Gillian Arnold FBCS has been announced as the new President of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT with a call for the industry to focus on increasing public trust in tech through ethics and professionalism.
A past chair of BCS Women and managing director of tech recruitment and training company Tectre, Gillian says: “It is an honour to become president of BCS.
As the professional body for IT, we recognise the ever-increasing importance of professionalism and code of conduct for those working in the sector - particularly in light of the rise of AI. My focus as BCS President will be on helping to build public trust in tech through ethics and standards, and frameworks of professionalism.”
With extensive experience in the IT industry, Gillian setup her own IT Training and Diversity Recuitment company, Tectre, which helps women find technology roles. Gillian’s early career was spent working for IBM where she held customer facing training, technical, sales, business development, strategic marketing and consultancy roles.
She has a long involvement with work for Women in IT, supporting both industry and academic institutions in their work on diversity. She currently leads the CEPIS Women in Tech Taskforce, working across greater Europe, and created the DiversIT Charter for them. She has won numerous accolades for her work on Women in Tech including the 2012 Cisco/Everywoman In Technology award; Inclusion Inspiration of the year, an entry in the Computer Weekly Hall of Fame, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Bath.
Professor Sue Black OBE - Professor of Computer Science at Durham University and Technology Evangelist - has been announced as the new Deputy President of BCS.
Insight will contribute greatly
Rashik Parmar, Group CEO at BCS said: “Gillian’s experience and insight will contribute greatly to the Institute. She has made an outstanding contribution to information technology at the highest levels across the sector. As President of BCS, supported by our newly appointed Deputy President - Sue Black, she will give BCS a powerful voice, in particular - addressing the issue of public trust in relation to tech - as we continue to pursue our aim to make technology good for society.”
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“The thanks of our membership community go to outgoing president Mayank Prakash, whose guidance to the executive team on the key strategic themes has been vital to growing our impact. Under Mayank’s Presidency the Institute signed a memorandum of understanding between BCS and IT Ukraine - recognising the importance of IT to the Ukrainian economy, launched the My Digital Future Programme to support young people wishing to pursue a career in technology and published a diversity report in partnership with Coding Black Females. Mayank also hosted a visit to the Swindon office from BCS’s royal patron HRH The Duke of Kent, accompanied by BCS Distinguished Fellow Dame Stephanie Shirley.”
Sue Black said of her election to Deputy President: “Having been involved with BCS since the 1990s, including setting up the UK’s first online network for women in tech BCSWomen, I am really looking forward to working with Gillian, engaging with members and supporting BCS colleagues.”
About Gillian
Gillian has over 30 years experience in the IT industry and spent 22 of those years working for IBM. There, she led technical, sales, business development, strategic marketing and consultancy teams. She has broad industry experience cross platform expertise.
Gillian set up Tectre in 2010 and brought together her significant interest in encouraging more women into the STEM sectors along with a passion for ensuring that the culture of the companies those women step into is welcoming and Inclusive. Tectre provides diversity recruiting, ED&I training, and consultancy to all sectors, and is particularly focused on IT skills.
Alongside leading the Tectre Team, she has plenty of experience working in voluntary and NED roles. She is currently the Deputy President of British Computer Society (the Chartered institute for IT) and a board member of CEPIS (The Council of European Professional Informatics Societies). Prior to this she was a NED for WISE at the WISE Campaign for women in STEM and provided all of the Unconscious Bias training to their members.
Gillian was the winner of the 'Inspiration of the Year' category of the 2012 CISCO Everywoman in Technology Awards and is a member of the Computer Weekly Hall of Fame for women in IT.
She also led the BCSWomen group to achieve the UN award for their work for Women in Tech.
