April has been a busy month for IFIP IP3, completing the reaccreditation of two national societies, ACS (Australian Computer Society) and IPSJ (Information Processing Society of Japan).

ACS Re-accredited for CP and CT Schemes 

IP3 Vice Chair Jo Dalvean presented ACS President Nick Tate with reaccreditation certificates for both its Certified Professional (CP) and Certified Technologist (CT) schemes during the IFIP Strategy Day hosted by ACS in Sydney earlier this month. 

IFIP President Anthony Wong congratulated the ACS on achieving reaccreditation for the next five years, saying: “ICT professionals and academics with their unique understanding of the strengths and limitations of technology, understand better than most, the trends and trajectories of emerging technologies and their potential impacts on the economic, safety and social constructs of the workplace and society,” he said.

“The need to address the negative downsides of emerging technologies has increased in urgency as the adverse potential impact could be significant in specific critical domains. If not appropriately addressed, human trust will suffer, impacting on adoption and oversight, and in some cases posing significant risks to humanity and societal values. 

“I am delighted that the ACS has once again been re-accreditated by IP3 for its Certified Professional (CP) and Certified Technologist (CT) scheme. The current accreditation – highlighting the importance of cybersecurity – includes the ACS Certified Professional (Cybersecurity) and ACS Certified Technology (Cybersecurity).”

IPSJ Re-accredited for CITP Scheme

IPSJ was presented with its accreditation certificate at a virtual certificate presentation on 20 April 2023. The ceremony was attended by the IPSJ Executive and those involved in the accreditation process, including IP3 Chair Moira de Roche, IP3 Standards and Accreditation Committee Chair Adrian Schofield, CSSL’s IP3 Board member rep Damith Hettihewa and IPSJ’s IP3 Board rep Tetsuro Kakeshita. 

Ms de Roche congratulated IPSJ on achieving reaccreditation for its Certified IT Professional scheme for a further period of five years. “In addition to the IT Professional reaccreditation, IPSJ has also pioneered the Data Science Specialism. We hope that other IP3 members are inspired to seek accreditation for this very critical discipline,” she said.

“IPSJ is also an approved Trusted Source for IP3, so can accredit organisations in Japan that fulfil the requirements. Again, we hope to use this model elsewhere, especially in regions such as Southern Africa where many computer societies do not have the resources to manage a scheme.”

Ms de Roche acknowledged huge effort required by IPSJ in submitting the accreditation documents because of the need for translation. “The effort that IPSJ puts into this is testament to the professionalism in everything they undertake.

“This weekend, we celebrate Earth Day and although it creates awareness around climate and sustainability, I realise that IPSJ’s commitment to professional practice helps IFIP deliver on its mission to achieve the worldwide professional and socially responsible development and application of information and communication technologies, because we have an almost global footprint. Once again, congratulations to IPSJ on achieving IP3 accreditation. We look forward to working with IPSJ to expand our footprint and grow our offerings.” 

IPSJ President, Professor Hideyuki Tokuda thanked all those involved in the lengthy review process. 

“We are very proud to be awarded the IP3 renewal accreditation today,” he said. “As an academic society leading IT in Japan, IPSJ has been focusing on training students, teachers, and IT professionals, and we believe that it is important to promote and develop the CITP certification system for IT professionals in Japan.”

Professor Tokuda noted that IPSJ established the CITP certification scheme back in 2013, receiving initial IP3 accreditation in 2018. “Over the next 10 years, we want to increase the number of IT professionals undergoing CITP examinations and improve the rate of maintaining certifications,” he said.

“To improve the retention rate, it is important to increase the attractiveness and value of community activities by CITP holders and increase public awareness and visibility. One of the efforts to encourage this is to achieve the ongoing revision of ISO/IEC 24773, and for IP3 to establish an accreditation body that complies with this international standard. Of course, CITP will also work to comply with this standard and IPSJ will also contribute to IP3’s efforts to establish the accreditation body,” he said.

IP3 Standards and Accreditation Committee Chair Adrian Schofield added his congratulations and said what a pleasure it was to work with the IPSJ team through the re accreditation process. 

“The standard and quality of the documentation submitted by IPSJ was every bit as good as the first time around and it’s an absolute credit to your team, that you have been so meticulous and accurate in submitting the information as well as carrying out the translation process. And I do certainly look forward to working with IPSJ, and Tetsuro in particular, on furthering ISO/IEC 24773 to spread the value of that standard across the broader IP3 community.”