One question which is asked regularly by IT professionals is “What is the value addition by CSI to its members?” We, at Mumbai Chapter, have initiated and implemented a number of steps in this direction.
A summary of steps taken so far are the following:
STF and CKF have been started recently while CIO Club and SPIN have been operational for a long time. Our experience on the events conducted so far has been that attendance has been very poor.
One of the reasons could be that the emails are not reaching all the members. We request you to ensure that your email id is current so that you can benefit from these talks.
We would also urge each one of you to come and attend these talks and get your fellow professionals along with you. We allow non-members to attend these sessions as long as there is a commitment by the individual to become a member within 5 working days.
| Events |
Description |
| CIO Club |
A quarterly meeting of CIOs with a relevant talk. Entry by invitation to CIOs only |
| SPIN |
Software Process Improvements Network. A quarterly networking event with a talk on relevant topic for Quality Management Professionals. Free Entry for members. |
| STF |
Security Technology Forum. A monthly networking event with a talk on relevant topic for Information Security Professionals. Nominal fee of Rs. 100 per person and Rs. 50 for students |
| CSI Knowledge Forum (CKF) |
A monthly knowledge sharing session on a current technology topic by a subject matter expert. Free entry for members. |
We are giving below the events held under STF and CKF since its inception and the planned activities for the next couple of months.
| Events |
Month |
Topic |
Speaker |
| Security Technology Forum |
Aug 2009 |
Inauguration
Application Security |
Dr. D. Pathak
Sasi Ganesan |
| Oct 2009 |
Cyber Security: Reverse Engineering & the Cloud. |
Vijay Mukhi |
| Nov 2009 |
BI Tools for Security Forensics. |
Ashwin Dedia |
| Dec 2009 |
Take controls of identities & data loss.
TBD (special lecture for Vashi). |
Rajendra Dhavale
S. Ramakrishnan |
| CSI Knowledge Forum |
Sept 2009 |
Technology trends for common man.
Cyber Law. |
Dr. D. Pathak
Sasi Ganesan |
| Oct 2009 |
Cloud computing & open source. |
Dr. Sasikumar |
| Nov 2009 |
Data center Energy Efficiency |
Raghunandan Patil |
| Dec 2009 |
Windows 7.0 |
TBD |
| Jan 2010 |
Web 2.0 |
TBD |
Apart from these chapter level activities, the Knowledge Management portal is now under User Acceptance Testing and will be launched in the first quarter of 2010. This portal will give you the following value additions:
• Self Service Membership Updates: You can update your own personal information on the portal without having to contact anyone at CSI. You need to ensure that you have a valid logon id (your email id) to avail this facility.
• Communities: You can set up and participate in communities of your interest. If your interest is in Cloud Computing, joint the community on Cloud Computing and participate and learn from discussion this topic.
• Forums: These are set up topics for getting quick answers to technical problems being faced by you. Send your problem to the Forum and some expert will respond quickly.
• Blogs: These are run by subject matter individuals who will write on the subject periodically. You can comment on the blog and get reactions from the expert.
• Knowledge Management (Digital Library): This will be a good repository of all the material from various conferences organized for easy access.
With so many new developments, members can get more value if they participate in these activities and get the neighbours, relations and colleagues to become CSI members. The issue is thus not value addition but value absorption by attending and participating in these activities.
If you are IT professional and not a CSI member, it is like drinking soda without a fizz.
Mr. Ravi Raman, Vice – Chairman, CSI – Mumbai Chapter.
