[LINK] Where Are the Software Engineers of Tomorrow?

[Glen Turner]

On Sun, 2008-01-13 at 17:06 +1100, Stephen Wilson wrote:

> I remember a year or two when the ACS proposed enhancing the 
> professionalism of the IT sector.  The suggestions floated included an 
> continuing education and a code of conduct.  Pretty innocuous stuff, and 
> way, way short of regulation.  But the outcry from the grassroots IT 
> community was virulent.

The ACS has a very peculiar and narrow view of "professional" --
basically meaning "Information Technology Professional".  This
doesn't matter if ACS membership is a matter of choice; the ACS
are free to narrow their membership how they please.

But the proposal was that this membership be deemed "professional",
obviously deeming all others as unprofessional.  Many professional
people in the broader industry of computing objected to that
distinction.

Many people saw it as providing the ACS with an income
for no benefit.  And not just the ACS, but a whole industry
of "ACS accredited professional development courses".

In my own circumstance I am fortunate enough to attend
seminars at the cutting edge of computer networking. If
I am taught the mathematics of TCP dynamics by the leader
in the field, that counts for nought if the seminar is not
"accredited". Actually developing a component of a new
technology counts less towards my professionalism than sitting
in an ACS-approved course where someone else tells me about
the technology I invented.

Cheers, Glen