New Teaching Skills Standards Defined

Work is underway on Version 8 of SFIA (now in Beta), which proposes new skills for Certification Scheme Operation and Subject formation. The Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) is a set of skills definitions for computer professionals. This is used in Australia by the Australian Computer Society, and some government agencies, to categorize the skills professionals have, and those they need for a job. While mostly about technical skills and the management of projects, there is a set of education skills described as "Skills management", for those who teach computing. 

New Skills management Skills 

It might be argued that running a certification scheme is much like running any education so comes under the existing skills definitions. But there are some differences, for example in Australia how a vocational institution does assessment (which is more like certification) versus a university. The vocational sector is more interested in of the applicant has the required level of skills and knowledge, not how they got them, or how well they do them. Similarly, Subject formation might be seen as part of the existing Learning design and development, but it appears to be intended to apply at a higher level, rather than the details of a particular lesson.

The Skills management skill in SFIA Version 8 (Beta) has:

1. Learning and development management (ETMG) 3 4 5 6 7
2. Learning design and development (TMCR) 3 4 5
3. Learning delivery (ETDL) 2 3 4 5
4. Competency assessment (LEDA) 3 4 5 6
5. Certification Scheme Operation - new (CSOP) 2 3 4 5 6
6. Teaching - restructured (TEAC) 2 3 4 5 6 7
7. Subject formation -new (SUBF) 4 5 6 7

The codes in brackets are used for referencing the skill (there are hundreds of these codes). The numbers are the level the skill is defined at, from 1 low, to 7 high.

Blockchain Skills

The Australian Computer Society (ACS) is one of the bodies supporting work on blockchain in Australia. ACS uses the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). Skills for Blockchain, Distributed Ledger Technology, and Smart Contracts, have been requested for the next version of SFIA (Version 8). But this is up to the SFIA Foundation based in the UK. The Foundation is reasonably responsive: I asked for ICT Sustainability skills to be added and got them. 

In terms of vocational skills standards for blockchain, Australia already has an Advanced Diploma of Applied Blockchain (10747NAT).  There are nine blockchain specific course modules for this:

BLKPER010 - Analyse performance of a business model deployed on a blockchain	Analyse performance of a business model deployed on a blockchain	Current
BLKSMC004 - Create trust and activate a blockchain with smart contracts	Create trust and activate a blockchain with smart contracts	Current
BLKDBM002 - Develop a blockchain business model	Develop a blockchain business model	Current
BLKERE008 - Develop a blockchain governance model for stewardship	Develop a blockchain governance model for stewardship	Current
BLKFRS003 - Develop a blockchain network functional requirements specification	Develop a blockchain network functional requirements specification	Current
BLKOBN005 - Develop a framework for operating a blockchain network	Develop a framework for operating a blockchain network	Current
BLKEBF001 - Establish a blockchain framework for decentralised peer to peer consensus and innovation	Establish a blockchain framework for decentralised peer to peer consensus and innovation	Current
BLKRFB009 - Lead recruitment strategy for blockchain projects	Lead recruitment strategy for blockchain projects	Current
BLKTBO007 - Prepare the organisation for transitioning operations to a blockchain network	Prepare the organisation for transitioning operations to a blockchain network	Current

 

New Skills for the Information Age

Greetings from the Australian Computer Society Canberra Conference, where Louise Smith, ACS Director of Workforce Development & Planning and Education, is speaking on "Puzzle Out SFIA 7". This is about the new version 7 of the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). This is a very complex standard set of skills definitions for those in the computer industry. I used SFIA for designing the course Green Computing for ACS (or more accurately I defined the skills and then sent them to SFIA Foundation to put in the standard). One aspects that troubles me about SFIA, even in the new version, is the emphasis on business, rather than technical skills.

SFIA Version 7 has at level 7 a definition of knowledge:

"Has established a broad and deep business knowledge including the activities and practices of own organisation and a broad knowledge of those of suppliers, partners, competitors and clients. Fosters a culture to encourage the strategic application of generic and specific bodies of knowledge within own area of influence."

