CIPS Ontario Blogsite

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My year in office is finally up, and I’ve attached here as my first blog as past president my final brief as President of CIPS Ontario.

Thank you

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the other members all of the Ontario Board for their assistance in helping me to adjust to not just to the positions of president of CIPS Ontario but also Ontario’s representative to the CCITP.
At times I have found the last 14 months exacerbating, tiring, and even every once in awhile disheartening, but my overall lasting impression is that my term in office has been educational and mostly exhilarating.

Needless to say, this has not been a one many show, and nor will it go forward as such in the future.  It is only by us all pulling together, and helping out, that we can get CIPS to be recognized for what it stands for, and the Certifications it awards to be  recognized designations that identifies our Certified members as being the people to employ.

It is with that thought in mind I’d like to thank everyone who has helped me through with constant help and mentoring and encouragement with what they have done for the members at every level.

Special thanks goes to Jim finch, Bob Fabian, Linda Johnstone, and Rick Penton, who have been some of my colleagues on the CIPS Ontario Board, that we are saying goodbye to this year after many, many years of voluntary service.

Other people from the sections here in Ontario that deserve a mention are Adam Cole, Cameron McKay, Daryle Banke, Gerry Brownlee, Michael Stevenson, Conor Brennan and many more who I’ve met this year but without whose hard work, dedication and support I and the executive Boards could not function, and CIPS would cease to exist as an organisation.
2009 really has been a year of tremendous change within CIPS Ontario.

Changes over the last year

At the last AGM, the beginning of my time as president, the members of CIPS at national, provincial and section level had approved many changes to the bylaws.  These changes were devised to streamline the governance of CIPS from the very top that national level right down to grassroots membership.

I’ve heard many ask over the last year “why does it takes so long for CIPS to do anything?

CIPS as a group of societies, and more over the people within it, have become set in their ways over the past 50 years and change has not been easy.

The CCITP  (Canadian Council of IT professionals), which is the new governing body of CIPS, is responsible for determining the strategy and direction CIPS must take in order to fulfill its mandate of building the most respected group of IT professionals in Canada, North America, or for that matter the world.

The OEC (Office of the executive council) is tasked with carrying out the wishes of the CCITP and has at its disposal the paid members of staff, various standing committees and councils, independent volunteers.  The CCITP takes it’s direction from you the members, through the Provincial Boards, and from external industry leaders who sit on the CCITP.  All of these organisations plan to meet at peer levels at monthly intervals.

It doesn’t take long for anyone to understand that aligning the CCITP, OEC, committees and councils, so that timely decisions and solutions can be delivered to the rest of CIPS is quite a complex issue.

This is why as part of the bylaw changes, responsibility for membership, certification, and general events administration as defined by those bylaw changes, has been reasserted at the provincial level.  We outsource some of those requirements to National at present but that doesn’t mean it will always be that way.

Here in Ontario the provincial society has been somewhat starved of funds, collecting only $15.00 for each certified member registered in Ontario.  The rest of the funds collected as membership dues all split between the section the National Office, we’ve the bulk of going to the National Office.

Many members wonder what’s the National Office spends the money on.  As both president and CCITP rep for Ontario I have badgered CIPS to identify these costs.

Although this question has not been fully answered, this year we saw the fruits of some of the funds that have been going from your membership to the National Office.

Some benefits from your membership dues

Earlier this year we finally achieved accreditation from IFIP for the certification under the international professional practice partnership.  All members who were certified as at the end of oldest last year, has been grandfathered into this new skein and now have in addition to the ISP a new certification ITCP for information technology certified professional.

This new certification is awarded to those members who have not only achieved the standards set down by CIPS all Canadian the ISP but due to them constant commitment and longevity of service has been identified as IT professionals who can offer a high level of capability in focused areas across the body of knowledge.

I am pleased to announce that over the coming weeks functions will be held in each of the sections within CIPS Ontario to deliver the certificates to those members that have to achieve this distinction.

I have also heard over the last year members say “What is the point in certification if it isn’t recognised?”

My answer to that is; “With recognition so comes responsibility and commitment” to date certification and re-certification has really been taken on the honour system.

With the new certification, and its international standing, comes the requirement for more stringent certification processes, and members will see more about this in the coming months.

On the flip side, in addition to the new certification processes, is a more focused advocacy movement to encourage government at all levels, employers in all sectors, and a lot of peer societies to recognize the CIPS certifications and ask for them as identification of an individuals capabilities.

At the national level this advocacy is already happening at International and Federal levels, here in Ontario we are in discussions with several provincial government units to promote both CIPS the ISP and ITCP.

More online services

At the beginning of my presidency CIPS national and CIPS Ontario launched a new content management web service, I’m pleased to announce that we are now the verge of extending that service across the country as well as bringing it up to date and providing many more with enabled services for our members.

This will include the ability for CIPS to maintain and manage CPD credits on-lime and provide education and examinations on subject such as the CIPS code of Ethics and the CIPS Body of Knowledge.

In addition I have been initiating communication with many other IT certifiers to see how we can accept other Product specific or skills specific certifications as evidence of CPD credits towards CIPS certifications.

What ou as membes can and must do.

In order for CIPS to grow, we must continue to communicate with each other, we must continue to communicate with those outside of CIPS, and we must continue to evangelize IT professionalism and the steps CIPS goes too to develop it.  This is where you as members come in as well.

There are over 300,000 IT professionals in Ontario, and we have a small percentage of them as members.  Our members frequently complain that no-one asks for the I.S.P. as a certification in job interviews, but those same people, many who have been awarded the I.S.P. and now hold the ITCP do nothing to promote it within the organisations they work.

I’ve heard that “There is nothing that tells members what the Certifications mean” for them to tell others.

I tell those people now, there is a plethora of information that we have extracted from the National and Provincial bodies over the last year and posted on the members section of the web-site, but you won’ find  if you don’t look.

As a society we have made major strides in the last 18 months, not all the benefits are you visible to our members, but the benefits of an nonetheless.

We hope with new communication methods at disposal, a more streamlined provincial organization structure, and executive members of both provincial and section groups focused on delivery of benefits to our members, we will see many of these benefits become apparent, many more new members take advantages of these benefits, and more organizations recognizing the value that CIPS and it’s certified members provide to business, government and the community.

However, based on this history, what has happened in CIPS in the last 18 months has been nothing short of miraculous.

My hope is that with the help of volunteers from the membership we can keep up the pressure on the changes and deliver even more even faster to our members in the next 12 months, and those members, including you hear at this AGM will all become spokespeople for the industry you work in, and the Society you have joined which leads the way not just here in Canada, but globally in defining the standards for IT Professionalism.

Thanks for your attention, and I look forward to continuing to work with the board and members for the profession I have chosen and has served me for over 35 years.”

I’ll take this opportunity to welcome Leon Wagschal as the new CIPS Ontario president, and I hereby pledge my ongoing support for him and the board, and trust you will all do the same.