Towards a certification-centred software engineering programme

Today, we find that software engineering (SE) and IT professionals increasingly demand training and education that leads to some form of certification. The paper describes the impact the trend for certification has had at the Institute of Systems Science (ISS), one of the major IT training and education providers in the Singapore region. We identify the perceived benefits of certification both from the point of view of the individual (certification seeker or certification holder) and prospective employees. The SE and IT education programmes offered by the ISS are briefly presented. We describe the ISS efforts in providing a Java Certification programme as an example of how a certification issue is being tackled. The lessons learnt from this experience are discussed. To conclude, we indicate how the issue of certification is being addressed at a strategic level within the ISS, and thoughts on the future.