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The Board of
Directors of the
Association for Information
Technology (AITP) has taken bold action to
promote voluntary certification of Information
Technology (IT) professionals. In unanimous
votes, the AITP Board approved three resolutions
at tbeir June meeting.
The resolutions
adopted by the Board assert that “the AITP
endorses the Certified Computing Professional (CCP)
examination offered by the
Institute for the
Certification of Computing Professionals (ICCP)
as the preferred standard for certifying the
expertise of information technology
professionals; that the AITP rejects the
‘Professional Engineer’ framework as a valid
approach for the licensing of information
technology professionals; that the AITP supports
a voluntary licensing framework for persons
engaged in IT consulting services within the
United States that is based upon the CCP
examination offered by the ICCP in conjunction
with an information technology ethics and
ethical practices examination, furthermore, in
order to maintain licensure, these persons must
adhere to a professional code of ethics, must
acquire continuing education and must meet
minimum professional experience requirements.”
AITP has enjoyed
a long relationship with the ICCP and was
instrumental in establishing its certification
programs. “We are proud to be a part of this
effort to recognize and certify those IT
practitioners who have completed the needed
education and experience to serve the public and
private sectors,” explained Sam Luke, president
of AITP. The action comes amid growing concerns
about practitioners in the field who lack the
knowledge and experience to maintain
professional standards.
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The resolutions
first were proposed by the AITP Executive
Committee and submitted to the AITP Board for
approval and promulgation. “The resulting
certification of the IT professional is
patterned after the CPA certification,” said
Larry Schmitz, past AITP president and member of
the legislative committee. He went on to explain
that the CCP includes a multifaceted series of
examinations designed to test an applicant’s
overall knowledge and work experience. Crucial
to the certification is the code of ethics.
Schmitz cited the code as “essential to protect
the employers, clients and general public.”
In the
implementation of these resolutions, Luke said
that the AITP will work closely with the ICCP to
elevate the public awareness of the importance
of the certification. AITP regularly works with
the ICCP to conduct examinations throughout
North America. The association incorporates CCP
sessions at its National Collegiate Conference,
National Conference and regional and local
meetings and seminars.
The Association
of Information Technology Professionals (AITP)
is a non-profit organization of Information
Technology (IT) professionals, educators, and
students dedicated to continuing education,
professional growth, leadership, and the
exploration of issues that face the IT
industry. Founded in 1951 under the name
National Machine Accountants Association and
later known as the Data Processing Management
Association, AITP has kept pace with the
changing needs and interests of our more than
7,000 members who span every level of the IT
industry from mainframe systems, to micro
systems, to PC based LAN and WAN systems, to
virtual systems and the internet. For more
information, please visit
www.aitp.org.
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