The 15% of BCS members who reside outside of the UK provide the
same amount of support for the society and its activities and match
the number of qualifications gained by the UK membership, writes
John Kavanagh.
There are more than 1,500 BCS members in Sri Lanka, 600 in North
America, 450 in Singapore, 370 in Australia and 350 in Mauritius,
with numbers ranging from a small handful to several hundred across
100 countries.
Some are UK people working abroad or permanently settled there.
However, most overseas members are nationals of the countries
concerned.
Fun-Ting Chan, chairman of the 1,000-strong BCS Hong Kong Section,
sums up why so many people have joined an organisation based on the
other side of the globe. "Hong Kong people join the BCS for its
professional reputation, for the respected status of membership,
for a window to a highly-regarded international source of
professional news and knowledge, and for networking with
professionals," he says.
Chan's views are backed-up by BCS research. Monitoring of
professional standards is seen as the most important reason for
being a member, among both those outside and inside the UK, with a
90% vote in both cases. Personal networking, best practice
information, and publications all get an 89% vote from members
outside the UK. Updating of skills is mentioned
by 87%.
BCS professional qualifications are highly prized in many
countries.
"The BCS is recognised as a professional institution worldwide, and
its professional qualifications are recognised by the industry in
Sri Lanka, where there are no equivalents," says Raja Senanayake,
BCS regional officer for Sri Lanka.
This recognition is reflected in the fact that last year's
graduation ceremony for successful BCS exam candidates in Sri Lanka
was attended by 500 people.
Members in Sri Lanka organise monthly meetings and public lectures,
which draw between 75 and 100 people. Monthly meetings are also
organised by the BCS Belgium Section, which is made up mainly of UK
people working in Belgium.
Most overseas members will never visit the BCS in the UK. Yet the
research shows that satisfaction levels among members outside the
UK are similar to those among UK members.
Overseas members show a high level of interest in the society: 58%
describe themselves as active or interested, and 89% indicate a
willingness to take part in BCS activities if they were available.
Work now well underway on BCS Web facilities and new forums will
bring extra benefits to all members. The forums will operate
partly, if not mainly, via the Web. Online discussion groups will
also become available. Both of these developments will enable
members across the world to "meet" and discuss IT issues.
The BCS is the third biggest IT professional body in the world
after the Association for Computing Machinery and the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Both US organisations have a
home population almost five times that of the UK, yet with only two
to three times more members than the BCS.