There have been many communications from BCS recently, inviting people to nominate their peers to be members of Council. Voting for candidates will take place in February 2023, with new members announced in our AGM.
I’m conscious that for many years I wasn’t too sure what Council was, what it was for, and I think that’s still the case for many of our members, and certainly it’s the case for folks outside of BCS.
It’s time to shed some light on Council and what we do. I’m now aiming to post a short blog not too long after each of our meetings, to share what is being done and discussed by Council members.
What is Council for?
Well, it’s clearly not for using grammatically correct English! If you look at our homepage you will see...
“BCS Council is our advisory board; they're elected by our members and act as a sounding board for the Trustee Board. Essentially, BCS Council represents our membership – offering advice on our direction, strategy and budget, and providing a key communication channel between the Trustee Board and our members.”
One of the most important activities we performed in our November Council meeting was elect the President and Deputy President for the 2023-2024 period. It will come as no surprise that existing Deputy President, Gillian Arnold, will become President. And I am delighted to share – if you haven’t seen the news already – that Professor Sue Black OBE will be our Deputy President from the May AGM. As the work being done by the BCS Influence Board gathers momentum, it’s great that it will be amplified by influencers such as Sue and our new CEO, Rashik Parmar MBE.
Other elections included that of the Vice-President for Academy Board, with Prof Alastair Irons being given the opportunity to expand on the work he has led so far.
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We also serve to advise our Trustee Board, and the BCS. Not long after I stepped into the role of Chair of Council, I realised that there was opportunity to make even more of the experience and expertise of the members sitting around the table. I’m aiming to reserve a significant proportion of the majority of our Council meetings to shaping advice and recommendations to TB and its Boards. We’ve already provided input regarding membership to Community Board in May, and then on the new Fellowship programme in June.
Earlier in the year our President, Mayank Prakash, asked us to advise TB and the BCS Executive team on the trends that should have our focus in the upcoming years. Our CEO had taken the opportunity to request members provide their thoughts on technology trends, so we used that input to guide a working session in our meeting to add shape to our thoughts on the technology techniques, skills and profession themes that should guide the work of BCS. (F-TAG will do similar for the trending technologies.). The output of that session is now being drafted into a report.
Your Council members have a variety of backgrounds. We benefit from diverse thinking. And we all represent BCS members and are honoured to serve you by advising on the trajectory of BCS.
