Code prompts new era of IT professionalism

Acceptable and good IT practices have been put on paper with the release of a new IT Code of Practice for New Zealand IT professionals.The Code, released by the New Zealand Computer Society Inc (NZCS) will be heavily promoted as a base guideline of practice for IT professionals.NZCS Chief Executive Paul Matthews says the Code will be available to anyone operating in IT in New Zealand and covers key practices common to “all disciplines within IT”, such as conflicts of interest, competency, methods and tools, workload and representation, as well as key practices around project and relationship management, security, change management and other specific areas. The Code, put together by an NZCS team over the last six months, draws on the work of the Society’s international partners combined with material that is specific to New Zealand's environment.“The release of this Code, shortly after the release of IT Professional Certification, is historic,” he says. “NZCS made a statement at the end of last year that 2009 will be the year that the first planks are laid to building a true IT profession in New Zealand, and I'm very proud of the fact that, whilst still in the early days, we've delivered on that promise.”NZCS strongly recommends that all those involved in IT study the Code of Practice and adopt its principles. The new Code of Practice can be downloaded at www.nzcs.org.nz/practice.