SFIA as the IT Skills Standard in the UK

Review and Update

The update of SFIA ensures that SFIA stays in tune with current thinking about IT skills. Over the years SFIA has become very influential in how people think about IT skills, so we will always take soundings from IT practitioners working in a range of corporate, government and educational organisations.

That is how SFIA, as the common language of IT, continues to evolve and stay relevant.

During the year 2011, interested groups and individuals around the world submitted feedback to the Foundation. Their comments were gathered on SFIA’s on-line consultation forum. Every single one of these contributions was analysed. Unsurprisingly, not all comment was consistent, but strong efforts were made to produce the best solution.

Proposed amendments were put on the website for further comment before being reviewed and edited for publication. Thanks are due to all those who have contributed by giving us the benefit of their experience.

Remember that SFIA describes individual professional skills – not knowledge, not jobs, not roles, not people, not processes, and not general areas of activity, however important they are. The comments received have been processed with that in mind.

All skill descriptions have been reviewed. Many have been improved, and the result is SFIA version 5. SFIA remains in its recognisable format but with clear improvement. Use SFIA version 5 to ensure your job descriptions reflect IT today.