Chairman's report for the year 2007 / 2008

Dear Member,

This year I have stepped down as Chairman of the London Central Branch. I have been Chair since 2002 and after six very enjoyable years I think it’s time to let someone else take the reins. Over this period we have seen several important changes, perhaps the most important of which was our move of venue for our programme of meetings from what was the IEE to these excellent facilities in Southampton Street. As well as the meeting rooms, the foyer space here has allowed us to introduce a networking dimension to our meetings. For most of us coming straight from work, the introduction of light refreshments after the talk not only meant we could avoid a hungry journey home, but also that we have become part of what has begun to feel much more like a community of interest. The second major change has been to use email and the website to communicate more effectively, not only about our own meetings, but also about a variety of other items of interest. The ability to send reminders and link to an informative website has had a significant impact on the numbers of members and visitors attending events, at least doubling our normal attendance figures and again contributing to the sense of being part of the branch. (If you haven’t given HQ your current email address, it would be helpful to do so). None of this would have been achieved without the time and contribution of the Committee and I would like to thank them all for their unfailing loyalty and support.

This year’s programme

Yet again it has been another year of deeply interesting speakers at the top of their profession presenting a wide variety of topics about our endlessly changing world of information systems, and it has been wonderful to see so many members contributing and taking part. Thank you to everyone who has helped in so many different ways to make London Central Branch such a thriving and vigorous focus of professional activity. As ever, this year I have been delighted by the level of audience participation which always makes for a lively evening, as well as the impressive quality of the contributions from fellow members. In my experience, the combination of speaker candour and insightful questioning that we experience at our meetings is something you will not find easily elsewhere. Apart from anything else, it represents great value for your membership fee.

As ever our programme included a mix of case studies, emerging technology and best practice. We began the Programme by following up the BCS Health Informatics Forum report on National Programme for IT with a critical appraisal of the Programme by Brian Derry and Andrew Haw. In October we turned to a more global perspective with an expert assessment by Charles Chang of the threats and opportunities presented by the rapid changes in China and India. For the past three years we have had very popular talks on career development, and this year’s was no exception. Ben Clark and Ben Lamb gave a hard hitting appraisal of what it takes to get your next job in IT in November. In the same month we had a social outing, with a spectacular trip to the London Eye to see London at night, followed by pizza. In a joint meeting with Kingston and Croydon in December, David France of Honda Racing explained how to deliver even when under the sort of pressure that most of us will never experience.

In the New Year we heard three talks on different challenges to successful delivery: creativity, agility and complexity. We know that poor designs are often poor because they simply automate an existing process, but how do you create a new one? In January Neil Maiden described to a fascinated audience how he and his team at City University use analogies between surprisingly different domains (flight planning and peace negotiation) to generate new solutions. What if requirements keep changing? Jennifer Stapleton explained how to structure and manage a programme that needs to be agile. This was followed by a joint event with the Association for Project Management where Dr Peter Parkes and Dr Mark Winter provided an update on the use of Soft Systems Methods for addressing highly complex public sector projects.

As our contribution to Science Week, Professor Clive Holtham explained how accountancy and general management will bring a paradigm shift in the intelligent exploitation of IT. Continuing the theme of looking at how different disciplines might work together in our second joint meeting with Kingston and Croydon, Professor Sir Tony Hoare, reviewed, with much audience help, the wide cultural gap between scientists and engineers and suggested how to bridge the gulf.

And finally, we were pleased to welcome Chris Potts who kindly stepped in at the last minute to share his insight into the way IT strategy is changing.

Special Thanks

I know you will wish to thank all our speakers for helping make the branch Programme a success this year. The staff at Southampton Street deserve our recognition for their willing support. As well as reiterating thanks to the committee on behalf of the branch, I must also especially thank Simin Kamali for her organisational skills as Secretary, Paul Colton for managing the finances so efficiently, Alan Jones for maintaining and improving the website, Jeff Hillmore for as always his unstinting contribution and Tony Miller for managing communications and publicity, particularly for new members.

If you feel you could contribute, please let us know.

Simon Jewell

Central London Branch, May 2008