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Information about British Computer Society

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The logo of the British Computer Society
Established in 1957, The British Computer Society (BCS) is a body that represents those working in Information and Communications Technology ICT. It is the largest United Kingdom-based professional body for computing.

With a world-wide membership of over 60,000 members in over 100 countries, BCS is the qualifying body for Chartered IT Professionals (CITP) and was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1984. Its objectives are to promote the study and application of communications technology and computing technology and to advance knowledge of education in ICT for the benefit of professional practitioners and the general public. BCS is also a registered charity.

BCS is licensed by the Engineering Council UK to award Chartered Engineer status (CEng) and Incorporated Engineer status (IEng); and more recently by the Science Council to award Chartered Scientist status (CSci).

Various elements of the BCS promote career development, including the British Computer Society Young Professionals Group, for members who are young in the profession and ELITE for directors and executives working in leadership roles.

BCS has offices off the Strand in Southampton Street, south of Covent Garden in central London. The main administrative offices are in Swindon, west of London.

History

The forerunner of BCS was the London Computer Group (LCG), founded in 1956. BCS was formed a year later from the merger of the LCG and an unincorporated association of scientists into an unincorporated club. In October 1957, BCS was incorporated, by Articles of Association, as The British Computer Society Ltd: the first President of BCS was Dr Maurice Wilkes, FRS.

In 1966, the BCS was granted charitable status and in 1970, the BCS was given Armorial Bearings including the shield and crest. The major ethical responsibilities of BCS are emphasized by the leopard's face, surmounting the whole crest and depicting eternal vigilance over the integrity of the Society and its members.

The BCS patron is HRH The Duke of Kent, KG. He became patron in December 1976 and has been actively involved in BCS activities, particularly having been President in the Silver Jubilee Year in 1982–1983.

Grades of membership

The society has different grades of membership: the ordinary standard grades includes Students, and Associate Members (AMBCS).

The Professional grades include Member (MBCS) and Fellow (FBCS).

Additionally, all suitably eligible IT Professionals may apply to be awarded Chartered IT Professional status (CITP). The Society is able to award on CEng, IEng, and CSci. Members may also apply through the Society to FEANI for European Engineer (Eur Ing) status.

Those members with CITP status are entitled to use the title "Chartered IT Professional" or if they are fellows the title "Chartered Fellow". The BCS keeps a register of current Chartered Members and Fellows.

Group/corporate membership

Nearly 100 organisations now encourage their IT professionals to join the Society through its Group Membership Scheme. This demonstrates the collective commitment to professionalism and confirms the organisation's status as an employer of IT practitioners. [1]

BCS qualifications

The Society provides a range of qualifications both for users of computers and IT professionals.

BCS Professional Qualification The BCS conducts its own professional qualification examinations in many countries. The levels which are;
  • Certificate (equal to the first year of an honors degree)
  • Diploma (equal to the second year of an honors degree)
  • Professional Graduate Diploma (equal to a british honors degree)
European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL)

The BCS is licensed to offer the ECDL qualification in the UK. The qualification is the international standard for users of computers and covers seven modules:
  • Basic Concepts of IT
  • Using Computers & Managing Files
  • Word processing
  • Spreadsheets
  • Databases
  • Presentations
  • Information and Communication
ECDL is available from test centres across the UK [2].

ECDL Advanced

The advanced course ("ECDL Advanced") has four sections, each a qualification in its own right:
  1. Word Processing
  2. Spreadsheets
  3. Databases
  4. Presentations


Upon achieving all four advanced qualifications, the individual can receive a qualification as an "ECDL Expert" — in the UK, this confers upon the person Associate Membership of The British Computer Society, should that person wish to sign up to a code of conduct and join BCS.

e-Citizen

The e-Citizen qualification allows beginners to get online and start using the Internet. The qualification has been designed to provide a basic understanding of the Internet and to start using the web safely, from reading email to shopping online [3].

e-type

e-type is a qualification that allows indiviuduals to improve and certify their typing skills. The average user can save up to 21 days a year by improving their typing speed as well as preventing repetitive strain injury (RSI). e-type comes with full support materials and computer based courseware before allowing the user to assess their skills using a simple online test [4].

BCS also offers professional qualifications via it's Information Systems Examination Board (ISEB)

ISEB

ISEB provides a wide range of qualifications for IT professionals covering major areas including Management, Development, Service Delivery and Quality [5].

Structure

In common with many professional institutions, BCS has a number of regional branches and specialist groups. Currently there are 45 regional branches in the UK, 16 international sections and 53 specialist groups.

Trustees

The Society is governed by a Trustee Board comprising the President, the Deputy President, the immediate past President, up to nine Vice Presidents (including Vice-President Finance), and five Professional Members elected by the advisory Council.

The BCS advisory Council elects the Honorary Officers - the President, the Deputy President and up to nine Vice-Presidents, together with the immediate past President and five members of Council.

The advisory Council provides advice to the Trustee Board on the direction and operation of BCS; in particular it is consulted on strategic plans and the annual budget. The Council is a representative body of the membership, with members elected directly by the professional membership, and by the Branches, Groups and Forums.

