Member Societies"The European Union needs to ensure that the knowledge, skills, competence and creativity of the European workforce - especially its ICT practitioners - meet the highest global professional standard and are constantly updated in a process of effective lifelong learning." Michel Catinat, Head of Unit, ICT for Competitiveness and Industrial Innovation, DG Enterprise and Industry, European Commission
CEPIS and its Professionalism Task Force have conducted research on a European Framework for ICT Professionalism, in partnership with IVI and on behalf of the European Commission, Directorate-General Enterprise and Industry. CEPIS' mission is to promote the development of the Information Society through thematic activities with IT professionalism at its core.
|
|
| Download the Executive Summary Brochure |
Europe's society and economy are both heavily and increasingly dependent on ICT services and products and the importance of ICT has far-reaching implications for European competitiveness. The pervasiveness of ICT combined with fragmented and low levels of ICT professionalism across Europe, poses a significant risk for Europe today. Yet the role, attributes and character of the ICT professional, as well as the person behind the successes and failures of ICT, remain worryingly unclear compared to older professions such as doctors, lawyers and engineers that by virtue of their titles are considered trustworthy. The proposals contained in the 'e-Skills and ICT Professionalism: Fostering the ICT Profession in Europe' Executive Summary brochure and the final report below present a vision for maturing the profession, and proposals for a European Framework for ICT Professionalism.
The Imperative for Change
Strong motives exist for maturing the ICT profession:
- Predicted ICT skills gaps of up to 13% may halt European competitiveness since ICT enables business value
- Poor public image of ICT means less and less numbers enter the profession
- Low levels of ICT knowledge/expertise means ICT practitioners miss out on the 'bigger picture'
- Recent reports of failed ICT projects where severe reputational damage was caused
Download the e-Skills and ICT Professionalism Final Report
The e-Skills and ICT Professionalism project was undertaken by IVI and CEPIS on behalf of the European Commission, Directorate-General Enterprise and Industry.
Professionalism Task Force
The CEPIS Professionalism Task Force was established to explore and develop a Professionalism in IT practice agenda for Europe that respects existing cultural and national diversity.
Professionalism Task Force Paper - Characteristics & Benefits of Professionalism in IT
The Task Force has also published a paper on the Characteristics & Benefits of Professionalism in IT, which has been broadly endorsed by the Task Force members in consultation with the members of CEPIS. The paper aims to outline the foundations for a coherent and strategic approach to the topic of Professionalism, through elaborating the benefits of professionalism, and presents a definition of professionalism. Download
Ethics Repository
The CEPIS Professionalism Task Force has long recognised the importance of professional Ethics in the establishment of an ICT Profession. CEPIS has created an Ethics Repository to allow Member Societies’ access to Codes of Ethics and Codes of Conduct as well as to engage in a long-term assessment of commonalities in the overarching aim of driving professionalism in ICT. Read More
Professionalism Workshop
The European Commission has previously organised a workshop on Professionalism attended by representatives of industry, academia, IT professional bodies and other stakeholders. Click here to view the workshop report
Below you can find the presentations from this meeting:
The Importance of Professionalism
Responsibility in ICT - the German case
Professionalism in IT - the UK case
e-Skills and Professionalism - the Spanish case
e-Skills UK - Maturity of the Profession
Innovation Value Institute - Managing IT for Business Value
Other relevant links related to this topic include:
