Institution of Analysts and Programmers

Yesterday (February 1^st) the Livingstone-Hope Skills Review was published. Don’t feel bad if your response is “Livingstone-who?” It didn’t receive a huge amount of publicity. On the same day, Pfizer announced the closure of its main research facility in the UK to an avalanche of Press concern.

Now, of course I’m not suggesting that Pfizer’s announcement shouldn’t have been given the prominence it was afforded. It is a very serious matter for British science as a whole. But let me tell you why I think the Livingstone-Hope Skills Review matters.

First, it’s about the UK Video Games industry, the fourth largest in the world. Who knew? Not many people according to Livingstone and Hope. In fact, only 3% of young people realised that ‘Grand Theft Auto’ is a UK-produced game, version IV of which, by the way, grossed $500M world-wide in its first week, three years ago. Perhaps worse still, only about a fifth of their teachers in the relevant subjects (mathematics, science, ICT and art) were aware of this. Physics, in particular, is central to games development, which less than 5% of this group of teachers appreciated.

In 2009, the UK games industry as a whole had a turnover just shy of $4 billion and, at that stage, was expected to grow to around $5.3 billion by 2014. Livingstone and Hope think that could be improved by around 10% with careful husbanding.

They have several key recommendations:

1. Computer science, not just ICT, must be part of the school national curriculum.
2. Young people must be given more opportunity to study art and technology together.
3. Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) should include industry-accredited specialist courses in video games and visual effects in their list of ‘Strategically Important and Vulnerable’ subjects that merit targeted funding.

What do you think? We need to hear your views so that we can develop appropriate policies to present to Government and Industry bodies. Go to the IAP’s LinkedIn group to let us know. That’s only available to IAP members, of course. But other interested parties are welcome to contact me with their thoughts at eo@iap.org.uk.

Robin Jones

We’re very pleased to announce that Alastair Revell has been appointed as the IAP’s Director General, following the retirement of Mike Ryan. Alastair, who is Chairman of the Exeter-based management and technology consulting practice Revell Research Systems, has been an elected member of our ruling Council since 2009, with responsibility for the Institution’s membership.

Alastair says about his appointment, “Professionalism within IT is extremely important, especially in relation to the development of software solutions. Society increasingly relies on the work of those engaged in software development and the Institution plays an important role in promoting high standards in this field. It is a tremendous privilege to be asked to lead the Institution. We have some very ambitious plans for the future and I look forward to the challenges ahead.”

IAP President, David Morgan, said, “We have every confidence that Alastair will be able to lead the Institution forward into the next phase of its development. We are excited by his plans and look forward to their coming to fruition. The IT world is changing and so is the Institution. Alastair has a strong background in software development and systems analysis himself. He is a respected IT consultant, having, in 1985, established his own consultancy, which continues to expand.”

Alastair graduated from the University of Birmingham with a degree in Mathematics and is both a Chartered IT Professional and a Chartered Engineer. He was admitted to the Institution in 1988 and was elected as a Fellow in 2006. He is also a Fellow of the RSA.

Retiring Director General, Mike Ryan said, “We have been looking for my successor for some time. Alastair has strong leadership skills and is a very experienced IT consultant, with a significant background in software development. The Appointments Committee was struck by his proven track-record as a business leader and his ideas for the Institution’s future development.”

A couple of years ago, Council member Andrew McKay, FIAP set up the IAP Group on LinkedIn. It’s probably fair to say that we have been surprised by its success. With very little publicity, the group has attracted over 120 members.

As group members will know, we’ve already used it to make people aware of posts on the Web site, employment opportunities, the publication of documents and so on. That’s fine for those who are members but, obviously, not for everyone else.

There are many IAP members on LinkedIn who have yet to join the group and doubtless there are some members who have yet to join LinkedIn. We’d encourage all IAP members to join us at the IAP Group so that everyone can have the advantages at present limited to a minority, albeit a large one.

It’s easy to join. Simply click the link to LinkedIn on the right.

If you’re a LinkedIn member, you’ll be invited to join the IAP group.

• Select the communications options you prefer. Please tick at least the Group Logo and Announcements boxes and preferably the Posts box. This will make it easier for us to let you know quickly about important changes, events and IAP news.

• Click on Join Group to generate a ‘Request to Join’, which we will action within 48 hours. If you have any problem joining, please email Robin Jones at eo@iap.org.uk.

If you aren’t currently on LinkedIn, you’ll be invited to join. Having done so, you can join the group as above.

Once you are an IAP Group member, clicking the link will take you directly to the Group.

We’ll look forward to seeing you there!