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From Backroom to Boardroom

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Tuesday 6 April 2004

EDWARD MANDLA

ICT professionals are reorganising for greater influence

What an opportunity we have as ICT professionals to change the current perception in the community that we are back room geeks and nerds. Out of nowhere, ICT now touches everyone in the community. For too long we have quietly worked long hours and burned the midnight candle developing technology to shape our future.

But times are changing. ICT professionals are finally moving out of the backrooms and having greater influence in boardrooms around the globe.

If you really think about what technologists do, it's a role that requires enormous vision. ICT professionals must not only track and understand emerging technologies and how they work, but they must also have the foresight to see how they can be applied to address business challenges or enhance some other aspect of life.

More than almost any other profession in our society, technologists have the opportunity to create and shape the future to match their view of the world.

While ICT professionals themselves have always understood the value of their contribution, it's true to say they've largely been content to keep it to themselves rather than blow their own trumpets.

It's a rare thing for technologists to be good at marketing themselves, which is one reason why Microsoft - which excels at marketing - has been such a runaway success.

But technologists are now realising that they must take their rightful place in the boardrooms of our corporations in order to effectively influence and guide the decisions that will shape how tomorrow looks.

In the same way, the ACS, as the professional society for Australian technologists, has a major role to play in contributing to technology-related decisions being made in government, industry and the community.

For too long we have been content to sit back and navel-gaze, but the rate and importance of technological change, and its impact on business and society, demand that we take a more active, public stance.

This has required some changes within the ACS. If we want to stand up and be counted, we must first be very clear on what we have to say.

Over the past few months, the Society has identified a range of issues we believe are important in terms of their potential to impact on the profession and the broader community.

These issues range from Offshoring, ICT Literacy and Open Source Software to Spam, Cameras in Mobile Phones, RFID and ICT Work/Life Issues, among others.

We've assembled several working groups, each comprising the leading stakeholders in a particular area, and given them the task of developing an industry position on that issue.

Many of the people involved in these groups have been drawn from outside the ACS, which assists us in broadening our outlook and considering other points of view.

Since our goal is to maximise the effectiveness of these groups and the quality of their output, we provide them with expert mentoring through our relationship with Dr Kerryn Phelps, former President of the Australian Medical Association (AMA).

Kerryn's experience in recreating the AMA as a powerful political lobby group is proving invaluable to the ACS as we seek to increase our relevance and sphere of influence in Canberra.

The process of creating and driving policy in an era defined by technology requires a greater degree of rigour than ever before but the ACS is rising to the challenge.

As the only ICT industry body free of commercial interests, we hold a uniquely neutral position. Our decision this year to introduce regular online polls of our membership enables us to quickly and easily identify where ICT professionals stand on any issue of importance and effectively represent their views within the public arena.

To further enhance our ability to represent a wider spectrum of industry players, the Society is currently investigating a proposal to introduce new membership categories such as teachers and help desk operators.

Such moves have the potential to double the Society's membership over the next five years, dramatically increasing our political weight and influence.

These and other initiatives currently under discussion will be considered by the ACS National Council at its next meeting in Canberra in late May this year.

The decision to hold this meeting in Canberra has everything to do with raising the profile of the Society in the nation's capital and building closer relationships with our political representatives.

As technology continues to play an increasingly important role in the way we work, communicate and relax, the ACS remains committed to promoting the development of ICT resources for the benefit of all Australians.

And as ICT professionals increasingly move out of the backrooms and into corporate boardrooms round the nation, we will begin to hear greater clarity about the ethical, appropriate and effective use of ICT. Edward Mandla is national president of the Australian Computer Society.

To contact the ACS, call (02) 9299 3666, email: info@acs.org.au or visit the ACS Web site