On 31 July 1984, BCS was granted a royal charter. On 21 September, it was witnessed by the Queen. Brian Runciman MBCS looks at the central role of professionalism.
For an idea that was launched in the 13th century, royal charters are hugely relevant in the 21st. It was in the early 19th century, as new professions arose after the industrial revolution, that organisations started laying out their constitutions and defining their professions. When the concept of working in the public interest was added, a new pattern was also established for British professional bodies; public interest remains a key test for a body seeking a royal charter today — and is a major element of BCS’ approach.
Following the monarch’s approval, September 1984 saw the announcement that the British Computer Society had been granted a royal charter, emphasising the society’s ‘role in promoting the science and technology of computing for the benefit of the public.’
It’s all about professionalism
From the very beginning the members were an inextricable part of the process — their professionalism, their input. The 1981 working party asked about the ramifications of petitioning for a charter: what will be the effects on the society, its members and the public? What will it cost the society in time, money and administrative manpower? What will be the benefits to the general public and our members in the event that it should be granted?
And to give strength to that, BCS said: ‘Whether or not to petition for a royal charter is such a fundamental question for the entire Society that this will only be resolved by a detailed referendum of the total membership.'
In 1982, before going any further with the charter proposal, the society took a long hard look at what the term professional means and how the membership rules of the time could be reconciled with a charter proposal — in short, to ensure that only professionals achieve Fellowship status.
What’s in a name?
In 1983 the sometimes vexed question of naming also came up: ‘The name of the Society needs firstly to encapsulate what the Society stands for, and secondly to relate to and be compatible with the objects for which the BCS was established and last, but by no means least, to be seen to be appropriate and clearly recognisable by both individuals and external organisations with whom the Society and its members come into contact on professional matters.’
At the time BCS was taking the necessary long view, based on how already in 1983 ‘computing touches virtually every aspect of modern life and…there is high public awareness of the impact which computers have on the social and economic wellbeing of all strata of society.’
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A letter in 1982 discussed the issue of dividing a skilled workforce into ‘professionals’ and ‘others’. Mentioning that there are those who pursue their employment as a vocation, some IT jobs (notably, programming was cited), were not yet demonstrably life-long pursuits. Of course in the 21st century this is not the case, only strengthening the importance to BCS of holding the chart
BCS considered that the present healthy state of the computing profession in the UK owed much to its own activities, especially ‘in establishing and developing essential professional standards and practices to meet the needs of computer users and suppliers.’
They felt that with the charter, BCS ‘would be able to act decisively and authoritatively as the national spokesman for computing matters.’ And as if this were not relevant enough in 2024, they went on to note that ‘the increased freedom of action would be especially helpful in enabling the Society to respond quickly to the changing demands of new technologies, and the authority deriving from chartered status would engender public confidence in the computing profession and in the professional standards within the industry.’
