Peter Aspinall admits that the Computer Society of South Africa (CSSA) has not been the most effective organisation possible. "Any criticism is probably justified," he says, and names a failure to communicate with members as just one pressing problem.
Recently elected as CSSA president, Aspinall has some firm ideas as to where the future of the society lies. First comes the re-evaluation of membership criteria.
Membership issues
"There are two views within the CSSA," he explains. "One group says the focus should be on professional practitioners within the IT industry. A second view is that all IT activity should be embraced." He sees a golden middle road, with dual membership status.
"Full professional membership requires a combination of academic qualifications and years experience, ie a degree in computer science and three years experience," Aspinall says. "The lower the qualification, the higher the number of years experience required. We anticipate that full professional membership will also be linked to the National Qualification Framework standards 6, 7 and 8."
Associate membership may, however, be offered to people working in other professions who use computers but are not full-time IT workers. The International Computer Driving Licence could serve as automatic qualification for such associate membership.
Other membership innovations may include student membership, currently under consideration. Tertiary and even secondary institution students would, under this structure, be able to gain some level of membership in the CSSA.
Playing the numbers
Such a membership structure will also increase the number of potential participants, and membership number is of prime concern to Aspinall. He estimates that there are 3 500 active members and another 1 000 classified as inactive. Those numbers have been stagnant for the past 10 years, he says. "There has been a lot of churn, with people retiring or emigrating. Those who joined just about made up for those numbers." He is looking for 25% year-on-year growth, which will require a major membership drive.
His second goal for his term as president is to improve the benefits and services to members. With efficient communications and administration, which is now in place, he believes, members can be better informed of CSSA projects. That would allow them to be more involved in those projects, and enable the society to increase its activity.
But even with these improvements necessary, Aspinall believes the CSSA has been true to its primary role as a forum where IT professionals can network. He is also proud of the role the society has played in government decision-making. "We are recognised by the government as the primary representative of the IT industry," he says. "We have fulfilled that responsibility quite well."
A last objective for his term is to increase the representation in the CSSA. Although the IT industry may not be representative of the South African population, he believes the society can do a few things to ensure a broader base of members. "We need to formalise and structure our criteria to be more suitable for today`s community."
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