The Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA) has achieved the renewal of its International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) IP3 accreditation for a further five years.

IFIP’s International Professional Practice Partnership (IP3) is a platform to help shape and implement policies to foster professionalism in the global ICT sector.

Moira de Roche, Independent Consultant, IITPSA non-executive director and Social & Ethics Committee Chair, Chair of IFIP IP3, and IFIP Board Director, says the IITPSA completed the process of renewing the accreditation of its professional recognition schemes with flying colours. The IP3 Board approved the recommendation of the Standards and Accreditation Council early in December to extend the accreditation for a further five years unconditionally.   

The evaluation process was the first to accredit a SFIA Level 7 designation, recognising the role of Professional CIO (Pr.CIOTM). This designation, a world first at this level, recognises the crucial role played by CIOs in setting and implementing the strategy for enterprises, addressing the needs of the business, the appropriate technology, and the provision of skilled resources to support the integration of technology into the business. This certified designation is specifically aimed at senior practitioners in a CIO (or equivalent) role and was motivated at the request of the CIO Council in South Africa. The Professional Member (PMIITPSA) designation remains appropriate for all other senior practitioners at SFIA Level 5 and above.

Update to ethics code

De Roche notes that the IITPSA Social and Ethics Committee is now set to review the IITPSA’s Code of Conduct to align it with the new IFIP Global Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct for the ICT Sector, which is designed as ‘global conscience of the profession’ to serve as the foundation for codes of ethics across digital disciplines and technologies.   

“The IITPSA has always had a solid Code of Conduct, however the Social and Ethics Committee has decided to consider updates to the Code using the new IFIP Code as a starting point,” she says. “It is good practice to ensure that Codes of Conduct and Ethics are updated to make sure that ethics and professionalism are embedded throughout every facet of ICT and there are no loopholes.”

De Roche says: “There are now over 180 codes of ethics around the world in the ICT sector alone, and people tend to create their own codes or pick one that suits them. The IFIP Code is a foundation for ethical decision making and an exemplar everyone can align with and add to, to ensure that every system, technology, and process and related-decision making in the sector is considered through an ethical lens.”