BCS: A lesson in irrelevance or alienation ?

The British Computer Society (BCS) was created in 1957 and has about 70,000 members out of 1 million + UK IT Professionals (figures from E-Skills UK).

A membership of less than 7% after 52 years in existance is not particularly impressive. Given its royal charter and priviledged position you have to question why the BCS fails to attract the majority of IT professionals.

IT Training Firm Firebrand believes 91% of IT professionals are unaware of the BCS accreditation scheme (CITP). However, I believe the real reason that the BCS fails to attract members is not simply down to its lack of relevancy to both employees and employers, but its alienation of potential members.

It has tried many schemes to attract members and I remember many years ago as a teenager visiting computer shows and seeing the BCS trying to sign up young people to join 'ACE', the Amateur Computer Enthusiasts club for young people who "weren't good enough to be proper BCS members". This rather patronising approach to attracting members- even young ones- unsurprisingly failed!

25 years later, the BCS launched ELITE, "Effective Leadership in Information Technology" but this time only open to members of the BCS. So the journey from patronising to pretentious has been completed. The irony is that all you need to be ELITE is to be a member of the BCS and in IT Management. Quite frankly its harder to become ELITE in the classic arcade game (and more cherished I suspect, even after 25 years) than this BCS assignment.

However, if you want Chartered status, then you need to take one more step and take the test, but given their sample question (see below) I don't think this is a barrier either.

So, many IT professionals could be ELITE, MBCS and CITP, yet shun these attributes and prefer instead to seek certifications from Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco etc as a means of personal development, recognition and progression.

I am not sure whether the latest revelation from the BCS (trying to create a global IT profession) is another example of corporate delusion or the recognition of its failure to attract people in the UK and hope that professionals abroad will be more receptive.

The problem though is within the organisation's DNA which remains elitist and apparently oblivious or impotent to the many IT challenges facing the industry and society. Whilst the BCS proports to be "Enabling the Information Society" the reality is that it has failed to have any significant impact within the industry, even after 50+ years.

Sadly this - more than membership numbers- is the real tragedy. The BCS appears ineffective in making any positive impact on IT in society, in government and industry.

As a country needing to diversify from manufacturing to a knowledge economy there are obvious areas where the BCS - if it had achieved a broader membership and greater vision - could have impacted including; PC's in every home, everywhere internet, re-platforming schools, UK Software independence, open standards, public IT projects etc .

The list is endless. The contribution, it seems, isn't.