Voices Supporting IT Professionalism

"....I fully support anything that we as an industry do to mature and bring consistency and reliability to what we offer...."

Adam Cole, Vice President of Information Technology at Canadian Clinical Trial Network

“The UN-Founded International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), International Professional Practice Partnership (IP3), is a necessary and positive global inflection point for business, and information technology worldwide. Critical infrastructure quality on-demand needs, and organizational agility mandates having technology workers committed to global standards, demonstrated and recognized professional certification, proven continuing professional development and commitment to a lifelong code of ethics. These essential elements and more are found in the first global certification and professionalism program, called IP3. At the center IP3 is the IT worker receiving full recognition for value delivery and a status found in other professions such as medicine, accounting, and engineering. However, for the first time, there is worldwide mobility through the new International IT Professional certification, being launched in 2009 with pre-launches occurring in the founding nations in 2008. The time has come to ensure the future success of organizations founded on the professionalism of IT practitioners. This time is now with the IFIP IP3 historical initiative..”
Alex Lin Yong Qing, Chairman ChinaValue

"....It's an excellent forum to align our individual career interests with the public good. I think society benefits when IT professionals innovate via collaboration by promoting certification and standardization and adhering to a code of ethics. In that scenario it's a win-win. It makes a lot of sense for every IT practitioner to be involved with CIPS and become a member and be an active member...."

Why should IT executives attend the IFIP World CIO Forum or WCF? [Editor’s note: For more information go to: www.worldcioforum.com; Call for papers; WCF news in the IFIP Newsletter].
"....To listen and to learn....To share and to form new connections on a global scale....I do think in spite of our many differences, for the most part, we are really trying to solve the same problems...."

 "....We all seem to agree that doctors should be licensed. Then you look at the impact of diagnostic imaging technology and bioinformatics say on healthcare in the last few decades and these advances as you know are largely tech-driven. The question I would pose is "Shouldn't the IT professionals behind these advances be recognized in the same way as well"...."

Atul Varde: Senior VP and CIO Affinity Credit Union, Speaker World CIO Forum (WCF)

"....I think what this particular program does from a global perspective is to really take it to another level which says that the people certified under this program have a level of proficiency around the technologies from a broad basis. But it goes further, it talks about things like the code of ethics and I think that becomes really key, especially when you look to businesses that are doing more online, that are using technology...."

Barnaby Jeans, International Technology Authority and Leader; Developer Audience Marketing Manager

"....I think the IP3 certification is the perfect way to go and gives the world something to point at and say these people know what they are doing...."

Barry Sellers: Executive Board Director and Vice-Chairman NPA

"....Technology investments are going up in that space....Executives are saying that cloud computing is top of mind in terms of priority....Cloud computing is maturing in the enterprise....We need to be aware of the proliferation of cloud services (cloud crawl)....Avanade believes that companies need to take more decisive action to capitalize on the cloud advantage...."

". ...The hope for the future is all about accelerated innovation. With new business models, leveraging cloud-based solutions with elevated expectations around user experience....The increase in demand for mobile solutions on different devices....The virtual concepts will become ubiquitous

Why should IT executives attend the IFIP World CIO Forum or WCF? [Editor's note: For more information go to: www.worldcioforum.com; Call for papers; WCF news in the  IFIP Newsletter].
"....From my perspective, forums like this are awesome and excellent ways for networking with peers in the industry...."

 Benoit Bertrand: Vice-President, Chief Technology Officer, Avanade

"I think this global initiative fits quite naturally and quite well with the whole skills issue that we discussed earlier. That is, we need the mobility of professionals and we need professionals with recognized advanced degrees of skills so this initiative fits on both fronts. It's also a natural for Canada as an open society and an advanced technological nation. We very often have a role on the international scene of facilitating things like this because we are able to bring people together and help understanding across different mindsets.....I'm very happy to see that and that CIPS is involved in it...."
Bernard Courtois, CEO Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC)

"Computers and IT in general are going to be a growing industry for many years to come. There are great opportunities, but similarly great competition. The only way to succeed is to keep developing one's own skills – traditional courses and exams, professional conferences, technical workshops – any and all must be used and the success and satisfaction will follow."

Bojan Nenadic, Microsoft Career Factor Idol Winner – The Aspiring Microsoft Certified Master

I would encourage IT professionals to think beyond technology and understand complex organizations and the strategic impact that enterprise information technologies can make in these organizations. Become acquainted with fields like enterprise architecture – these positions are more strategic in nature and will allow you to advance further in the organization. Technical IT roles increasingly can be done anywhere in the world and you tend to hit the ceiling faster as a result.

