Professionalism in IT- the UK perspective

Susie KayBCS Director of Professionalism

ABOUT THE BCS

• Established in 1957

• World-wide membership now more than 68,000 in over 100 countries

• Incorporated by Royal Charter in 1984, BCS is the qualifying body for Chartered IT Professionals (CITP) – the mark of professional excellence

• Large ICT products and services portfolio

• BCS is also licensed by the Engineering Council to award CEng and IEng and by the Science Council to award CSci

WHICH CHARTER?

• CSci: for those who advance knowledge and understanding of computer science

• CEng/IEng: for those who apply engineering principles to the design and development of IT and IT solutions

• CITP: for those who exploit IT to deliver business advantage

PROFESSIONALISM INITIATIVE

• Conceived in 2003, the objectives are:

– To improve the ability of business and other organisations to exploit the potential of information technology effectively and consistently.

– To build an IT profession that is respected and valued by all of its stakeholders - government, business leaders, IT employers, IT users and customers - for the contribution that it makes to a more professional approach to the exploitation and application of IT

• The profession has to move from its traditional role of technical solution provider to become a full transformation partner with the business organisations it serves.

PROFESSIONALISM INITIATIVE

• Key deliverable of this initiative is to ensure that IT professionals are regarded at an equivalent level as the other professions

• Refreshing our Chartered grade, CITP, to enforce the statement about our ‘gold standard’, positioned at the top of a professional career structure

REQUIREMENTS

• Access routes to CITP will be in a range from academic achievement to fully experiential learning. Candidates will be expected to demonstrate both breadth of knowledge and depth of understanding, as well as providing evidence of experience and continuing professional development

• Additional key element of professional status is adherence to a code of professional conduct and an undertaking to behave in an ethical manner. Responsibilities to self, client or employer as well as society as a whole

WHO IS INVOLVED?

• We are therefore working closely with the academic, public and private sectors to ensure that we are developing our understanding together

• Government’s adoption of the SFIA competence framework will be of enormous benefit

• Our corporate clients are adopting SFIA to ensure consistency across their organisations. That consistency is also required across divisions of the many multinational and global organisations with whom we work

EDUCATION IS IMPORTANT

• We will work with the education sector at all levels to ensure that the profession continues to attract students

• Students will also be involved with the professional organisation earlier in their careers

• They will be aware of their future development requirements if they wish to achieve professional and Chartered status

WHY CHARTER?

• At heart it is about expectations• Expectations of a demonstrable level

of excellence• Expectations of adherence to an

appropriate code of conduct and ethical considerations in practice

• Alignment with a competence framework

• To be regarded as equivalent to other professions

PROFESSIONAL STATUS

• For any new discipline, the professional membership organisation in the UK will strive to become a Chartered Institute in order to express that same level of expectation

• Current example is project management

STATUS

• That status allows them to make a statement about its Chartered members

• Statement about quality and a guarantee of excellence to employers

• Employers can have confidence in the individual and in the contribution they will make to the business

COMPETENCE FRAMEWORK

• SFIA and SFIA v4 just published• Requirements for skill set which details not

only technical skills but also behavioural and contextual

• Individual will understand requirements of the business environment within which his technical expertise is required

• Obvious overlaps with competence frameworks from other disciplines, eg. business, projector financial management, with more required as individual achieves seniority in his organisation

Board Acknowledgement for IT profession

HR Marketing Finance

+IT

CREATING THE DEMAND

• Engagement is a key activity

• The BCS professionalism initiative is collaborative

but

• employers will only embrace the idea if there are clear business benefits

and

• IT practitioners will only engage with the idea if their employers demand the qualifications and standards

POTENTIAL

• We strive for excellence nationally

BUT

• Proliferation of standards means that accuracy of equivalence statements is truly important or we risk losing the guarantee of quality

• Globalisation brings its own expectations of consistency so national agendas may not benefit all

KEYS TO CHANGE

• Professionalism of IT practitioners and organisations is required

• The IT profession must be a full partner in IT enabled business change programmes and projects

• Industry-wide collaboration is required

• National boundaries will not apply for multinational companies

© 2008 The British Computer Society