Posted on June 18, 2010 by Simon Phipps
If you’re a BCS Member or Fellow you’ve received a voting pack in the mail that needs your attention. Please vote this weekend so that there’s no risk of missing the deadline. I’ve written one more time on my ComputerWorldUK blog about the issues, but the synopsis is that no matter how you vote on the six vague no-confidence motions, please make sure you vote against the Special Resolution that sets the threshold for calling another EGM so high that it’s beyond the resources of an ordinary Member.
Filed under: Governance | Tagged: BCS, EGM | 2 Comments »
Posted on June 9, 2010 by Simon Phipps
Rajan Anketell, one of the signatories calling the BCS EGM, said in a broadcast e-mail:
“You will already be aware of the EGM call, of which I am a signatory. You will also be aware of all propaganda (much of it inaccurate) put out by the Chief Executive and President. You may not be aware that our request for equal access to the BCS IT resources and the membership has been denied. This denial of equal opportunity is in contrast to that adopted by the IET at the EGM a few years ago. So this email is an attempt to put our case to you and respectfully ask that whatever your own views are on the EGM you forward it in the spirit of fair play. This will give members the opportunity to see the real reasons why the EGM was called and make up their own minds on how to vote.”
He then pointed to the following sites, which I wholeheartedly encourage everyone to read:
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Well worth reading – a rational set of issues from rational and experienced people. The fact the BCS leadership has sought to frame these people as Luddites merely amplifies the authority with which they speak. The BCS press office and leadership are doing there best to keep this all quiet and represent none of these views on the “official” web site – let’s make sure they get heard.
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The EGM rebels have finally been able to put together a web site responding to the well-funded attacks their own professional society has been making against them. Tell everyone, becuase I doubt the BCS will do so.
Filed under: Links | Tagged: BCS | 1 Comment »
Posted on June 9, 2010 by Simon Phipps
On Monday I wrote about the crisis facing the British Computer Society (BCS) as its current leadership tries to jettison the old name. I found out about the move in an expensively-produced glossy mailing I received on the subject. Just a few days later, the actual voting papers arrived. They contain an ill-considered Quick Vote option that BCS Professional Members need to carefully avoid.
Read more on my ComputerWorldUK Blog…
[Also in this thread: BCS EGM, BCS Faces No-Confidence Vote Crisis, this post, BCS Rebels Finally Get A Voice]
Filed under: Links | Tagged: BCS, Governance | Comments Off on ☞ BCS Leadership Targets Member Rights
Posted on June 7, 2010 by Simon Phipps
I just received notice of an Emergency General Meeting at the British Computer Society – some members think the current leadership want to subvert the BCS and turn it from the professional society for Alice and Dilbert into a mass-membership organisation serving the needs of the Pointy-Haired Boss and the corporations he serves.
Read more over on my ComputerWorldUK blog.
[Also in this thread: BCS EGM, this post, BCS Leadership Targets Member Rights, BCS Rebels Finally Get A Voice]
Filed under: Governance | Tagged: BCS | 1 Comment »
Posted on May 27, 2010 by Simon Phipps
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This FAQ/debate article with an anonymous BCS spokesbeing make it clear what the issue at the BCS is all about, both directly and through tone.
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This EFF campaign makes a great point: that ACTA is ironically a counterfeit itself, since it is not mainly about the counterfeiting of goods but has been hijacked as a back-door method to impose controls on the internet that have failed to be imposed by transparent and democratic methods. The campaign is very much focussed on the US but the message seems one worth transplanting elsewhere.
Filed under: Links | Tagged: ACTA, BCS | Comments Off on ☞ Getting The Point
Posted on May 26, 2010 by Simon Phipps
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The British Computer Society is in the process of being transformed into The Chartered Institute of IT. This is the wrong direction – it’s becoming a club for the Pointy Haired Boss instead of an association to support Dilbert and Alice. The consequence? It’s full of talk of outsourcing real computer jobs abroad and wants to serve the people who are doing it. It failed to take any public leadership position over the Digital Economy Bill and rejects attempts to embrace open source. It has no connection to the interests of actual computer professionals any more. For me (a Fellow, for now) it has come to symbolise all that’s worst in British IT.
The last-ditch battle to wrest the BCS away from the budget-and-management apparatchiks is coming, because an Emergency General Meeting has been called for July 1st. I just hope there are enough real computer professionals still involved to rescue it; my experience of the current leadership suggests it’s too late.
[Also in this thread: this post, BCS Faces No-Confidence Vote Crisis, BCS Leadership Targets Member Rights, BCS Rebels Finally Get A Voice]
Filed under: Links | Tagged: BCS, UK | 17 Comments »
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