 In my field, I see enterprise architecture becoming an area of increasing importance in organizations of all types over the next five years. In these economic times with fierce global competition, those organizations that use EA to become more efficient, effective, and agile will develop a major competitive advantage.

The IP3 is leading the development of the global IT profession by providing a platform that will help shape and implement relevant policies to foster professionalism in IT worldwide.

Our mission is to establish a global partnership that will strengthen the IT profession and contribute to the development of strong international economies by:
defining international standards of professionalism in IT;
creating an infrastructure that will encourage and support the development of both IT practitioners and employer organizations, and give recognition to those who meet and maintain the required standards for knowledge, experience, competence and integrity.
We will actively work with IP3 to help increase the stature and professionalism of enterprise architecture

Brian Cameron, Awards for Professionalism: Career Achievement Award Recipient, Professor and Executive Director, Center for Enterprise Architecture, Founder FEOPO

How will your EA initiative tie into IP3? [see www.ipthree.org for more details]
"....IP3 has done a great job helping to define international standards, professionalism in IT and their goals are very much aligned with the goals of our Center for Enterprise Architecture and we will work very actively with IP3 to help increase the stature and professionalism of enterprise architecture and the stature and professionalism of the IT community as a whole...."

Brian Cameron: Professor and Executive Director, Center for Enterprise Architecture, Penn State, Founder FEAPO

"....One of the biggest things that this type of approach really helps us with is being able to understand on a global stage exactly what the qualifications and the expertise and experience actually means. The other part? It really helps Canada to be able to look at the international stage as an opportunity for things like revenue and employment. One of the things that Canada has to offer is to get out there as a trusted partner on the international stage and to really speak the same language when it comes to technology. From my perspective that is exactly what the program is trying to achieve...."

Bruce Cowper, Top International Security Authority, Chief Security Advisor Microsoft Part 3

"The only tip I can think of is that if you are going into a career of business that is supported by technology and communication is to know your product! If you are going into a position that will rely directly on MS Office, know the software inside and out!"

"Computers will only advance to become more powerful, enabling people to do more with technology."

Caroline Weilinger, Microsoft Career Factor Idol Winner – The Office Competition Contender

"....It has to do with the original design of systems and their implementation....We need to be able to implement, explain and understand more about what it is that we can achieve and cannot achieve, especially with developments in cloud computing, social networking, etc. The rate of change has been phenomenal just to see Facebook with 500 million members - a huge influence on what the world is doing...."

Charles Hughes: Master UK Information Technologists' Company, Founder eManagement Ltd.

“The ICT industry is maturing globally, and as it does it has become abundantly clear that the individuals who work in the industry will need to mature their capabilities as well. A global program such as IP3 allows us to demonstrate to our colleagues in other parts of our organizations that we have systematically described what it takes to be successful as a practitioner of the IT discipline. Not only will the program help demonstrate consistency and comprehensiveness in the skills and attributes of individuals, but will help individuals understand the requirements and process of achieving professional standing and the tools at their disposal to get there."The global nature of this program also excites me: with the skills shortage we have and will continue to experience in North America access to certified professionals from around the world will give our organizations badly needed flexibility in hiring as well as partnering with others. This is absolutely vital in order to be successful in our projects and our strategically aligning with our organizations’ goals.”
Dave Remmer, Architect Advisor for Microsoft and host/organizer for the 2008 Strategic Architecture Conference

What are the best resources to keep computing professionals upgraded? Where do you look for computing resources?
"....I'm actually old school. I read books, I talk to people, I try things out...."

 
If you could sum up your life experiences with career tips for the ICT professional, what would be your tips and the reasons behind them?
"....The thing I come back to is agility....You should be adaptable and make a virtue of necessity....Another thing that people face a lot of the time (and I have faced in my career path) is deciding what to do next....The advice that I give myself is given a choice between A and B, if you already have job A and somebody asks if you want job B and you're not sure....ask yourself 'If I already had job B, would I accept job A?'...."

 
Can you profile what is needed for IT professionals to be successful in today's agile driven technology climate?
"....Being attuned to the relationship between process and result...."

David A. Black is an internationally recognized Ruby programmer, author, trainer, speaker and event organizer.

"....It's not sufficient to simply know the technology. You have to understand that technology provides a solution and the solution has to match the business requirements...."

David Gibson, Group Product Manager for Employability Certification and Career Excellence at Microsoft

"....Historically it hasn't been that great....Look at IT companies....Hardly any IT companies or telecom companies have a CEO whose principle credentials are IT credentials....We've got to fix that if we are going to make this an attractive field...."

