A
new foundation designed to develop skills within the IT sector has been
launched.
The
British Computer Society (BCS), the Institute for the Management of Information
Systems (IMIS), the Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE) and e-skills UK,
the Sector Skills Council for IT, Telecoms and Contact Centres, have joined
forces to form the SFIA Foundation (Skills Framework for the Information Age).
SFIA
will help employers of IT professionals establish a framework for assessing the
professional skills of their IT staff.
The
Foundation will provide the framework free of charge to end-user organisations,
and will license it to providers of software and services who wish to base
their offerings on SFIA.
SFIA
can be used to identify the people with the rights skills for projects and
assignments and provides a framework within which skills development and
training can take place.
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Ron
McLaren, operations manager of the SFIA Foundation, said: "Establishing
the Foundation and forming a steering group of influential users gives new
impetus to SFIA and will help us to get the message across to IT employers.
Having the right skills framework is key to the development of their vital
skills asset. It’s a running-the-company issue, not just a training tool."
