Dear James, A few responses inline

There is no contention on the need for hard working, innovative "ICT

practitioners" passionate about their craft.

What is in contention is whether this is the right time to bring in

regulation to the industry, not regulation of the practice. What we don't have, because the ingredients forming the industry are still changing rapidly is an ICT profession. Will there ever be an all-round ICT "professional"?

This is not the premise. There is a whole new world where we do not even have questions about " the profession ". Because these barriers are being eliminated everyday by alternative thinking.

Looking at human medicine, the human body is not changing, so one can standardise the medical profession, with known practices and various specialisations once the basic learning is done.

It that it?

But even old professions are being affected by disruption. Let me give an example of the law. The protectionism around it is decaying. Because people have realized that you do not need seven years to "know" the law. The long study is about prestige, rites etc. You can learn it by yourself and use it, case in point, Omtatah. And Kenyans are now questioning these things, what is the intent, who will benefit most? And it is the thing about children born in the digital period. They question tradition and form their own supercultures.

We need to accept that ICT is in everything now. And it is entering mission-critical, life dependant places. And for a doctor who wants to carry out a remote surgical operation, the ICT professional helping him set up the equipment on local and remote site better be qualified in something beyond passion and innovation. Those don’t cut it at that point.

And the important qualifications in your example is knowledge of machines. Never mind whether someone stepped into a tertiary class and obtained papers. They could be self taught with a bit of apprenticeship etc But leave alone ICT, AI is coming.....who will need regulation then... Man or machine?

The Wright brothers had no flying license. The pilots today do.

I liken it to weaving a rope. At some points all the strands have to come together and form the rope. Are we looking at the quality of the strand or

And today, planes can fly without pilots. the strength of the rope? If it is both, then there are two different mechanisms at play.

We could be in the era of unweaving the rope. Deconstruction of ideas that have protected certain quarters in society. At some point strands have to separate. Depends on how well woven the rope was. Regards,