David Ticoll--Chair, Expert Panel, Information & Communications Technology Council and Senior Advisor, Canadian Coalition for Tomorrow's ICT Skills

"....As computing evolves it’s not going to just be about technology. It’s a whole process; it’s interacting with the business, people, and understanding how a company will benefit from computing, access to data, etc. It’s really going to take professionals in that organization...."
Dean Olmstead, Senior Vice President, Canada Operating Unit, Avanade

"....Too many projects today define their objectives in terms of the technology, instead of in terms of business goals. So start with the benefits and explain how your end users will improve their lives by using your solution. The technology will then come secondary and your user community now has a vested interest in the project’s success...."

"....Computing and IT is too broad a category to require everyone to have a professional designation like lawyers. But I definitely agree that there are areas of IT that would benefit from having a professional designation...."

 Dirk Schrader: Chief Technology Officer, Technology and CRM Authority

Don shares his views on the IFIP IP3 program on professionalizing the profession and how it could improve the IT industry. [http://www.IPThree.org].

Don Berk - Top International Communications Consultant

"....I applaud that in general but it is very tough in some of these newer fields, because it is very hard to reach community consensus about what it is that people should know. It's one of those things that is imperfect but over time it gets more and more perfect...."

Dr. Art Pyster Distinguished Research Professor Stevens Institute

What are your thoughts on computing as a recognized profession like medicine and law, with demonstrated professional development, adherence to a code of ethics, and recognized credentials? [See www.ipthree.org and the Global Industry Council, http://www.ipthree.org/about-ip3/global-advisory-council]
"....A lot of our daily lives are going to be dependent on IT systems....Ethics is becoming not just an issue of a subsidiary concern but is becoming a fundamental concern in today’s world, and IT professionals more than anyone else need to be certified ethically in the way doctors are certified....In my view the technical competence combined with ethics is what is going to make this world a great place to live, and what IFIP is doing with the GAC is going to make a significant difference...."

Dr. Balaji Venkataraman: Top Global Educational and ICT Authority and Visionary, Director Technology & Knowledge Management Commonwealth of Learning

"....As with any profession you need to be recognized and held to standards of professionals. Computing is ubiquitous across society and the standards to which computer scientists and IT professionals should be held are really high....The more important technology becomes to us, the more we are going to need to make sure that the technology is built and delivered to the highest standards. I think the idea of having professional standards for IT people is terrific and necessary...."

Dr. Jan Cuny: National Science Foundation (NSF) Program Officer

"....IFIP is the International Federation for Information Processing. The members of IFIP are computing societies.... It is a confederation of computing organizations that are trying to provide a forum and a way for cross country co-operation and efforts relative to information technology and information communications technology....."

Dr. Joseph Turner, Fellow ACM/ABET/CSAB, Chair of the Seoul Accord

"....Computing professionals are no longer just operating calculators that churn out some numbers....Something that is seriously missing from the whole field is education on occupational safety because writing code is no longer just about writing correct code. It is about understanding about various aspects of safety....Code now manages our finances, our identity, etc., therefore a certain level of ethics is crucial....I think IP3 is an interesting first step, but I think we need to go a lot farther...."
Dr. Kishore Swaminatha, Chief Scientist Accenture

"....Computing professionals are no longer just operating calculators that churn out some numbers....Something that is seriously missing from the whole field is education on occupational safety because writing code is no longer just about writing correct code. It is about understanding about various aspects of safety....Code now manages our finances, our identity, etc., therefore a certain level of ethics is crucial....I think IP3 is an interesting first step, but I think we need to go a lot farther...."

Dr. Kishore Swaminathan, Chief Scientist Accenture

"....Computing education requires a partnership with industry. For example, software engineering students need to work on industrial-strength software systems, just as first-year medical students need to work on cadavers. Such systems are not generally available for academic use...."

Dr. Stephen Seidman, Dean Texas State University, CSAB President

"....I think that this IFIP initiative is going to be very beneficial from three different standpoints for the IT industry at large....One of the biggest benefits of the IFIP initiative is that for the first time we are going to have something defined that's going to be as well recognized in Europe as it is in North America as it is in Asia and it will create more of a level playing field for IT professionals to be able to move around the world. The second thing particularly where a Code of Ethics is concerned, is creating something that is single and monolithic and standard and widely distributed. It is of great benefit because you don't have to worry about changing approaches and changing governing principles as you move from one community to the next. The third thing...particularly for people either getting started in IT at the university level or even at the high school programs like the Cisco Academy, also for those pursuing advanced Masters or some PhD degrees, they are going to be able to have this information integrated as part of their IT training...."

Ed Tittel, Best-Selling Author, World Authority in Technology and Certification

"....For the IT profession, this is such a critical path. I think there is a need for an internationally recognized standards body that recognizes the IT profession...."

