A year of unprecedented membership growth and record
income is enabling the BCS to take the lead in establishing IT as a
recognised profession, according to senior officials in the
society's annual report for the year ending 30 April.
The first year of the new membership structure saw the number of
BCS members grow by 30% to 47,763, following many years of little
net growth. Since April the number has continued to rise to more
than 50,000.
The 14,164 increase was well above the target of 10,000. Almost
10,770 of the new members have joined in the professional grades.
Membership turnover was less than 2%, the lowest for several
years.
Revenue grew by 10% to £16.9m. The net surplus was up 48% at
£1.1m, and that was after £550,000 was spent on a new IT
system.
Demand for career development support rose sharply. The BCS
Information Systems Examinations Board, which offers qualifications
in areas ranging from IT service management to system testing,
reported 37% growth.
Demand increased by nearly 50% for career development as well as
staff planning products and services, such as Careerbuilder. Demand
also increased for individuals and for the Corporate Professional
Programme for employers. Both use the national Skills Framework for
the Information Age.
Meanwhile, more than 1.3 million people in the UK alone have
taken, or are studying for, the European computer driving licence
user skills qualification. In addition, more than 120,000 scouts
achieved the IT badge, which is sponsored by the BCS, in the first
18 months of the scheme.
BCS president David Morriss, writing in the annual report,
summed up the difference the new membership structure has made. IT
specialists can now get earlier and faster recognition of their
experience and qualifications with BCS member and fellow titles,
and go on to get chartered IT professional status.
"When the plan was set we had an environment in common with
other professional bodies, where membership was static," Morriss
wrote. "Members surveyed demanded greater value for their
membership, citing better career support, improved external
representation and enhanced opportunities for professional
development. Externally, the industry was being challenged,
especially by government, to improve the quality of its
performance.
"We set out to make the BCS relevant, visible and influential
and to establish effective engagement with our own, and wider,
professional communities. The success of our new membership
structure and the willingness of many industry organisations to
work with us on the professionalism in IT programme are just two
indicators of the progress that has been made."
BCS chief executive David Clarke said the Professionalism in IT
programme, launched in May, aimed to build professionalism to the
level at which it is seen to exist in other professional
fields.
"The increasing interest in professionalism provides the best
opportunity since computing began to establish a fully recognised
IT profession," he said.