I'S'P' Value Proposition

1
I.S.P. Value Proposition

• Societal Transition Committee
• Saturday, October 19, 2002

2
Outline

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

3
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

4
Value Proposition

• Our value proposition isnt 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

5
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.

6
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)

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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

8
Professional Certification

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

14
Professional Self-Development

• Must have rolling three year average of at least
  300 points
• We dont keep records, we dont audit any member
  claims

15
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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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?

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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?

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Answers

• Telephone survey
• Practically limited to 15 20 minutes
• With the right questions, doesnt 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

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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 industrys response to our new
  professional products

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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?

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Thank you