Eileen Brown: Leading International Technology Authority and Executive

"....I commend the efforts of the IP3 program to standardize the term IT from a global perspective. Depending upon where you are in the world and who you are talking with, the term IT takes on different meanings....The IP3 Core Body of Knowledge and the Skills Framework for the Information Age provide a platform for thoughtful discussions and much needed guidance for our interdependent, global society that grows more dependent on information technology each day. I plan to use this model as a resource when the TYCEC updates its IT curricular guidelines...."

Elizabeth Hawthorne: Senior Professor of Computer Science at Union County College in Cranford, NJ

"
....I'm okay in moving forward on the ethic side but on the best practices and development side I would rather see us run unconstrained for another decade and just produce as many good software people as we can....A lot of traditional software development came from the same reasoning behind the building of physical things, more traditional engineering, which is that you have to build it right the first time because you won't have a chance to fix it. True enough for traditional software that's going out on a CD - it's actually quite expensive to fix that after it's been sent out so you really do want to get it right the first time - and certainly if you are writing software that is going to control an airplane you want to get it right the first time. But there is wide range of software which is a service running in the cloud and if you make a mistake you can update it a half hour later and everybody experiences the benefit of that repair immediately....It focuses much more on how do you react, how do you innovate quickly, how do you deploy or roll back things quickly if you deploy a mistake...."
Eric Brewer, ACM - Infosys Foundation Award Recipient

"....The ACM is the sponsor of many of the major conferences in computer science....It's very important that there are a healthy set of conferences for being able to move the computer science field forward. As a participant in those conferences, supporting the ACM is an important thing to do...."

Frans Kaashoek: ACM-Infosys Foundation Award $150K Recipient, Internationally Renowned MIT Professor and Researcher, Innovating Entrepreneur Company Founder and Executive

“The Global IT Community Association (GITCA) is the world's largest international not-for-profit organization devoted to the development and growth of the IT community by freely providing services to support and connect professional user groups and associations, and student IT organizations. GITCA  stands committed to the exchange of resources, ultimately elevating the status of the IT practitioner both in their industry and in the community. The IFIP IP3 program is the next step in the natural evolution of the industry and profession. IP3 stands as a foundation for IT workers, very much aligned with GITCA principles, ensuring career growth plus global recognition of IT professional value. Global mobility and international standards within a framework of ethical conduct, demonstrated professional development and recognized professional certification are the hall marks for an enabled IT professional and profession. This is the IFIP IP3 initiative.”
Graham Jones - Chair, Global Board

"Microsoft has a strong and positive relationship with IFIP IP3 and with this key engagement program continuing for the foreseeable future. The IFIP IP3 community is important to us and for the longer term! To that end, we see the IFIP Professionalism Practice Programme as the following kind of opportunity for the advancement of the IT Profession: an intention to develop an open, impartial and international effort to provide basic and common standards of practice, learning and focus for the IT community. Therefore, Microsoft would like to support IP3 and will seek to discover through dialogue with IP3 leadership and in accordance with our developing ongoing support strategies in what practical ways Microsoft can help this effort take shape and succeed."
Graham Watson, Senior Community Relationship Manager, Content, Community and Evangelism Programs

"....My hope for IT is that we will soon come to a day the public, individuals within the industry, employers, government and academia all know that an IP3 means somebody who has achieved a level of knowledge through academics and training, they are committed to a course of continued education and study, they act and behave and are seen to be ethical, they adhere to a standard of practice and they are competent - not just in technology but in business as well...."

Greg Lane, Chairman IP3

"....The other are truly interested in industrializing software and information technology processes in such a way that we are really adding a sense of professionalism to what it is we do in a measurable and a consistent manner. That is a big part of what the International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP) is attempting to accomplish. They are attempting to bring a broad professionalism and global consistency to what it is we do...."

Jeff Kempiners, Top-ranking IT and Business Strategist and Leading Executive, Chief Technology Officer, Avanade

"....I have a passion around the professionalization of our industry....It's really around putting in place the framework so that we can present our (relatively new) industry with confidence so that customers, partners, and other industries can look at us and see a level of professionalism there....I was working with the government in this particular country in SE Asia who expressed the desire to grow the overall professionalism and skills in IT….I was lucky to be able to introduce to this country the concept of this worldwide body with a body of knowledge and experience in helping to build an ICT body of knowledge proficiency within particular countries. That has been quite a revelation to me to see how generous IP3 has been with their time and also the amount of impact they have had in a short amount of time....Most of the countries that I work with in Southeast Asia are only 20 to 30 years into democracy or to the commercial ways of working....It's interesting to see how quickly some of them have latched on to IT skills as a way to grow their economies and how their skills development is a key part of it...."
Jeff Kempiners, , Vice-President, Avanade US

"....Having a global standard for the IT practitioner will address the skills shortage, provide IT worker mobility, ensure high quality and consistency of IT, bring in the business aspect such as ROI to technology adoption, continuous professional development - all positive outcomes of IFIP IP3 mission...."

