Activities
The Company has a significant charitable and educational programme which uses the expertise, resources and networks of its members, and it is also involved in a range of activities to promote the information technology profession.
The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists focuses on three key areas of activity:
- Working with charities: Getting the maximum benefit from IT is now a pre-requisite, not just for commercial organisations but also for the charity sector. The Company works with a wide range of non-profit organisations with the aim of helping them to gain the maximum benefit from their IT. Members give their time and expertise to provide pro-bono IT advice (usually at a strategic level). In addition, iT4Communities is the national IT volunteering programme, introducing volunteer IT professionals to charities needing IT help and support. iT4C was set up by the Worshipful Company in 2002 and since then has registered over 5,000 volunteers and more than 2,500 charities. iT4C has delivered over £3 million worth of support to the charity sector thanks to the work of the dedicated volunteer IT professionals.
- Education: For hundreds of years Livery Companies have supported schools in London and across the United Kingdom. Currently, the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists has a partnership with Lilian Baylis Technology School in Lambeth. Previous projects include HOLNET (the History Of London on the interNET), which is now incorporated into the London Grid for Learning. In 2011, together with the Worshipful Company of Mercers (the premier Livery Company), they opened Hammersmith Academy, a new academy school specialising in IT.
- IT profession: With members coming from all sectors of the IT field, the Company can provide a neutral meeting ground for discussion of issues that are central to both the profession and the City of London. It also runs a Journeyman Scheme which supports young IT professionals in the early stages of their career.
The company has a number of panels through which activities are organised. It is probably unique amongst Livery Companies in having an Ethical and Spiritual Development Panel, which considers such topics as the ethical and spiritual implications of the Internet — running colloquia on that topic in the House of Lords as far back as 1997.
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