Nice job as a promotional effort for the Conference. But when are we going to see an interview addressing the real problems facing CIPS? Such as the steady decline in membership, the perceived inertia at national level, the joke which is the certification program? I wonder why the people who draw a salary fromm CIPS do not see coming the day when they will no longer able to do so...

Hello Tatiana,

You bring up some interesting points and an interview about the hard questions is one that I’ll look at doing.

In my opinion, the numbers decline has stabilized and we will see growth again. I feel this was a result of the Dot Com bust. This trend was felt worldwide and there have been articles written about it. I also have relationships with many international experts and this is the common opinion when we discuss IT and IT professional groups. I know that the board and CIPS national are working hard to provide more benefits to members and to engage with IT professionals on an expanded level. This forum is one example but there are initiatives on the certification front too. You will be hearing more about them in 2006. Sometimes I think Canadians in particular look too much inward. From an international perspective, CIPS, our academic accreditation, and professional credentialing programs are well respected and looked upon as a model. This viewpoint has been consistent across-the-board in all my discussions. I believe this means something and we can build on it. We have a good brand and it provides a good base.

I work with and talk to professionals worldwide and from this perspective I have some opinions on certification. Specifically vendor certifications have taken a hit after the dot com bust and it is one of the comments I have received behind the scenes. There is a trend towards professionalism and a broader based credentialing system. Vendors are moving in this direction now. However, this is what CIPS has and is expanding upon. For example, their work on a IT Body of Knowledge is one example. So CIPS is a model others are looking at due to its leadership. However the IT field is still relatively a young one compared to other professions so you can look at a longer process for broader build-out. The recognition of the CIPS I.S.P. by the Ontario School Board system is an example of this build-out or the recognition by the NPA of the I.S.P. in their network credentialing. This is going to take time and more hard work but it will happen.

Thank you,
Stephen Ibaraki, I.S.P.

Here's a recent discussion that brings another perspective including comments about CIPS certification:
http://blogs.technet.com/cdnitmanagers/archive/2005/12/05/415526.aspx#comments

Thank you,
Stephen Ibaraki

I asked Dr. Maria Klawe, the hard questions about the profession and some trends over the past years. She supports the idea that the dot com bust had an impact. It’s worth listening to her since she provides many ideas. She is a world-renowned computer scientist, educator, innovator and entrepreneur. Maria is also the past Dean of Science at UBC and current Dean of Engineering at Princeton. Here’s the interview: http://www.microsoft.com/canada/technet/media/Dr_Maria_Klawe.mp3

Here’s a blog I did on Maria:
http://blogs.technet.com/cdnitmanagers/archive/2005/12/02/415464.aspx

Thank you,
Stephen Ibaraki