WALUBENGO: Defining the computer professional

The local university calendar for the first year students begins in September, two weeks away.

Already, parents and students are wondering how to distinguish between the long list of computer related courses on offer in the universities.

The three main programs on offer in most local universities include the BSc Information Systems, the BSc Information Technology and the BSc Computer Science.

There are overlapping competencies across each of them but ideally, the Information Systems (IS) specialists would design the computer system, the Information Technology (IT) specialists would implement the system using computer tools, while the Computer Scientist would design and develop these tools of implementation.

If we used the construction industry as the analogy:- the IS specialists would be like the Architecture who designs the building according to client needs,  the IT specialist would be the implementer who will use construction machinery to bring up the building while the Computer Scientist would be like the engineering firm that manufactures the construction machinery to be used by the IT and IS specialists.

If we used the medical industry as the analogy:- the IS specialist would be like the doctor who establishes the problem and recommends a solution. The doctor may give out some prescription to be mixed and dispensed by the pharmacist in form of drugs. 

The pharmacist in this case would be like the IT Specialist – implementing and dispensing solutions.  The drugs have to be developed by another group of medical scientists who can be equated to Computer Scientists – developing tools that are used by IT and IS specialists to solve problems.

Obviously, all these professionals do take common core subjects during their training. For example, programming is the most common track amongst the IS specialists, IT specialists and Computer Scientists. What will vary is the depth and emphasis made in order to better align with the eventual role each professional is expected to play in the computing industry.

HARNESS CAPACITIES

However, our local ICT industry is not mature enough to harness the different capacities and specialist roles described above.  So most employers would hire one type of professional, say a Computer Scientist and then expect her to juggle all the three roles of establishing the problem and designing the solution (IS role), Implementing the solution (IT role) and developing the tools of implementation (Computer Scientist).

In more developed economies, one would find Computer Scientists dedicated to researching and developing the next generation  computer tools that would be used by IT /IS specialists  - perhaps five years from today in order to design and implement some advanced artificial intelligent e-Commerce systems. Scientists tend to be futuristic in their training as compared to the implementers.

This does not mean Computer Scientists cannot implement solutions, it simply means that the abstract (mathematical) knowledge and skills acquired during their training will remain untapped as they focus on implementation rather than researching and patenting the next generation computer tools.

It is important for students and parents to appreciate the salient differences between the various computer professionals in order to gain a better fit between the student and their selected course.  In addition, it is important for the employers to also understand these differences in order to better match graduates to job descriptions or profiles.