http://kict.iium.edu.my/survey/
There is currently an initiative to establish a Board of Computing Professionals Malaysia (BCPM), which will function to accredit ICT academic programmes, as well as to promote, facilitate and regulate the profession (very much like the Board of Engineers for engineering, and the Bar Council for the legal profession, etc.). This initiative is under the purview of the Ministry of Science and Innovation (MOSTI) and led by the National ICT Human Resource Task Force under the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and within the ICT Human Capital Development Framework.
Objective
This
questionnaire is to solicit feedback from the ICT community to
determine the overall suitability and general acceptance to the proposal
for the establishment of the Board of Computing Professionals Malaysia
(BCPM).
Context
The proposal for the establishment of the BCPM is the third of three strategic thrusts recommended by the National ICT Human Resource Task Force under the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) within the ICT Human Capital Development Framework.
The framework provides a set of national initiatives towards producing
more resilient ICT graduates and transforming the country into a
producer nation in ICT software and applications. This is to be attained
via the developent of a sufficiently large and readily available pool
of highly competent computing professionals, being those who innovate,
design, implement and maintain computers, computing systems, and
computing applications. [More details are available at http://goo.gl/nXBwb]
A draft Bill (RUU – Rang Undang-Undang)
for this purpose had been prepared in December 2011, which was
circulated for a preliminary discussion on an Open Day held at MOSTI on
Tuesday 13 December 2011, with the period for feedback left open until
Friday 30 January 2012. The feedback obtained was analysed and
discussed, which subsequently led to the contents of the questionnaire
in this survey.
This
survey will be open for responses, either through face-to-face at the
end of a series of awareness programme sessions, or through a portal,
for a period of 15 days from Monday 28 May to Monday 11 June. The
results of this survey will be analysed and the appropriate
recommendations will be forwarded to the Ministry of Science and
Innovations (MOSTI) for the appropriate action. Ultimately, based on the
results, the draft Bill/RUU will be:
- Amended accordingly and tabled at Parliament for adoption; or
- Adopted via other means (e.g. via Industry); or
- Abandoned altogether.
Underlying Intentions
First and foremost, it is crucial to note that the Bill/RUU is only a vehicle, where the exact underlying intentions are to have the following:
- To
establish a class of Professionals that can be distinguished from
ordinary IT providers and will also guarantee a certain level of
expertise/standards and be accountable for their services.
- To
attain international recognition and/or equivalence, especially via the
Seoul Accord (see below), and in particular for our Computing/ICT
degrees.
The
questionnaire will address the six points that support the underlying
intentions for the establishment of the BCPM, the associated Bill, and
the overall implementation, namely the following:
1. The need for Certification of Professionals and to sign the Seoul Accord:
There
has always been a strong desire to make our Computing/ICT graduates
have a professional status (akin to engineers, medical doctors,
accountants, etc.) as well as be internationally recognised as such.
Three points are very relevant here:
- The
best way to achieve both is to sign the Seoul Accord (equivalent to the
Washington Accord for engineering), which will not only enforce the
maintenance of the required level to be considered professionals, but it
also provides a status that is recognised worldwide.
- However,
all signatories of the Seoul Accord need to have a Board (or Society or
any entity) that is equivalent to the proposed BCPM, which will have to
be accorded the necessary authority and be responsible to audit and
accredit Computing/ICT programmes, to register professional members, and
to regulate them.
- It
is important to note that with the professional status comes a
considerably high degree of responsibility, especially in terms of a
guarantee of quality and accountability.
2. The need for a Bill/RUU:
Unlike
in many countries, it is by tradition and practice that all Boards of
Professionals in Malaysia had been set up via an Act of Parliament, and
this is strongly perceived to be so (else, few will feel the compulsion
to adhere to the Board’s regulations). In any case, the Bill can be seen to be the surest and fastest way of getting the underlying intentions implemented.
3. Registration with BCPM will be voluntary:
Once the BCPM is set up, four points are of major relevance:
- Graduates
from the BCPM (hence Seoul Accord) accredited degrees will
automatically qualify to be Registered Computing Practitioners, and
later become Registered Computing Professionals after acquiring some
experience and satisfying certain criteria.
- Both
registrations will also be open to other graduates and even
non-graduates based on certain required and proven experience to be
established by the Board.
- The
above are essentially criteria to qualify for registration, but no
individual is compelled to be registered with the BCPM, and once
registered may also opt to de-register himself.
