SUMMARY
In view of the multitude of qualifications awarded by different bodies, covering different IT professional disciplines, skill levels and experience, there is an initiative for the ICT Industry to prepare an IT Career Matrix and a roadmap for professional qualifications for IT professionals.
New certification titles being conceived in the future must (1) satisfy the immediate and/or most important needs of the IT industry of Hong Kong and (2) not duplicate those already offered locally or internationally to ensure maximum benefits and to avoid duplication of resources.
The matrices and roadmap developed aim to be multi-purposeful and benefit students, IT practitioners, employers, professional bodies, academic and training institutions as well as the Government by providing clear guidelines and benchmarks for the IT industry as a whole. In particular it will allow IT professionals to plan their career development more effectively and certification providers to develop certifications that focus on satisfying the requirements of the Industry.
For this reason, a "Development of a Certification Roadmap for the IT Professional Certification" project was initiated by HKCS and partial funding sponsorship has been obtained from OGCIO.
A 3 x 7 generic job titles matrix was first developed to identify the generic job responsibilities for 7 job categories at 3 competency levels. The 3 competency levels are (1) Master (2) Specialist and (3) Practitioner. The 7 job categories are (1) Software Engineering/Software Development (2) Quality Assurance (3) Project Management (ICT) (4) IT Architecture (5) Service Management and Operation (6) Information Security and (7) Multimedia.
To complement the 3 x 7 generic job titles matrix, a corresponding competency standards matrix was developed. It serves to identify the task competencies required for each job category at each of the 3 levels. It is based on the complexity, the scale and the unprecedented challenges inherited in a job in addition to the needed industry-specific knowledge, professional skills and soft skills.
In order to create the Certification Roadmap, a review of approximately 1,000 existing local and international IT-related certifications was completed. Based on this review, a mapping exercise and gap analysis was conducted to analyze whether any "gaps" exist in the coverage of certifications for the full spectrum of IT jobs. The mapping was done by comparing the competencies of each job category at each competency level to the knowledge requirements of each certification. If the knowledge required by a certification can fulfill such a competency, then a 'match' is indicated for that competency. Outcome can be (1) largely equivalent (2) somewhat relevant (3) significantly different.
Based on the research, it is observed that most of the job categories appear to have at least one available certification which is largely equivalent to acknowledge the competency required. As such, it is suggested that no heavy effort is required to develop new certification for most of the job categories. Exceptions are Quality Assurance at Practitioner level and Multimedia at Master level.
There is no available UoC for the category of Multimedia for the time being. This is a fast emerging job category, it is suggested that relevant competency standards can be defined by HKQF as soon as possible so that relevant certification can be created and appropriate resources can be allocated to develop more professionals in this area.
In order to ensure that the findings from the various matrices and gap analyses derived are useful to those in the industry and the public, the report should not be a "snapshot", but rather a continual process so that findings stay relevant and sustainable to the IT industry over time. As such, a periodic review of available certifications is required. To do this, HKCS will set up a Review Committee and develop a review process for continual review, refinement and expansion of the Matrix and Roadmap.
In addition, continuous efforts were made to strengthen collaboration opportunities between Hong Kong and the Mainland on whether cross and reciprocal recognition of certification is feasible. Continuing efforts will be made towards the alignment of the suggested 3 x 7 matrix with those certifications in the Mainland. Certificates issued in the Mainland are primarily technically-focused and shall be able to fill the lack of certification at the technician level in Hong Kong. On the other hand, it is suggested to have additional publicity in the Mainland about the Hong Kong certifications which are more focused on professional development at higher levels. This is complementing to the current certifications in the Mainland on developing their professional and soft skills.
As described, this Roadmap project consists of extensive research on existing certificates and provides information about the availability of existing certificates against each of the levels within the job categories, however, it is not about validating, evaluating or endorsing any existing certifications. Any potential ‘gaps’ in the certification spectrum can be further explored by relevant stakeholders for appropriate actions.