CMA members ponder BCS alliance

Members of the Communications Management Association (CMA) will convene at the body's annual general meeting (AGM) next month with the aim of voting whether or not it should become part of the British Computer Society (BCS).

The two organisations believe that joining forces will strengthen their respective positions in a world where the convergence of IT and telecoms is becoming an increasingly dominant theme.

If the potential team up gets the green light from members, the BCS will be able to beef up its field communications offering while the CMA will benefit from access to a wider pool of both resources and IT professionals.

The CMA, should the move be agreed, intends to remain a separate company with its own brand and membership in addition to retaining its charitable status and independent regulatory consultation role.

Under the deal, CMA members would become affiliate BCS members and vice versa, while the BCS would develop a new communications forum operated by the CMA.

"Our industry is particularly fast moving and ever changing and it goes without saying that the needs and roles of our members change with it," said CMA chair Carolyn Kimber.

"At the turn of the century we had the foresight to go through the disruption of changing our name to reflect these changes, a move which has definitely served us well, but, in itself, has not fully insulated us from the massive technical and organisational revolution in the industry during the past 10 years. The synergies between CMA and BCS are such that not only can CMA help move BCS from being very IT focussed to becoming a more broadly-based ICT professional body, but also the considerable resources of BCS can be deployed to help move CMA forward in its own area of communications."

By combining their respective expertise and weight in the industry, the two bodies hope to encourage and support UK businesses to view and use ICT as a key component of their continued development and success.

"Information, technology and communications disciplines are continuing to converge at an ever increasing rate," said the BCS' chief executive David Clarke.

"BCS is delighted to be working with CMA to develop an integrated approach which will enable us to collectively meet the needs of both organisations and individuals much more comprehensively in the future."