Improving Software for Society
IAP History
The Institution of Analysts and Programmers has emerged as the leading specialist professional body for software practitioners, having been established back in 1972. It has been endorsing the status of those involved in creating software for almost 50 years, protecting their professional interests and working for its members’ greater public recognition and reward. It has been the key to many successful careers in software development.
The Institution has a rich and fascinating history, with its roots stretching back into the early 1970s with a group of computing enthusiasts meeting as the University Computer Association in Cambridge.
TIMELINE
• 1972: Founded as the University Computer Association
• 1981: Name Changed to The Institution of Analysts and Programmers
• 1981: The late Bob Charles appointed as Secretary General
• 1990: Mike Ryan appointed Director General
• 1992: Institution Incorporated
• 1994: Granted Coat of Arms
• 2010: Alastair Revell appointed as Director General
• 2011: Transformation Programme Started
• 2013: The Ten Es Programme Launched
• 2016: The Institution becomes a founder member of the Cyber Security Alliance
• 2017: Adopted New Constitution
• 2018: Registered as a Charity in England and Wales
• 2021: Founding Member of the UK Cyber Security Council
Heraldry
The Institution’s Arms were granted in 1994. The design follows medieval tradition, but incorporates features that are especially relevant to the IAP. The Y-shaped ‘pall’ symbolizes the choice between two paths – the yes/no of binary arithmetic.
Lightning bolts symbolize the power and speed of the electricity that runs our machines, and possibly even the flashes of inspiration that all IAP members pray for! The ‘pierced lozenge’ is the heraldic symbol of the common man, but looks uncommonly like a floppy disk. Riding on top is the ‘pantheon’ – a mythical creature representing wisdom and holding the universal symbol of all knowledge.
The ‘mantling’ which surrounds the shield is a reminder of the medieval Crusades, when knights wore cloth over their helmets to protect them from the hot sun of the Holy Land. Inevitably this cloth became somewhat tattered in skirmishes along the way. In heraldry, tattered mantling is still used as a symbol of overseas enterprise, acknowledging the IAP’s international links. The motto of the Institution: Logic is my Servant is written in Esperanto, the language designed to unite the world.
