Reference no: EM133134601
Question: Essential Core ICT Knowledge required for any ICT professional. This includes ICT Professional Knowledge and ICT Problem Solving.
General ICT Knowledge which provides graduates with a breadth of understanding of the ICT industry regardless of his/her ICT job role. This includes Technical Resources, Technology Building, and ICT Management.
ICT PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE
This area includes:
• Ethics
• Professional expectations
• Teamwork concepts and issues
• Interpersonal communication
• Societal issues/legal issues/privacy
• Understanding the ICT profession.
It is expected that Professional Knowledge topics will need to be addressed at multiple levels in different stages of professional development. The very nature of professional work means that some knowledge and skills are best developed through experience and that understanding of complex issues such as ethics grows with maturity. Thus, the goals for developing professional knowledge/skills will be different at entry-level (graduate) than at full professional level (a certification program). Appendix E demonstrates this continuum using the most relevent two of the seven SFIA responsibility levels.
Ethics
Topics covered should include:
• Fundamental ethical notions (virtues, duty, responsibility, harm, benefit, rights, respect and consequences);
• Basic ethics theories;
• Integrity systems (including, the ACS Code of Ethics, the ACS Code of Conduct, ethics committees and whistle blowing);
• Methods of ethical analysis;
o Methods of ethical reflection
o Methods and procedures of ethical repair and recovery;
• ICT specific ethical issues (professional - e.g. compromising quality and conflict of interest, and societal - e.g. phishing and privacy).
Professional expectations
Topics covered should include: expertise, certification, competence, autonomy, excellence, reflection, responsibility and accountability.
Teamwork concepts and issues
Topics covered should include: collaboration, group dynamics, leadership styles, conflict resolution, team development and groupware.
Communication
Topics covered should include: oral and written presentations, technical report writing, writing user documentation and the development of effective interpersonal skills.
Societal issues
Topics covered should include: history of computing and the ICT discipline, privacy and civil liberties, cyber crime, intellectual property and legal issues.
Understanding of ICT profession
Professionals should have some knowledge of where and when their discipline began and how it has evolved, in addition to understanding of ongoing issues in the discipline.
ICT PROBLEM SOLVING
This requires knowledge of how to use modelling methods and processes to understand problems, handle abstraction and design solutions.
The methods and tools that are used for handling abstraction could vary a great deal with the branch of ICT, from circuit diagrams to data modelling tools to business process modelling.
It is important to recognise this area because it captures some of the creativity and innovation that is required of ICT professionals, and the excitement that is present in their jobs. Recognising this component also assists in identifying what is unique about ICT and what differentiates it from other disciplines. In no other discipline is there such an emphasis on developing artefacts (e.g., computer and information systems) which are so abstract and complex and where modelling tools and methods are essential. The systems that ICT professionals deal with cannot be seen or handled in the same simple and direct manner as products of other applied disciplines (e.g., buildings, bridges, chairs, drugs). Consequently, highly developed problem solving skills and the need for methods to handle abstraction and modelling are absolutely vital.
General ICT Knowledge
As well as have essential core ICT knowledge (ICT Problem Solving and ICT Professional Knowledge), it is essential that all graduates have a conceptual understanding of ICT as a broad discipline6.
The three General ICT Knowledge areas are related to the SFIA categories that they support in Appendix A.
KNOWLEDGE AREA 1: TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES
This area includes:
• Hardware and software fundamentals
• Data and information management
• Networking.
Hardware and software fundamentals
An understanding of the basic components of computer systems is required, including:
• Computer architecture and organisation - including processors, memory, storage systems and input/output devices;
• Systems software - Operating systems and application system software.
Data and information management
An understanding is required of how data is captured, represented, organised and retrieved from files and databases. Topics include:
• Data modelling and abstraction
• Database Management Systems (DBMS)
• Information assurance and security in a shared environment
• Acquisition, custodianship and eventual disposition of information
• Nature of data, information and knowledge transformation through technologies.
Networking
This area requires an understanding of data communications and networking fundamentals. Topics include:
• Network concepts, protocols and standards
• Network security
• Wireless and mobile computing
• Distributed systems.
KNOWLEDGE AREA 2: TECHNOLOGY BUILDING
This area includes:
• Human factors
• Programming
• Systems development
• Systems acquisition.
Human factors
This area requires an understanding of the importance of the user in developing ICT applications and systems, and involves developing a mindset that recognises the importance of users, their work practices and organisational contexts.
Programming
This involves an understanding of the fundamental concepts of a programming language. It is expected that the requisite knowledge of programming fundamentals would be best developed by engaging students in software developments tasks (programming). However, the range of programming languages and tools that could be used to develop this knowledge is wide and will vary with the expected ICT job role of the graduate.
Systems development and acquisition
An understanding is required of how to develop or acquire software (information) systems that satisfy the requirements of users and customers. All phases of the lifecycle of an information system should be understood including: requirement analysis (systems analysis) and specification, design, construction, testing, and operation and maintenance. There should also be knowledge of methodologies and processes for developing systems.
KNOWLEDGE AREA 3: ICT MANAGEMENT
This area includes:
• IT governance and organisational issues
• IT project management
• Service management
• Cyber security
IT governance and organisational issues
Topics covered should include:
• Fundamental governance principles (e.g. structures to encourage moral behaviour within organisations and corporations, and moral behaviour by organisations and corporations);
• Organisational context, including business processes, organisational culture, change and risk management.
IT project management
This area involves an understanding of the factors required to successfully manage systems development projects. Topics include: team management, estimation techniques, cost/benefit analysis, risk analysis, risk management, project scheduling, quality assurance, software configuration management, project management tools, reporting and presentation techniques.
Service management
Service management deals with the ongoing operation of ICT in an organisational context and includes frameworks for structuring the interactions of ICT technical personnel with business customers and users. Many frameworks exist to guide ICT service management, for example, the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT).
Cyber security
This area is based on the ACM Cyber Security Curriculum 2017 and includes:
• Data Security
• Software Security
• Component Security
• Connection Security
• System Security
• Human Security
• Organizational Security
• Societal Security
Attachment:- ICT Professionals.rar