The British Computer Society Young Professionals Group (YPG) was formed in 1986 (although, its roots date back to around 1983) to provide representation and support to younger members of the IT profession. Today the group is one of the largest and arguably one of the most influential

young professional The term ''young professional'' generally refers to young people between 20 and 40 who are employed in a profession or white-collar occupation. The meaning may be ambiguous"I am not sure what "young professionals" means...''After the storm: Amer ...

s groups in the UK, with over 26,000 members. The group organises events and provides services from lectures and debates to networking evenings, various competitions, college bursaries and awards. Whilst support is provided from the British Computer Society, the group's leadership is run primarily by volunteers from the younger membership of the

British Computer Society Sir Maurice Wilkes served as the first President of BCS in 1957 BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, known as the British Computer Society until 2009, is a professional body and a learned society that represents those working in infor ...

which form the YPG's executive committee and network of regional representatives.

Young IT Practitioner of the Year

The YPG judges, promotes and awards the Young IT Practitioner of the Year Award along with naming annual British Computer Society Medal Winners. This underlines one of the YPG's key roles to nurture and applaud individual ingenuity and entrepreneurial success that have made the British IT industry a leading global player. The awards mark the vital contribution made by young people to the IT profession. ;Former winners of the award * 2010 — Meri Williams,

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer hea ...

* 2009 — Jacques Erasmus, Prevx * 2008 — Sarah Christie, Procter & Gamble * 2007 — Travers Powell, Vocalink * 2006 — Saqib Shaikh, Microsoft Corporation * 2005 — Andrew McAnulla, BTL Group Ltd * 2004 — Karen Elizabeth Petrie,

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

* 2003 — James Bailey, Eclipse Internet ;Former medal winners 2010 * Adam Thompson, IBM UK Ltd * Dominic Green, Microsoft 2009 * Luke Claughton, Micheldever Tyre Services Ltd * Riyaz Patel, Yorkshire Water 2008 * Victoria O'Reilly,

Allianz Insurance Allianz ( , ) is a German Multinational corporation, multinational financial services company headquartered in Munich, Germany. Its core businesses are insurance and asset management. The company is one of the world's largest List of largest ins ...

plc * Luke Robison, IBM UK Ltd 2007 * Kate Scott,

Premier Inn Premier Inn is a British limited service hotel chain and the UK's largest hotel brand, with more than 72,000 rooms and 800 hotels. It operates hotels in a variety of locations including city centres, suburbs and airports competing with the like ...

Whitbread Group Whitbread plc is a multinational British hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England. The business was founded as a brewery in 1742, and had become the largest brewery in the world by the 1780s. Its largest division ...

plc * Chris Dale, IBM UK Ltd. 2006 * Paul Cheek, TeamSpirit Software Ltd * Mark Alexander, Graham Technology Plc * Iain McGinniss, Graham Technology Plc 2005 * Verity Wiscarson, IBM UK Ltd. * Graham Marwick, IBM UK Ltd. * Steven Henderson,

Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) and Ulster Bank ...

Group 2004 * Nicolas Eggleton, The Pensions Trust * Lee Englestone, AstraZeneca * Keith Sutcliffe, Steptronik UK 2003 * Richard Clayton, B Mason & Sons * Steven Henderson, Royal Bank of Scotland Group * David Hewitt,

James Hamilton Group James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

SkillCentre

The YPG run an event series called 'YPG SkillCentre' these events tend to help attendees still in the earlier stages of their career explore and develop skill areas that are typically untaught and/or neglected in the IT industry, such as advice on body language and tips on how to negotiate a pay rise. The series established by YPG Chairman, Andrew Brown in 2003, has since trained hundreds of IT professionals. Past events have included popular speakers such as the author of the Naked Leader, David Tayor, Chris Croft and Craig Goldblatt.

ProNetworking

ProNetworking is an event series established by YPG Chairman, Christopher Moxon in 2006 an expansion to the YPG SkillCentre event series and comprises events with two parts; offering attendees the opportunity to network whilst the second part brings together a top panel of IT professionals to share their secrets of success with the audience.

YPG OneTeam

YPG OneTeam was a project run by the YPG to consolidate the YPG's representation efforts at national and local levels.

WorkLink

Worklink was an online interactive database that allowed students to search for IT work placements. Notable employers using the service included,

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

History of the group

The YPG was originally established by students from Thames Polytechnic (now the

University of Greenwich The University of Greenwich is a public university located in London and Kent, United Kingdom. Previous names include Woolwich Polytechnic and Thames Polytechnic. The university's main campus is at the Old Royal Naval College, which along with it ...

) in 1984. By 1985, the group had over 250 members and in 1986 on 23 April the YPG's Constitution was ratified and the group held its inaugural conference organised by Barbara McManus. ;Historical listing of Chairs of the YPGYPG History

, UK.

References

{{Reflist

External links

YPG official websiteYoung Solicitors Group websiteIRO Young Professionals website
Organizations established in 1984 Young Professionals Group * 1986 establishments in the United Kingdom