- There
have also been proposals to have the category of Registered Service
Providers for companies, but should this proposal be accepted,
registration will also be voluntary.
4. Regulatory matters apply only to BCPM registered members:
In the implementation of the Act and the BCPM, three points are to be noted:
- The
provisions of the Act and the ensuing regulations (from the Act and
from the Board) apply only to its registered members, and hence only to
individuals (and not the companies or institutions they represent). [The
exception would be for the Registered Service Providers should the
category be adopted.]
- The
above would mean that there will be no official regulations that would
compel projects (government or otherwise) to be proposed and carried out
only by BCPM registered members.
- Nonetheless,
it is also important to note that project owners (government or
otherwise) may voluntarily choose for their projects to be proposed and
carried out by BCPM registered members only – as is the case for a few
countries with their BCPM equivalent (and often with the addition of ISO
conditions).
5. The Board needs to be neutral:
To
ensure acceptance by the ICT community, industry and the public in
general, the Board needs to be neutral at all levels and it has to be
seen to be so:
- This has to be in terms of its composition (the President and executive members), the decisions it makes, its actions, etc.
- Neutrality, impartiality and independence of the Board are also strict pre-conditions to qualify for signing the Seoul Accord.
6. The Board needs to be sustainable:
Like
all other Boards of Professionals, BCPM has to be financially
sustainable (after a possible initial grant from the Government). This
would typically be from fees from accreditation exercises, subscriptions
from registered members, and from several professional activities.
The Seoul Accord
As
mentioned, one of the main reasons for establishing BCPM is to be able
to sign the Seoul Accord. Established in December 2008, the Seoul Accord
is a multi-lateral mutual recognition agreement among agencies
responsible for the accreditation or recognition of undergraduate
computing and IT related programmes.
The Seoul Accord's vision is to
become recognised internationally as a leader in defining and
promulgating standards and guidelines for the academic preparation of
computing professionals. The Seoul Accord is non-governmental and is not
affiliated with any country.
The
Seoul Accord has since become the international authority on quality
assurance and the promotion and development of best practices for the
improvement of education in the computing and IT-related professions.
The Accord establishes the equivalence in terms of outcomes relative to
the preparation for professional practice. [More details (in particular, for governance and graduate attributes) are available at http://goo.gl/nXBwb ]
One
of the many benefits of signing the Seoul Accord is that the agreement
and the resulting standard that it creates allows the Malaysian public
and private sector to recruit with confidence computing or Information
Technology workers from around the world with accredited degrees.
It
also helps graduates from Malaysian institutions of higher learning who
want to work or study abroad be recognised world-wide if Malaysia is a
signatory.
The accredited degrees here refer to those that comply with
the standards of the curricula and targeted graduate attributes as
stipulated by the Seoul Accord, which establishes an internationally
recognised ‘desired’ level of quality of programmes and graduates.
Currently there are eight signatories, the
British Computer Society, Australian Computer Society, Canadian
Information Processing Society, ABET Inc (USA), JABEE (Japan), ABEEK
(Republic of Korea), HKIE (Hong Kong) and IEET (Taiwan).
The signatories to the Accord need to be authorities, agencies, or institutions that are representative of the computing and IT-related community and that have statutory powers or recognised professional authority for accrediting/recognising programmes designed
to satisfy the academic requirements for professional computing and
IT-related practice within a defined jurisdiction (e.g. country,
economy, geographic region).
In Malaysia, by tradition and practice, a
Bill is required to empower/accord a body as such.
1) General Questions
2) Part 1: The need for Certification of Professionals and to sign the Seoul Accord
There has always been a strong desire to make our Computing/ICT graduates have a professional status (akin to engineers, medical doctors, accountants, etc.) as well as be internationally recognised as such. Three points are very relevant here:
- The best way to achieve both is to sign the Seoul Accord (equivalent to the Washington Accord for engineering), which will not only enforce the maintenance of the required level to be considered professionals, but it also provides a status that is recognised worldwide.
- However, all signatories of the Seoul Accord need to have a Board (or Society or any entity) that is equivalent to the proposed BCPM, which will have to be accorded the necessary authority and be responsible to audit and accredit Computing/ICT programmes, to register professional members, and to regulate them.
- It is important to note that with the professional status comes a considerably high degree of responsibility, especially in terms of a guarantee of quality and accountability.