Joanne Wong: CISCO Networking Academy Manager Canada

"IP3 is a great initiative and I think it should be embraced wholeheartedly in making it happen across the globe - especially with IT being among the professions that is practiced interchangeably across the globe....Having this uniform certification and a global standard for IT professionals is commendable..”
Srikantan Moorthy, Vice-President and Head of Research and Education, Infosys Technologies Ltd.

"....I continue to applaud their (IFIP) efforts and I think they need to continue to do that. But I do believe that equally as important is to find some very short term way in which to offer value into the industry at the level at which the small business can recognize...."

Kevin Brown, VP of IT for ENMAX Corporation, Past Chair CIO Council

Provide your predictions of future IT trends and their implications/opportunities.
"....Cloud computing and software as a service are growing markets right now...."

Kevin Dicken: Microsoft Career Factor Idol Winner

What are your thoughts on computing as a recognized profession like medicine and law, with demonstrated professional development, adherence to a code of ethics, and globally recognized credentials? [see www.ipthree.org for more details]
"....I don't think yet that people understand that they are constantly consuming the innovations and capabilities that engineers and computing professionals deliver to them....Ethics in medicine or law is much the same as ethics in computing and engineering and needs to be taken into consideration, especially with a global community that is capable of exploiting any breaches of ethics whether there be security vulnerabilities in software or failure to implement something in hardware....The certifications and credentials are certainly growing and globally recognized...."

Kevin Shatzkamer: Author, Internationally Renowned Distinguished Systems Architect on the Evolution and Long-term Strategy of Mobile Networks

"....IFIP started some strategic initiatives a few years ago and it is my goal to continue those and to make sure that the five-year strategic objectives are met. A few of them are:... Continuing to present high quality research work...Co-operate more with our member societies which are also trying to achieve this....To be more active towards a couple of relevant United Nations bodies, like UNESCO and a few others....We have a project going on which tries to promote the professionalism of the profession [International Professional Practice Partnership (IP3)]....To find a way to make the work that is being done in research and other areas accessible at no-cost or low level cost for the world...."

Leon Strous, Senior IT Auditor DNB (Netherlands Central Bank); President 2010-2013 International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP)

President of IFIP, Leon Strous overviews IFIP and describes what he hopes to accomplish during his term of office.
"....What I hope to accomplish during my term of office is to increase the accessibility of IFIP to other organizations ....."

 
What are the biggest opportunities and challenges for IFIP?
"....If we can open up to additional Societies that's an enormous opportunity for IFIP to make a difference and to seize the opportunity to define the direction for research and professionalism....The biggest challenge would be to mobilize sufficient volunteers to keep our activity levels at least on the level we have today but preferably to increase it...."

How does IFIP benefit its member bodies, computing professionals, business, industry, governments, academia, and society?
"....Member bodies – talking to each through a body like IFIP....Computing professionals – sharing the approaches from different countries....Business and Industry – need professional, skilled and knowledgeable people....Governments – a body like IFIP is politically neutral; also our academic research identifies trends and key areas which help governments make decisions....Academia – through IFIP events...."

 There is another program of IFIP called the International Professional Practice Partnership Initiative (IP3). What are your goals for IP3?
"....There's quite a lot of things already happening in the world certification programs, accreditation programs and IFIP, through its IP3 project (which is an instrumental project for achieving this goal), is trying to bring together a lot of these initiatives to make sure that there is as little confusion about all the approaches as possible. The people in the IP3 project are working very hard to reach out to all our constituencies to make sure that professionalism is encouraged...."

Leon Strous: President International Federation for Information Processing

"....I am a huge proponent of this....Having a professional methodology and a lifecycle methodology is so important...."

Lynn Langit: International Solutions Architect, Microsoft Redmond

"....It's a long standing question in the IT and computer science field as to whether or not credentialing, certification or even licensing can help build public trust in software engineering and information technology....What IFIP is trying to do is making great progress because I think the profession has matured and evolved enough now...."

Maggie Johnson: Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at Stanford University

You expressed an interest in the IFIP World CIO Forum or WCF. Why should CIOs, senior executives, government, industry and academic leaders participate in the World CIO Forum? [Editor's note: For more information go to: www.worldcioforum.com; Call for papers; WCF news in the IFIP Newsletter].
"....Events like the World CIO forum are directly in line with what my team and I are trying to do, which is reducing the ambiguity by really explaining what is happening and developing actionable plans....Leveraging synergies, sharing ideas and eventually developing an impact that is changing organizational cultures, leadership and technology adoption makes the individuals who are participating, the organizations they are representing and societies at large more successful and more prepared for the changes that are coming and to turn those changes into opportunities...."