This definition refers specifically to "business knowledge", suggesting other forms of technical knowledge are not relevant. I suggest we need to acknowledge and reward technical skills at the highest levels in organizations. A modern organization depends on technology working reliably, securely and continuously. Failure of these systems can result in to the organization going out of business, as well as a loss of service to the community.

Australian Government Digital Learning Design Standards

The Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) has issued nine draft Digital learning design standards for comment. The documents all start with a request for feedback form and an overview of the standards.

Exposure drafts for the learning design standard:

1. User research
2. Digital performance analysis
3. Service design
4. Agile delivery management
5. Cyber security
6. Digital foundations
7. Product management
8. Content design

Overview of Standards

Each standard contains a six page overview.  This covers the Digital Transformation Agency's Digital Service Standard, the idea of using a multidisciplinary team, their jobs, roles and skills. While useful, this duplicated material might be better placed in a separate overview document.

Pathways to cyber security

The Cyber security standard indicates that a pathway is an undergraduate IT degree followed by five or more years working in IT. What is not clear is if any specific qualifications, apart from an IT degree are required. Specialist qualification in this area are relatively recent, but the ANU has begun offering a Master of Cyber Security, Strategy and Risk Management from second semester 2018.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) recently released a national cyberwarfare deterrence policy paper (Painter, 2018), advocating unilateral reciprocity for cyber-attacks on Australia. Civilian cyber security specialists  working for the Australian Government may well find themselves involved in such operations. As part of the Masters the ANU offerers not only courses in Defensive Operations but also Offensive Security Operations.

Skills First Then Knowledge

One curious  aspect is that the standards have a section on mapping them to the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) (as used by the ACS). However the APSC doesn't seem keen on SFIA. The Cyber Security standard says says:

"... SFIA does not address knowledge, which is the main scope of this Learning Design Standard. However, the following SFIA skills are common to cyber security professionals who would be exercising the knowledge specified in this standard"

This is a curious criticism. I had no difficulty using SFIA in learning design. With top down design the skills come first and then the knowledge required for those skills. The APSC appear to trying to do things the wrong way around, with knowledge first.

ACS Cybersecurity Certification

The Australian Computer Society (ACS) today announced Cyber Security specializations for its Certified Professional and Technologist schemes. This is defined using the UK developed Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA).

SFIA Security related skills:

• Information security (SCTY)
• Security administration (SCAD)
• Penetration testing (PENT) 
  Information assurance (INAS)

There is a list of ACS Accredited Cyber Security Courses, but it is not clear if these meet the requirements of the new certification. The ACS Core Body of Knowledge, used for accrediting courses, has a section on "Security Management".

ps: Next I suggest an ACS Teaching Specialization using the SFIA teaching skills definitions.

Extend Teaching Skills for IT Profession

The SFIA Foundation has invited suggestions for enhancements to the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). I suggest defining learning and teaching skills at levels 3 and perhaps also at level 2.

As part of my Master of Education studies I did a quick analysis of education skills for IT professionals. SFIA was very useful for this, providing a concise set of IT teaching skills:

SFIA Category Skills and ACS Membership Level

Subcategory	Skill	Code	Levels
* SFIA Version 6 definitions from ACS (2015)
Skill management	Learning and development management	ETMG	--34567
	Learning assessment and evaluation	LEDA	--3456-
	Learning design and development	TMCR	---456-
	Learning delivery	ETDL	--3456-
	Teaching and subject formation	TEAC	----56-
People management	Professional development	PDSV	---456-

However, some skills are only defined at higher levels.  ETMG, LEDA and ETDL start at level 3, but TMCR and PDSV start at 4 and TEAC at 5.

The entry level vocational qualification for the IT profession in Australia is "Diploma" in the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF Level 5). The Australian Computer Society has identified this as being SFIA Level 3. It would therefore be useful to have the SFIA learning/teaching skills defined at SFIA Level 3.

The entry level qualification for those conducting training in Australia is a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment at AQF Level 4. So it may be useful to also have the training skills defined at SFIA Level 2.

