BCS to partner with IET to drive IT professionalism

The BCS and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will see the two organisations work more closely together in the future.

One aims behind this signing is the joint development and promotion of a professional status across the IT profession. This means that, in future, the BCS and the IET will work together so that at some point the IET will be able to confer Chartered IT Professional status to eliglible members.

Commenting on the agreement, David Clarke, BCS chief executive, said, "This is a major step for both organisations and demonstrates our commitment to professionalism for the IT industry. The MoU will allow us to work more closely together for the benefit of our members and the profession as a whole.

"Our decision to make CITP much more widely available is a major step for the BCS. In fact, an unprecedented step for a chartered body. However, our trustees have taken this decision in the interests of the profession and see it as an important step towards achieving the aims of the BCS professionalism in IT initiative. IET is the ideal partner to help us to reach this goal."

As well as cross-promotion work, the MoU also supports opportunities for the BCS and the IET to work collaboratively when generating and disseminating knowledge across the engineering, technology and IT professional communities conducting research into the concerns of those communities issuing joint policy statements and working together on public engagement issues.