Turing Lecture in Dublin to kick off ICS 50th Anniversary Campaign

The Irish Computer Society is delighted to announce that the 2017 Turing Lecture series will take place at Dublin Castle on February 22nd to mark the Irish Computer Society’s 50th anniversary.

At this, the first of our 50^th Anniversary events, renowned scientist Dr Guruduth S. Banavar pictured above, will explore the future of AI and cognitive computing.
ICS was successful in its bid to bring the lecture – now in its 22nd year – to Dublin to coincide with the Irish Computer Society’s 50th anniversary.

This is the first of a series of events scheduled throughout the year to celebrate the last 50 years of computing in Ireland. A number of similarly prestigious events are planned throughout the year including the ICS Fellows Luncheon in May, the World Conference for Computing in Education at Dublin Castle in July and a Gala Member Dinner in the autumn.

We will also be publishing several interviews throughout the year with prominent and/ or long-standing members of ICS talking about how the society has changed throughout the years and what its ambitions are for the future.

Jim Friars, CEO of the Irish Computer Society said, ‘It is amazing to see how far IT has come in the last 50 years and we are very proud to have been able to develop, grow and stay relevant to our membership through this time. The IT profession is growing faster than ever before. More than that, it is now establishing its own identity.’

‘Simply put, IT has matured, and has begun to model itself on more established professional career paths like engineering, medicine, and law. For IT, though, there is no single point of entry (e.g. a degree or an exam). It is far more dynamic, and it is constantly moving. Take coding as an example. Although it is what people typically associate with IT roles, coding only makes up approximately 30% of roles within the profession. But then there’s the other 70% – still IT, but far more diverse,’ said Mr Friars.

‘There is still a lot more to do to support one of Ireland Inc.’s most important sectors but it’s something we love doing so it’s not hard. We are excited to see what the future of the IT profession will be – here’s to another 50 years!’ concluded Mr. Friars.