How do you feel the WCF will take its participants, IT executives, and the industry in general to the next level?
"....It goes beyond purely IT and really looks at the broader impact of organizational changes and the change in organizational values and brings together representatives of a vast variety of backgrounds. That's the key of what I have seen in my work over the years - the more different and diverse perspectives that you bring together, the more viewpoints you are incorporating, the more knowledge you can generate, the more effective network end results you can generate...."

Mark Mueller-Eberstein: Best-Selling Author No Fear: Business Leadership In the Age of Digital Cowboys; Globally Top-Ranking CEO, COO, Speaker, Mentor, Coach, Strategist

"....The IT industry has evolved very quickly and as a result there's a lot of disparity between skills and competencies across the world. This is where a standard means of measurement and independent assurance of skills and competences can help. I think this is a valuable effort...."

Matt Valentine: Industry-Leading Technology and Solutions Architect, Microsoft Redmond

"....To create a professional status for IT and the opportunity was there to do it on a global basis so they created IP3 as a means of creating and accrediting a global profession....IP3 will manage and measure the global standard...."

Moira de Roche: GM Laragh Skills, Chairman Career Planet, IFIP IP3 Director, Past President Computer Society South Africa

Q:   What are usable best practices, lessons and tips derived from your research to IT professionals and leaders?

A:  "Perhaps the biggest lesson my research provides is to remind us to re-examine the assumptions that we make when designing systems. I found that assumptions which were made many years ago were a little less appropriate today, and that revisiting them allowed me to develop an improved solution to a core component of modern operating systems."

Q:   Provide your predictions of future IT trends and their implications/opportunities?

A:  "I hope I'm not cursing any technologies in saying this, but I see a future where PCs are rare, and have largely been replaced by smart phones, and Cloud Computing. Modern smart phones are already powerful enough to meet most computing needs and with modern network speeds they are capable of using Cloud computing to provide all the power that the vast majority of users will ever want through an interface that fits into the palm of their hands. With more and more content being developed to take advantage of these phones, and apps moving off the desktop and onto the Cloud, it's really a small step to completely eliminate the PC for most people."

Neil Simon, Microsoft Career Factor Idol Winner in Cloud Computing – The Azure Developer, Chief Scientist and Senior Engineer, Keynote Session Speaker "24 Hours in the Cloud"

"....IFIP was established to provide the leading edge in Informatics. In the 60's (the time of establishing it), there was hardly any talk about Informatics, it was information or computer sciences. Nevertheless I believe this was the original and primary role of establishing IFIP. The world has changed immensely since the 60's....I believe that the position of IFIP in this world should change a little bit....IP3 in this respect is an extremely important positive development because it promotes professionalism – the importance of professionals in IT...."

"....I believe that IFIP should reshape itself and it should resume the leading role in information science....In the 60's there were few computer scientists and they practically knew each other's goals, but now there are millions of computer scientists and IT professionals and it is much less possible for everybody to know everybody else. But with appropriate strategy, goals and action those goals can be achieved...."

  "....My idea of the role and the contribution of the Global Industry Council is that it should endeavor to harmonize standards for IT professionalism. Not necessarily one standard for all countries but country standards should be compatible and not conflicting - so that if somebody was recognized as an IT professional in one country, the same recognition should be granted to him in all other countries that have harmonized their standards in this respect. This is an important task and I hope the Global Industry Council will be successful in this respect...."

 "....The roles of professional societies are important in that they are independent from any other entity (in particular from the industry and from the government). They can offer an impartial second opinion on issues of general interest, on issues of information technology, its usage, importance and its influence on our lives....What I would like to see is most if not all IT professionals would become a member of a professional Informatics Society....What's even more important on the long run is that it provides them with orientation in ethics...."

Niko Schlamberger, International ICT Executive and Top-Ranking ICT Authority for Business, Industry, Governments, Academia, Journals, Regional and Global Organizations

"....The power of this, in a world that is linked globally, is that we are going to understand each other better on the global level and it's going to be very helpful to business and government when you are sorting out fact from fiction when you are looking at supposed competence. I celebrate it, I think it's excellent..."
Paul Kent, past VP at XWave, President and CEO of the Greater Halifax Partnership

"....CIPS is now the only really viable accreditation facility and professional association for IT people in Canada. It is an organization that has an extensive and fairly mature and good connection to equivalent bodies around the world....It's the organization which needs to be supported...leveraged....and challenged to very credibly, constructively, and appropriately....create a base of certified professionals in this country that will be the envy of the world..."