List (Historical) of Trustees Elected by Council
  • Mr A. S. Brown MBCS (2005–2008)
  • Dr D. Holdsworth CEng FBCS CITP (2005–2009)
  • Mr R. A. McLaughlin CEng FBCS CITP (–2006)
  • Mrs E. K. Somogyi FBCS CITP (2005–2008)

External links

See also

19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1920s  1930s  1940s  - 1950s -  1960s  1970s  1980s
1954 1955 1956 - 1957 - 1958 1959 1960

Year 1957 (MCMLVII
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ICT may refer to:
  • Institute of Chemical Technology, a premier institute located in the city of Mumbai, India
  • International Campaign for Tibet, a political interest group
In information technology:

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Motto
"Dieu et mon droit" [2]   (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem
"God Save the Queen" [3]
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computing is synonymous with counting and calculating. Originally, people that performed these functions were known as computers. Today it refers to a science and technology that deals with the computation and the manipulation of symbols.
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CITP denotes a Chartered IT Professional (in full, Chartered Information Technology Professional). This professional certification is awarded under Royal Charter to IT professionals who satisfy strict criteria set by the British Computer Society (BCS), which is the
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For the ship of the same name, see .


A Royal Charter is a charter granted by the Sovereign on the advice of the privy council, to legitimize an incorporated body, such as a city, company, university or such.
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20th century - 21st century
1950s  1960s  1970s  - 1980s -  1990s  2000s  2010s
1981 1982 1983 - 1984 - 1985 1986 1987

Year 1984 (MCMLXXXIV
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charitable organization (also known as a charity) is an organization with charitable purposes only. Trusts, foundations, unincorporated associations and in some jurisdictions specific types of companies, may be established for a charitable purpose or may acquire such purpose
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Engineering Council UK (ECUK) is Britain's regulatory authority for registration of professional engineers and technicians, holding a register of these and providing advice to students, engineers, employers and academic institutions on the standards for registration and procedures
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In many countries, professional engineers are called Chartered Engineers. The details of registration vary from country to country.

Chartered Engineer may refer to:
  • A Chartered Engineer registered with Engineering Council UK.

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Incorporated engineer is a professional qualification in engineering (not a degree) offered through professional associations that act as subsidiary instruments of the Engineering Council (UK).
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The Science Council is the umbrella body for scientific professional institutes and learned societies in the UK. Together, the member organisations represent over 400,000 scientists. A similar organisation, the Engineering Council UK (ECUK), covers engineering institutes.
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Chartered Scientist (CSci) is a professional qualification in the United Kingdom that is awarded by the Science Council through its Licensed member organisations. Holders of this qualification can use the post-nominal letters CSci.
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Strand


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Covent Garden is a district in London, England, located on the easternmost parts of the City of Westminster and the southwest corner of the London Borough of Camden. The area is dominated by shopping, street performers and entertainment facilities and contains an entrance to the
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London
Canary Wharf is the centre of London's modern office towers
London shown within England
Coordinates:
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Constituent country England
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Swindon

Swindon (United Kingdom)

Swindon shown within the United Kingdom
Population 155,432
OS grid reference SU152842
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1920s  1930s  1940s  - 1950s -  1960s  1970s  1980s
1953 1954 1955 - 1956 - 1957 1958 1959

Year 1956 (MCMLVI
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2007 October >>
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
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7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31

October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with a length of 31
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The Articles of Association of a company, often simply referred to as the Articles, are the regulations governing the relationships between the shareholders and directors of the company, and are a requirement for the establishment of a company under the law of the United
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Please discuss this issue on the talk page.
This article has been tagged since August 2007.
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Fellow of the Royal Society is an honour accorded to distinguished scientists and a category of membership of the Royal Society. Fellows are entitled to put the letters FRS after their name.

Up to 44 new fellows are elected each year by ballot of the existing fellows.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1930s  1940s  1950s  - 1960s -  1970s  1980s  1990s
1963 1964 1965 - 1966 - 1967 1968 1969

Year 1966 (MCMLXVI
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1940s  1950s  1960s  - 1970s -  1980s  1990s  2000s
1967 1968 1969 - 1970 - 1971 1972 1973

Year 1970 (MCMLXX
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coat of arms or armorial bearings (often just arms for short), in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person (or group of people) and used by them in a wide variety of ways.
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Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (Edward George Nicholas Patrick Paul; born 9 October 1935) is a member of the British Royal Family, a grandchild of George V. He has held the title of Duke of Kent since 1942.
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The Most Noble Order of the Garter is a medieval English order of chivalry or knighthood, and the pinnacle of the British honours system. Membership in it is limited to the Sovereign, the Prince of Wales and no more than twenty-four members, or Companions; men are known as Knights
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1940s  1950s  1960s  - 1970s -  1980s  1990s  2000s
1973 1974 1975 - 1976 - 1977 1978 1979

Year 1976 (MCMLXXVI
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For other uses, see Jubilee
A Silver Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 25th anniversary.

Silver Jubilees in the British Empire and Commonwealth Realms

In the Commonwealth Realms a Silver Jubilee
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
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Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII
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