Fifty Russian graduate students received the first chief information officer (CIO) professional certificates from the International Academy of CIO (IAC) accreditation program during a ceremony held at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) jubilee conference in February.
The CIO certificates are part of the IAC accreditation program launched in 2015 and designed to foster the development of IT leadership and CIO graduate education and to facilitate the exchange of best practices.
The RANEPA students were part of the master’s program in the School of IT Management, which was the first school to gain accreditation in the IAC program. Next in line, George Mason University students from the MS in Management of Secure Information Systems will receive CIO certificates at May graduation.
“This accreditation program will help guarantee that students around the globe, even those from developing countries, have the knowledge and skills needed to lead in the rapidly evolving technology environment,” said Dr. Toshio Obi, IAC president and director, Institute of eGovernment, Waseda University.
Alexander Sokolov, director of RANEPA’s School of IT Management (left) and Abel Aganbegyan, RANEPA’s president (right), with student Leonid Elagin, deputy head of department at Russian Agricultural Bank.
The accreditation, the only one recognized around the world in the field of advanced IT management and leadership education, was developed through close collaborations with IT practitioners in private sector, government and academia during the development phases.
Institutions can apply for accreditation through the IAC. Eligible programs are those that offer advanced degrees focusing on, or having a large component in, IT management and leadership. Programs must be operating for more than two years.
The program’s newly published handbook describes the process for institutions to apply for accreditation and details the indicators of a successful education program such as financial capacity, staff qualification, administration adequacy and curricula development. Guidelines for curriculum design are outlined, including learning objectives and a set of core competencies for chief information officers.
For a copy of the IAC Accreditation Handbook, contact: Jean-Pierre Auffret, jauffret@gmu.edu.