Paul Kent: President & CEO Greater Halifax Partnership

You expressed an interest in the IFIP World CIO Forum or WCF. Why should CIOs, senior executives, government, industry and academic leaders participate in the World CIO Forum? [Editor's note: For more information go to: www.worldcioforum.com; Call for papers; WCF news in the IFIP Newsletter ].
"....The world has changed to the direction that you have to understand what is happening not only in other parts of the world but also in other business domains. Leadership is all about learning...."

How do you feel the WCF will take its participants, IT executives, and the industry in general to the next level?
"....It's not good enough just to run the business. It used to be the main objective of the Chief Information Officers was to reduce costs and to get operations running, but now it's clearly to support business and business decisions....If you get some of the hints and tips from others in venues like this, you are automatically lifted to the new level...."

"....Globalization will accelerate in all businesses.....They [business leaders] have to open up their minds and they have to understand in depth what is happening in leadership and in business around the world.....We haven't seen not even the smallest part of all the technology innovation which are just around the corner....The market, the business will pull to those [emerging] countries. There is a lot of money, there is a lot of talent and in reality those countries with most of the talent will win the economic craze. That's why for many Western companies it is the only way going forward to build the business with those teams, with those countries, those talents...."

 Which resources would you recommend to support professionals in their work?
"....For me it has been extremely important to have a very open and natural dialogue with my enterprise customers....Major business schools have made a remarkable step - instead of preaching from old books published ten years back, they've actually become major hubs for sharing information in their social media way....When I was working in a big enterprise I was sharing lots of my material in our internal social media even when I knew they were not 100 percent correct and there were mistakes. It was wonderful to get 18,000 colleagues to correct my mistakes. They were not searching for answers, they were actually searching for my mistakes and I learned a lot...."

Pekka Viljakainen: Author No Fear: Business Leadership In the Age of Digital Cowboys; Globally Renowned Executive, Thought-Leader, Strategist, Entrepreneur

"....Speaking from a broader perspective....I think the major challenge is coming together in the world in a profession using common standards and common language. Once we do that we'll be able to move forward and proceed to work together more quickly and more effectively...."

Pieter Botman, Consultant and Authority in Software Engineering

"....I think in the future we will need more scientists and engineers involved in running the businesses....I think that businesses will need more people who understand where the world is going and who understand innovation on the board....If people are interested in doing this, then go on leadership courses and learn how to do it...."

Professor Dame Wendy Hall: DBE FREng Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton in England; President of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

Q:   Provide your predictions of future IT trends and their implications/opportunities?

A:  "I think that IT future will be in the Cloud and in Mobile. It's starting now and probably will take over the IT industry in the coming years. That offers new possibilities and new perspectives for IT PROs."

Rabeb Othmani, Microsoft Career Factor Idol Winner – Windows Phone 7 Developer, Imagine Cup Winner

"....International standards will help bring everybody on the same level, which will make it more fair for people.....A common education and certification will help establish a common standard that facilitates interdisciplinary work...."

Raffael Marty, Leading Security Strategist and Author

"....At a simplistic level we ought to recognize people in IT as being an important cornerstone of modern society that demands a level of professionalism. It's unfortunate but if you tell a layperson that you work in IT, the image that they conjure up is probably one of a technician repairing computers in a workshop, rather than a CIO in a skyscraper in Shanghai...."

Roger Hart, Chief Executive Officer for IP3

“It’s gratifying to have had the IFIP IP3 program ratify what so many in the industry have thought critical. The rate of globalization has continued to accelerate and with this, a common view of standards, ethics and certification is key not only to those of us who work in the industry, but to the millions of users we serve. I’ve always believed that as markets commoditize, successful companies will differentiate on the quality of service they provide – and the capabilities of the professionals they employ. It’s exciting what this can do not just for professionals, but for the growing, global companies competing for the their talents. “
Sean O'Driscoll, past Global General Manager Microsoft CSS and MVP Program who founded CGT consulting in 2008

“It’s gratifying to have had the IFIP IP3 program ratify what so many in the industry have thought critical.  The rate of globalization has continued to accelerate and with this, a common view of standards, ethics and certification is key not only to those of us who work in the industry, but to the millions of users we serve.  I’ve always believed that as markets commoditize, successful companies will differentiate on the quality of service they provide – and the capabilities of the professionals they employ.   It’s exciting what this can do not just for professionals, but for the growing, global companies competing for the their talents. “

Sean O'Driscoll, Top International Authority on Social Media

"Everything seems to be heading to the cloud these days (although I still cannot see how we will ever get our product there), and I think this move is going to open up a lot of opportunities in the virtualization areas, but equally will reduce the role of the more traditional IT administrator. Already I hear of cloud hosted exchange systems which relieve the company of the burden of managing an exchange server and leave them to manage just the user base through a simple UI which the HR department can easily maintain. I can't see the move going as fast as some predict, but nonetheless it will happen. This move also means that development mindsets will have to change as the additional considerations such as bandwidth and data transfer have to be taken into account when developing solutions for the cloud, along with how to use the power that is out there."