It should be noted that the qualifications required for those teaching in Australia are inversely related to the level at which they teach: the higher the level of the teaching, the lower the qualification required. School teachers are required to have a degree (soon to be masters), vocational teachers only a certificate and university lecturing requires no teaching qualification at all.

ps: The SFIA Foundation are one of the more responsive standards setting bodies. In 2008 I was commissioned by the ACS to design a course in Green IT. There were no SFIA skills defined for this at the time, so I sent my draft course to the SFIA Foundation. Skills in sustainability were subsequently added to SFIA and matched my course syllabus reasonably well. I later changed the course descriptions to reference SFIA. The course is currently offered by Athabasca University (Canada).

Mapping Skills Between Frameworks

Loise Smith from ACS is talking about Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) at the Australian Computer Society Canberra Branch Conference. She mentioned in passing that SFIA Level 3 corresponds to the skills level expected of a university graduate in the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). A Bachelor Degree is at AQF Level 7. This was good to hear, as I assumed this for Designing an Undergraduate Course on ICT Sustainability. Also I had assumed that SFIA Level 5, corresponds to a Masters Degree (AQF Level 9). Obviously these are approximate alignments.

Skills Frameworks to Reform Higher Education

Greetings from the opening of the 2014 IEEE International Conference on Computer Science and Education (ICCSE 2014) in Vancouver, where Venky Shankararaman from Singapore Management University is speaking on "Skills Frameworks: A Tool for Reform in Information Technology Higher Education".

Information Technology (IT) has revolutionized
the ways in which various sectors of the industry operate. It has enabled organizations to develop new and creative approaches to design, develop and provide products and services. Consequently, companies increasingly rely on IT solutions and Information Systems (IS) to deliver product and services. This I turn has created a need for availability of skilled IT and IS personnel for effective operational continuity within organizations. There seems to be high demand for both IT/IS skills globally. Universities and other form of tertiary institutions play a key role in developing skilled IT personnel. They deploy various approaches to designing and developing IT/IS educational
programs. Some programs could have been developed without much consideration given to the nature of demand for skills and real needs from the IT sector. It is critical to align skills development strategies and educational programs to ensure realistic and relevant needs for IT skills are met. There seems to be a need for standardization of perceptions and expectations of IT/IS roles to facilitate reform for more effective alignment of education of IT/IS with industry needs.

This is very relevant for Australia as it discusses the Sikes Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) as used in Australia. I use SFIA skills definitions in designing courses. I use SFIA partly because the courses are included in programs accreted using the framework, but also because it makes the courses more relevant to real world jobs (and it makes courses easier to design). The course "ICT Sustainability" is designed to align with SIFA Level 5 sustainability competencies, although I designed the course first, sent it to SFIA and they created the skills (discussed at ICCSE 2012).

My paper on how I did this, from ICCSE 2012: http://www.tomw.net.au/technology/it/green_computing_professional/

ICT Job Profiles

The Australian Computer Society (ACS) has released an "ICT Skills White Paper: Common ICT Job Profiles & Indicators of Skills Mobility" (30 December 2013). This may be of interest for those designing training and education to help someone get from one job category to another.

As an addition to its annual employment survey, last year the ACS asked respondents to select up to skills they use in their work section. The skills definitions they were provided with are from the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). The results were distilled by the ACS down to 25 ICT job descriptions, at five levels. SFIA defines seven levels of job from the lowest 1 to highest 7, but only levels 3 to 7 are reported on by ACS.

The top ten most common job categories, starting with the most common, were:

1. ICT Consultant
2. ICT Manager
3. Software Engineer
4. Database Administrator
5. Project Manager
6. Business Analyst
7. ICT Architect
8. Systems Administrator
9. Analyst Programmer
10. Developer Programmer

The paper gives a one page summary for each of the 25 jobs.

Levels of Responsibility

In "Four Stages of Contribution: How to Achieve Greater Impact and Influence on the Job", Kurt Sandholtz defines four levels of the sophistication of employee's work:

1. CONTRIBUTING DEPENDENTLY
2. CONTRIBUTING INDEPENDENTLY
3. CONTRIBUTING THROUGH
   OTHERS
4. CONTRIBUTING STRATEGICALLY

The Skills Framework for the Information Age defines seven Levels of responsibility for ICT professionals:

1. Follow
2. Assist
3. Apply
4. Enable
5. Ensure and advise
6. Initiate and influence
7. Set strategy, inspire, and mobilise

The ICT courses I design are part of programs accredited using SFIA, so I have to align my assessment with these levels. As an example, "ICT Sustainability" is intended to align at SFIIA Level 5.

