An IT Body of Knowledge: The Key to an Emerging Profession

The information technology body of knowledge (BOK) is reviewed for its support to IT as an emerging profession. The author discusses the IT BOK for the important roles it can fulfill in support of education, certification, professional stature, professional development, and organizational improvement. Efforts to develop and maintain the IT BOK also have beneficial side effects, such as focusing attention on global perceptions and practices and keeping the characterization of IT current. The author offers recommendations for IT professionals to enhance the IT BOK by participating in its development, experimenting with ways to represent it more effectively, and assessing the potential benefits of creating a new BOK oriented to IT professional practice.