MANY "new-start" promises have been made in the name of the year 2000. Few are being kept as resoundingly as those made in the name of the Australian Computer Society (ACS).
In 1991, its members approved a plan to start this year with a new and transformed professional society. Now the ACS has started 2000 as possibly the only body worldwide that accords full professional status to a broad range of appropriately qualified computer professionals.
In the intervening years it has established professional links with the nation's tertiary educational institutions that offer long-lasting benefits to organisations, employees, consultants and contractors.
The organisation's success runs far beyond the bounds of Australia.
'The Federal Government congratulates the ACS for its efforts to raise the professional status of those working in the IT industry, and also for working with other computer societies throughout the Asia Pacific'
--Richard Alston, Federal IT minister
Still in the early days, the new increased professionalism is proving worthwhile. Achieving it was not necessarily easy.
"It's very important to get across the commitment and the passion of IT professionals at this time," says ACS national president John Ridge.
"There's a focus, a shape, a drive, an energy. When I tell IT professionals about our new recognition as a professional body, the usual response is: 'Should have happened a long time ago,' followed by an application for membership - in some cases, an application to rejoin the society.
"The number of applications for membership last month is up 65 per cent from the same figure for January 1999.
"In NSW, monthly branch meetings now attract about 120 to 140 members. A year ago, the figures were around 30 members."
No longer lightly attended tea-and-biscuits gatherings, today's meetings are keenly focused professional gatherings.
"There are good messages to be told to Australia's IT professionals, and it's clear that we're getting better at telling them," Mr Ridge says.
'It's to the Australian Computer Society's credit that it has been recognised by acceptance into the Australian Council of Professions. The professionalism of its members make the social and community benefits of IT a high priority. In NSW, we are working with ACS on projects which aim to boost the number of IT professionals trained to industry standards.
This will provide people with good, long-term jobs and encourage information technology businesses to flourish in NSW'
--Kim Yeadon, NSW IT minister
When planning today's new-look ACS 10 years ago, the architects were seeking guidance from around the world about how to define a true computer professional.
Come 2000, and the ACS's core body of knowledge is recognised by leading international organisations including the Association for Computing Machinery and the Institute of the Electronic and Electrical Engineers, both of the US.
The Australian core body of knowledge also provides a basis for designing and rating tertiary education courses throughout the nation, plus certification recognised around the globe as establishing the professionalism and expertise of their holders.
"There are a lot of people who call themselves computer professionals and who are professionals at what they do in their work environment," says ACS chief executive Dennis Furini.
"But many wouldn't qualify as professionals in terms that ACS will certify."
Professor Barry H. Brady of the University of Western Australia's faculty of engineering and mathematical sciences, concurs.
An engineer, he compares the ACS core body of knowledge as equivalent to similar requirements by the Institute of Engineering and other professional bodies.
"The ACS now offers a category of professionalism that is essentially carved in stone," Professor Brady says.
"Universities design programmes that satisfy ACS requirements, and we keep close working relations with the society. Any tertiary institution offering education in IT subjects would be wise to recognise the ACS standards and ensure that its courses meet them."
In fact, Australian universities and colleges of technical and further education solicit ACS accreditation for their courses, and obtain it only after representatives of the ACS accreditation committee, usually academic, appraise what they offer and formally approve it.
In its progress in the last decade, ACS underwent outside appraisal.
This came from the Australian Council of Professionals, which required proof that ACS imposed on its members conduct internationally recognisable as professional - conduct separate from technical knowledge and experience.
Formal recognition as professionals comes in Australia only to members of organisations that comply with the definition provided by the Australian Council of Professions.
