BMO Symposium on IT Best Practices

I feel Dan Eng has a compelling story to share…

Enjoy!
Stephen Ibaraki, FCIPS, I.S.P.
CIPS National Vice-President
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In June, I had the pleasure of representing the Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS) at the annual BMO symposium on IT best practices which is held at the Institute for Learning (IFL). The conference organizer, Griff Hosein and its executive sponsor, Kevin Butcher, once again did not disappoint. This is an internal event and so I was particularly pleased that we were given the opportunity to showcase the CIPS role in professionalism.

As a past CIPS Toronto section president, I am often asked why I think professionalism is important. The well-debated topics of ethics and the code of conduct come up and are expected. However many of my colleagues are surprised when I talk about it in terms of lifelong learning. Therefore it talks about a journey, a high level of commitment and an investment. In many respects, Kevin Butcher and his organization has done that through its commitment and investment in the IFL, which also provides year-round hotel facilities to staff attending courses in one of its many training rooms. Because it is for the sole benefit of its staff, it also represents an opportunity to renew old acquaintances and forge new ones throughout the BMO enterprise. Therefore it is a vehicle for socializing the process of becoming a professional and remaining one.

Last year, when BMO employees came to our booth, they asked about what networking events we had at CIPS. This year they asked about the CIPS Information System Professional (ISP) professional certification process.

(By the way, I am not a BMO employee and I do not know of any other large Canadian bank which has adopted such an aggressive model for self-development and learning)

Congratulations to Griff and Kevin. I am looking forward to next year's session.

Dan Eng, MBA, I.S.P.