Australian Public Service Digital Information Skills Matrix for Comment

The National Archives of Australia has issued a draft of "Digital information and records management capabilities: Skills and knowledge for Australian Government employees" (October 2013), for comment. This includes a matrix showing what skills information and records management professionals need, at levels in a government agency. Levels are categorized into APS 1–4, APS 5–6, EL 1–2 and SES.

As well as records management specialists, the skills which ICT professionals need in formation management and general staff are covered briefly.

NAA might usefully compare their matrix to the Skills Framework for the Information Age, which has a matrix of skills used in Australia and internationally. SFIA has seven levels of responsibility, which is probably too many (compared with NAA's 4). In 2010 I looked at SFIA skills relevant to records management. SFIA's Level 5 (which might equate to APS El1-2), has 8 Skills relevant to records management (plus Procurement and the Quality management skills):

1. Information management 
2.  Information policy formation 
3.  Information content publishing 
4. Methods and tools 
5. Business analysis 
6. Data analysis 
7. Database/repository design 
8. Usability evaluation 

Here are the skills listed by NAA, expected of ICT employees and information and records management specialists:

Agency Chief Information Officer — SES Band 1

Champions the agency’s vision to achieve strategic goals through effective management of all business information, wherever it is held, aligning the agency with whole-of-government directions for digital transition. Seeks opportunities to achieve operational efficiencies and improve service through appropriate and effective governance, policy and procedures that reduce risk and drive improvement Resources information management, ensuring the availability of skilled, flexible workforce and efficient and appropriate technologies. Engages with the broadest range of stakeholders using a range of communication channels to build an organisational culture that values information and embraces change as a positive and desirable aspect of agency information management.

Director, Information Technology — EL2

Interprets and implements government policies and standards by developing relevant organisational policies and procedures for digital transition, seeking opportunities to integrate information governance throughout operational business processes. Develops and manages strategies, key relationships and high-level work plans including projects, budget, staffing and performance management to deliver efficient and high-quality information and records management services Drives open, flexible, two-way communication to build an agency culture that values information as a corporate asset. Identifies and mitigates business risks associated with digital information and records management, including legacy information, wherever it is stored Promotes the relevance and value of information ownership and stewardship as essential for information and records management.

Project Officer, ICT — APS5–6

Understands information and records management requirements, assisting with the development of business processes that reflect better practice, demonstrating understanding of the requirements of relevant standards and translating them into policies and procedures. Develops and/or delivers systems training and information and records management advice and skills, tailoring advice and training to meet business units’ needs. Articulates the importance of open, flexible, innovative two-way communication and actively participates in building an agency culture that values information as a corporate asset. Understands the legal and policy issues related to the agency and its information assets, including whole-of-government initiatives, and works with others to achieve good outcomes....

From: Draft of "Digital information and records management capabilities: Skills and knowledge for Australian Government employees", NAA, October 2013.

International Standard for Higher Education via Professional Boides

Recently I was asked about the desirability and feasibility of international standards for higher education. Experience from professional bodies in standardising professional skills shows this is feasable and desirable. This also already provides a level of standardisation between national educational systems

Some programs in higher education are accredited as being suitable for membership of professional bodies, providing a form of standardization between institutions nationally, and in some cases internationally. In the computing profession, a commonly used standard in the USA, and elsewhere, is the ACM/IEEE CS Computer Science Curricula. A new 2013 ACM/IEEE CS Computer Science Curricula is under development.

The Australian Computer Society (ACS) accredits computing degree courses at Australian universities as being suitable for membership and has its own ICT Professional Body of Knowledge. Each university's curriculum, facilities and staff are checked by ACS before accreditation.

There are some standards for computer professional skills agreed between national bodies, thus bringing some level of international standardization. One standard from the UK and also used in Australia is the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA).