Policy and influence
BCS policy seeks to uphold the highest ethical standards and practices in a rapidly changing digital landscape. We are an influential voice in the tech sector, listened to by government, industry, and the wider society.
Our priorities
We are constantly working to address the digital challenges facing our society to ensure technology’s impact is positive for everyone.
As BCS emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic we have identified four key themes that we as the professional body for IT need to focus on to ensure we are making IT good for society.
The BCS President is working with the BCS policy team to streamline activity under four themes and campaign goals agreed and signed off by the BCS Trustee Board and Council which are:
- Our digital lives should be in the hands of competent, ethical, and accountable professionals.
- Greater diversity and inclusion in the IT profession benefit society.
- The digital divide is a modern measure of inequality; it can be closed by access to skills as well as technology.
- The world will achieve net zero more rapidly with support of digital and data technologies.
Supporting Ukraine
BCS is about making IT good for society. That means offering practical help by opening our networks, expertise, and facilities to all technologists from Ukraine at this time.
We also want to go further. Membership of our community and the support that comes with it (at no cost) is now open to any IT professional displaced or affected by international conflict.
Discover BCS membership
You’ll be joining a thriving community of IT professionals and benefits include access to regular events, conferences, meetings, as well the chance to join our members groups.
Partner with us
We regular partner with other organisations, seeking their views and expertise. Email the policy team directly: policyhub@bcs.uk or contact us.
Key policy stakeholders we work with:
As the professional body for information technology, we have partnerships and associations with other organisations and bodies across the sector.
BCS is an active member of:
- The National Engineering Policy Centre, hosted by the Royal Academy of Engineering
- The UK Cyber Security Council, which is the self-regulatory body for the UK's cyber security profession
- The Alliance for Data Science Professionals, which is an alliance of the Royal Statistical Society, BCS, the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications, the Operational Research Society, the National Physical Laboratory, and the Alan Turing Institute, which is supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society
- The Data Skills Taskforce, hosted by the Alan Turing Institute, which is a forum for many organisations working to support DCMS to address the UK’s data skills challenge
- The Federation for Informatics Professions (FEDIP), is the only public register for all informatics professionals in the UK dedicated to delivering better health and care through the advanced use of technology.
- Council of European Professional Informatics Societies (CEPIS) Diverse IT Charter - BCS is one of the founding members of the DiversIT charter, a CEPIS flagship initiative, aimed at reducing gender disparity in IT roles