I.S.P. Value Proposition Societal Transition Committee Saturday, October 19, 2002

Outline Introduction Background Current I.S.P. Reformulated I.S.P. Possible I.S.P. Packaging Next Steps

Trend Lines Number of ICT professionals in Canada continues to increase 400,000+ ICT Canadian workers Number of CIPS members does not increase Number of I.S.P. professional members does not increase

Value Proposition Our value proposition isn’t strong enough to attract new members It may not be strong enough to retain current members We have only limited time to find an improved value proposition

Professional Society CIPS has committed to being a professional society Our main professional product is the I.S.P. We must find ways to improve the value proposition for the I.S.P.

Certification It works, … but not for CIPS Vendor certification Successful, mainly for those at the beginning of their career (technology focus) Vendor independent certification Successful, mainly for those at a career mid-point (process focus)

Licensing With I.S.P. licensing, our problem of attracting members would be solved No evidence that any Province is even thinking about broad ICT licensing We cannot look to licensing to get us out of our current predicament

Professional Certification Mastery of a Body of Knowledge Years of supervised professional work Code of Ethics, Standards of Practice Professional self-development

I.S.P. Certification Acceptable academic credential Two years of professional practice Code of Ethics, Standards of Practice Professional self-development On the surface, looks good

Body of Knowledge We have no way to know if applicants have mastered an appropriate Body of Knowledge We have not identified even one Body of Knowledge that we deem appropriate for professional ICT workers

Core Body of Knowledge – Australian Computer Society Computer organization & architecture Conceptual modeling Database management Data communications & networks Discrete mathematics Ethics/Social implications/Professional practice Interpersonal communications Program design & implementation Project management & quality assurance Security Software engineering & methodologies Systems analysis & design Systems software

ICT Body of Knowledge Core Body of Knowledge ~ first two years of university program Specialist Bodies of Knowledge ~ second two years of university program We are very far from requiring demonstrated mastery of a full Body of Knowledge

Code of Ethics, Standards of Practice We do have a Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice We have not been effective in showing the public how to lay a complaint We maintain no public record of the complaints that have been heard

Professional Self-Development Must have rolling three year average of at least 300 “points” We don’t keep records, we don’t audit any member claims

Current I.S.P. … Without a real Body of Knowledge, claim of professionalism is hollow Without an enforced Code of Ethics & Standards of Practice, claim of professionalism is hollow Without real self-development, claim of professionalism is hollow

Body of Knowledge We should accredit against a Core Body of Knowledge and Specialist Bodies of Knowledge (borrow from ACS & BCS) Require: Completion of accredited program, or Examination, or Self-development diary

Successful Professional Practice At an absolute minimum, we must verify that claimed experience actually happened Ideally, professional working experience will be under supervision of established ICT professional

Code of Ethics, Standards of Practice Make it very clear how the general public can lay a charge against a certified member Keep a public record of the hearings that have been held Consider an examination to test knowledge of Code of Ethics & Standards of Practice

Professional Self-Development Require documented PD accomplishments every 3 years If questionable, required PD plan and measure progress against plan Accept a wide variety of evidence of PD activity

Possible PD Activities Seminars attended Courses taken Books read Material studied Assignments undertaken Reports written Certifications attained Coaching performed Courses taught Articles written Events organized Etc.

Possible I.S.P. Packaging Candidate I.S.P.  Mastered Body of Knowledge, committed to Code of Ethics & Standards of Practice, waiting to complete supervised professional practice I.S.P.  Candidate I.S.P., plus two years of supervised professional practice, plus PD commitment Senior I.S.P.  Qualified for the I.S.P., plus ten years of professional experience and significant body of professional accomplishments

Open Questions Will the Candidate I.S.P. appeal to those without the “right” university degree? Will the public commitment to professionalism attract people to the I.S.P.? Will the Senior I.S.P. attract the most accomplished ICT professionals? What do employers think?

Practical Questions Will our current members see the new I.S.P. designations as attractive? Will the current I.S.P. holders accept the new I.S.P. requirements? Will our senior members be attracted to the Senior I.S.P. designation?

Answers Telephone survey  Practically limited to 15 – 20 minutes  With the right questions, doesn’t need to be a very large sample Web survey  Appropriate for current members and current I.S.P. holders  Must be no more than 15 – 20 minutes  Offer important prize for participating

Next Steps It depends on whether those working in the field will want our new professional products It depends on whether our current members, I.S.P.’s included, find the new professional products attractive It depends on industry’s response to our new professional products

Hard Questions Do we have a chance of being successful with these new products? How difficult a transition will we face in moving to these new products? Where do we find the resources to define, market, and supply our new products?

Thank you