Simon Davis, Microsoft Career Factor Idol Winner – The IT Manager

"....It goes back to the balance between learning from the freely available cloud of things that are out there, but also doing it in a way that someone with authority certifies that yes you can do this, and you have had the training necessary to be capable in the area you claim to be capable in...."

Sir John Daniel, President and CEO, Commonwealth of Learning

IT is the backbone of future growth in the world. Population is rising, the death rate has come down, and IT is an important tool to reach more people. I am sure it will do more wonders in medical sciences and keep our earth more green.

Soumitra Sengupta, Awards for Professionalism: Top of the Mark – Volunteer Award Recipient

"....The integrity of the IT professional is very critical....Competence....Skills to communicate....Ability to work well in teams....Ability to demonstrate passion and commitment for the work to be done....Diversity of experience will be critical to be successful in the long run...."

Srikantan Moorthy, Infosys Technologies Ltd.

"IP3 is a great initiative and I think it should be embraced wholeheartedly in making it happen across the globe - especially with IT being among the professions that is practiced interchangeably across the globe....Having this uniform certification and a global standard for IT professionals is commendable..”
Srikantan Moorthy, Vice-President and Head of Research and Education, Infosys Technologies Ltd.

"....PMI is the largest and most recognized project management association in the world. They also manage the PMP certification....PIMBOK, the project management body of knowledge, is the most widely used PM practices in the world so it's good exposure to that guideline....For me personally all that is great stuff, but I like being involved in these associations because there's a networking component with like-minded peers where you can share your experiences and collaborate and raise your personal profile and there are educational benefits as well...."

 "....For me the big benefit and what I like about being involved with CIPS is the networking with peers and seeing others in the industry and sharing experiences. There's always an educational and learning component to associations. I am not only involved with CIPS as a member, but I was on the Board for many years and I also got involved to give back to the local IT community...."

"....There are organizations for CIOs in various countries, for example in Canada we have CIOCAN, but it's rare to have a world CIO conference....This is a great way to increase collaboration between IT leaders....There's an education and learning component to hearing the speakers and understanding what others are doing in other countries....It's an opportunity to network and raise your personal profile...."

 Stacey Cerniuk: Founder and CEO of Annex Consulting Group

"....I actually consider myself more of a libertarian, kind of like a Milton Freedman....The reason why I say that is if we went down the road of building a recognized profession in the way we have with medicine and law, then you will actually have true degree programs for software engineering. Today if you hire somebody with a Computer Science degree they're not going to really know how to write a line of business applications. They could build you a compiler and they could work at places like Google and Microsoft or Apple, but they're not going to want to go to work at places even like Facebook. They're not going to know about things like Semantic markup, Java and .NET the way that we use it in the business environment....."

 Stephen Forte: Chief Strategy Officer, CTO, Scrum Master, Author, Serial Company Founder, Microsoft MVP, Keynote

"Being involved with a user group has been a complete win for me – the Microsoft user community is alive and well online and offline, and I've found a heap of support, encouragement, conversation and thought that has challenged the way I think about technology. It's critical to any IT professional to be involved… to both learn and give back. I entirely recommend getting involved. I'm connected with a great offline one (Brisbane Infrastructure Group), and a spectacular online one (http://www.autechheads.com) which has challenged the way I think about the application of technology as much as confirmed the way I understand it should be used."

Steve Molkentin, Microsoft Career Factor Idol Winner – The Job Seeker

"....I do believe that there will be a worldwide standard....I believe that the kind of efforts that you are talking about has to happen and it's just a matter of time until it gets enforced...."

Steve Teicher, World-Renowned Computing Pioneer and Icon

"....Technology is here to help us but it is the connectivity to other people who are knowledgeable and who can provide great wisdom and perspective on things...that is the ultimate for me. I am looking forward [perhaps as a result of this podcast] that I will be able to talk with similar minded people...."

Vaclav Vincalek, IT Authority, Founder and President of Pacific Coast Information Systems (PCIS) Ltd

My prediction is the world's top four companies Microsoft, Oracle, Google and Apple are almost monopolizing there corresponding segment of business. I don't find any aggressive competitive companies to conquer these giants business area.

Send a personalized letter to the CEO of awardees current organization about their employee's achievement, which will expose the NPA.Org among huge numbers of IT professionals. For example my present company has 1.5+ lakh employees.

Vivek Thangaswamy, Awards for Professionalism: Professional Excellence and Innovation Award Recipient