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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
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