The heads of four major IT organisations have signed a
formal pact to co-ordinate a single programme to put IT on a more
professional footing.
The initiative – by the British Computer Society, the National
Computing Centre, IT suppliers' body Intellect, and
government-sponsored body E-Skills UK – has been three years in the
making.
Called the Professionalism in IT Alliance, the initiative
reaches out beyond technology.
“IT must be seen and see itself as an integral part of business,
which involves business and leadership competence too,” said
Charles Hughes, president of the BCS at the alliance’s inaugural
conference in London. He added that the new IT profession had to
measure itself in terms of “business contribution rather than
technical elegance”.
Key elements in the programme include skills competency, good
practice, relevant qualifications, continuing professional
development, ethical integrity, commitment to standards, regard for
the public good, and social responsibility. These qualities apply
to all IT professionals, whether users or suppliers.
New York-based Maggie Miller, CIO of Warner Music, and formerly
CIO of Sainsbury’s UK, said, “Developments such as Sarbanes-Oxley
legislation in the US have focused minds on the need for
professionalism and standards. If we can’t make it happen now, then
shame on us.”
Also at the inaugural conference group chief executive of the
NCC, Michael Gough said: “I can’t think of another topic that has
so galvanised the whole industry as this one.”
Professionalism in IT Alliance
All four alliance participants – the BCS, NCC, Intellect and
E-Skills UK – have agreed a common definition of a professional as
“a practitioner who has specific skills rooted in a broad base, has
appropriate qualifications from a recognised body, undergoes
continuous development and operates to a code of conduct”.
For each party, professionalism is an aspirational standard
rather than a set of minimum requirements. The essential elements
are competence, integrity and service.
Competence requires up-to-date skills and capabilities,
experience, knowledge and understanding of standards and good
practice, supported by relevant qualifications and continuing
professional development.
Integrity requires commitment to abide by a code of ethics and
responsibilities, which can transcend the contractual obligation to
an employer, and a commitment to follow relevant standards and
established principles of good practice.
Service is manifest through regard for the public good, social
responsibility, and commitment and contribution to the
profession.