Technology is changing our world. With the greater opportunities technology offers, comes a greater responsibility. The extent to which IT is embedded in our lives is inevitably growing. The physical and digital world are blurring, imposing challenges on us as regards personal privacy, data security and even our personal relationships. If we fail to take steps to develop the IT profession, it is likely that the risks to society from IT will grow to unprecedented levels.

Evolution of IT professionals. The nature of jobs in the broader IT domain is changing. It is no longer enough to be a technical expert. As new technologies develop rapidly, e-Skills are becoming increasingly sophisticated and need to be constantly updated. Today, the industry looks for IT professionals who are dual thinkers with a diversity of knowledge and skills. They need to understand the business, operations and HR management.

Trust is the key word here. We must continue to nurture trust in IT professionals. Continuous development of knowledge, skills and competences is vitally important to reach that goal. Professionalism is absolutely fundamental to the effective practice of IT. The IT profession is relatively young and developing the profession will undoubtedly take time, but the time for engagement and action is now.

This high-level conference will contribute to further evolving the IT profession by putting ambition into action. The framework includes concrete standards (like the e-CF), tools and guidelines that contribute to a common understanding of IT professionalism and help to strengthen the profession. This conference will share results and discuss the most relevant developments in order to support national policy makers, business leaders and academics to initiate appropriate policy. The focus will be on ‘action’ and practices that have demonstrated success.

The programme is now available online. Various high-level speakers will share their thoughts on the most important developments related to the IT profession. To underline the importance of approaching this topic in an international context, we are very pleased to have received confirmation from speakers from the USA, Canada and Japan.

The following topics will be part of the conference agenda:

• The Skills Strategy for Europe – with speakers from the European Commission and industry highlighting the actions the Commission will initiate, the demand for IT professionals and the launch of the Skills Manifesto 2016.
• Growing the digital talent pool and excellence in Europe, US, Canada and Japan – with speakers from the US-based think-tank ITIF, the Canadian ICTC the Japanese IPA and CEPIS for a true global conversation on closing the skills gap.
• Putting ambition into action: launch of a European IT Professional Framework – with speakers from professional associations, education and industry addressing the importance of professional development of IT professionals and their role.
• Professional ethics: continuously improving IT integrity - a defining aspect of any profession involves adhering to professional ethical conduct. This session will see the launch of European Ethical Guidelines and address the importance of ethics in IT and how to ensure effective implementation and behavioural change.
• Frontrunners of implementation of the European IT Professional Framework – with speakers from countries that have started implementation of the framework through concrete, smart initiatives, such as an Open Certification Map, and IT security profiles and qualifications, in line with the Framework.

The conference will also see the launch of the eSkills Manifesto 2016. The Manifesto is based on a broad cross-section of perspectives and is a must-read for those that have a stake in acquiring, nurturing and retaining eSkilled talent in the 21st century.

The conference is expected to host 200 participants from industry, government, education, professional associations and certification institutes.

Do you want to join this conference? You can register now. The draft programme including the speakers is available online.

For more information about the project please contact niels.vander.linden@capgemini.com