't Get No Love". Upstart Business Journal. 26 March 2012.
  28. "Encyclopædia Britannica App Wins Appy Award". Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 26 March 2012.
  29. "Cengage Learning wins two SIIA CODiE Awards". Publishing Professionals Network. 9 May 2013. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  30. "US Patent 8775213". Google Patents.
  31. "OSU joining "badges" movement, new concept in education credentials". Oregon State University. 7 August 2014.
  32. Concentric Sky. "android-viewer-for-khan-academy/README.md". GitHub.
  33. "MacArthur Spins Off Digital Media & Learning Work with $25 Million Seed Investment". MacArthur Foundation. 6 October 2015.
  34. Surman, Mark (15 August 2018). "An Update on Badges and Backpack". Medium.
  35. Mukta G (15 June 2015). "Digital Badges On the Open edX Platform". edX Blog.
  36. "Instructure Partners with Concentric Sky's Badgr to Offer Digital Badge Compatibility within Canvas". Instructure. 6 October 2015.
  37. "Eugene tech firm plans for growth from partnership with national nonprofit education group". The Register-Guard. 18 December 2016.
  38. Yowell, Connie (18 December 2018). "GlassLab Transitions to LRNG". Medium.
  39. "IEEE Consortium for Learning Engineering is Attracting Leading Charter Members". edCircuit. 30 December 2017.
  40. "21st Century Skills Badging: A Bridge from Education to the Workforce". via Medium. 20 October 2017.
  41. "Total Learning Architecture Project". via Youtube. 30 October 2017.
  42. "Concentric Sky and SURFnet announce collaboration to explore the digital learning environments of the future". PRWeb. 26 November 2017.
  43. "Badgr selected as platform for proof-of-concept with open badges". SURFnet. 1 September 2017.
  44. "Badge Issuing and Recruiting Platforms: Using Open Standards to Connect Educators, Learners and Employers". EDUCAUSE. 12 July 2017.
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  50. "We badged the eclipse!". Badgetheeclipse.com. 21 August 2017.
  51. "Cengage Wins Two CODiE Awards for Innovative EdTech Solutions". Cengage Learning. 27 July 2017.
  52. Skipper, Wayne (27 March 2018). "Creating an Open Pathway for the Next Generation of Learners". Educause Review.
  53. Introducing the Future of Stackable Credentials: Open Pathways. 15 September 2017 – via YouTube.
  54. Geisel, Noah (23 April 2018). "Digital Badge Credentials + the Future of Pathways". Medium.
  55. Day, Erik (15 August 2018). "A Simple, Free, Powerful Badging System". Getting Smart.
  56. Skipper, Wayne (27 March 2018). "Can Education Keep Up with Technology?". Educause Review.
  57. Mozilla (15 August 2019). "The Mozilla Backpack is Transitioning to Badgr".
  58. Proversity (22 June 2018). "Proversity and Concentric Sky enable Open Badges for Open edX".
  59. "Canvas Announces Badges Powered By Badgr For All Canvas Users". PR Newswire. 25 July 2018.
  60. Kelly, Rhea (11 July 2018). "Digital Badges Initiative to Support Professional Development in Washington State". Campus Technology.
  61. "Cengage Wins Two SIIA CODiE Awards". Cengage Learning. 19 June 2017.
  62. "Announcing the Winners of the Reimagining Higher Education Ecosystem Challenge". Medium. 11 October 2018.
  63. Hastings, Hunter & Saperstein, Jeff. "The Interconnected Individual".CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  64. "Wayne Skipper on Open Standards, Badges, and Certification for Skills Development". interconnectedindividuals.com. 11 December 2018.
  65. "Edubadges: national approach to badges in education". SURFnet. 24 July 2019.
  66. "New 'Pathways Mapper' Lets Students Visualize, Streamline Their Degree Progress". California Community Colleges News Center. 27 February 2019.
  67. Quick Tips: Program Mapper. Cypress College. 1 November 2019 – via YouTube.
  68. "Orange County Leads State with Innovative Career Education Tool". California Community Colleges Career Education Center. 31 October 2019.
  69. Open Standards & the Quantification of Learning. 7 March 2019 – via SXSWedu.com.
  70. Bajor, Rob (21 May 2019). "What You Need to Know About Micro-credentials Open Badges". Digital Promise.
  71. deLaski, Kathleen (31 October 2019). "As the Microcredential Market Booms, Don't Forget the Learner". EdSurge.
  72. Skipper, Wayne (29 January 2019). "Is Blockchain Ready for Prime Time in Education?". Educause.
  73. Leaser, David (16 September 2019). "Badges Need Rigor! (Or do they really?)". IBM.
  74. Porto, Stella (5 June 2019). "Building learning pathways with digital badges". Inter-American Development Bank.
  75. "Techlandia: Navigating the Cloud". Technology Association of Oregon. 16 September 2019.
  76. "Eugene based Concentric Sky's creation gains notoriety through the International Year of Light". Silicon Florist. 17 March 2015.
  77. "Oregon workers help trim costs by working from home". Oregon Live. 11 May 2009.
  78. KMTR Silicon Shire. 24 January 2014 – via YouTube.
  79. "Silicon Shire connects faculty and students with local tech industry". University of Oregon. 28 February 2013.
  80. "Eugene Startup Community Draws Widespread Praise". 10 September 2015.
  81. "Local Tech Industry Hosts Free Talks at UO". KEZI.com. 25 August 2015. Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  82. "Tech Community Develops App To Help Homeless Youth". Eugene Weekly. 2 June 2017.
  83. "City Club of Eugene: What You Need To Know About The Tech Industry In Eugene". KLCC. 4 December 2017.
  84. McKenzie River Trust (11 October 2019). "2019 Shire for the River Campaign: Let it Grow!".

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