The global skills and competency framework for the digital world
April 2022 - SFIA update

April 2022 - SFIA update

SFIA conference | SFIA basic awareness training | SFIA Change requests

Estimated reading time - 3 min, 4 secs.

SFIA conference and/or webinars

  • Our current plan is to hold a virtual, “follow the sun”, conference in 2023 to allow full global participation
  • We still have some work to do to confirm the value of a conference compared to a series of webinars 
  • Thank you to everyone who volunteered as presenters and who suggested topics they would like to hear about

Sharing your experiences of using SFIA

  • We know the SFIA community is very interested in hearing about useful/interesting ways SFIA is being used 
  • So we know we need to find ways for people and organisations who don't usually speak at conferences or webinars  to share their experiences
  • We are looking at ways to make this simple and comfortable for those willing to participate e.g. 
    • panel discussions can be a good way of sharing and answering questions without being put on the spot as a speaker
    • recording presentations off-line to be shared as a webinar (this allows for edits and removes the concerns of technology failing or words drying up)  
    • written presentations or papers
  • So if you use SFIA and are willing to share your experiences please follow the link  https://forms.office.com/r/69N4CUrNuf
    • This is not a firm commitment - its just a way of showing interest and starting the process.
    • This information won't be shared until you are happy to do so.

Topics you would like to hear about at a conference/webinar

  • We like to know your ideas on themes and topics for a conference
  • Please take 2 minutes to share your ideas using this form or contact me directly

Conference exhibitors/sponsors

  • Exhibitors/sponsors are an important part of a conference
  • We are investigating a number of conference platform tools and will soon need some input from potential exhibitors /sponsors.
  • Please contact Ian Seward, SFIA Foundation General Manager if you are interested in finding out more 
  • Note - All SFIA Accredited Partners will be invited to a webinar to discuss this - you do not need to respond to this request as well

Basic education/awareness of the SFIA framework

  • We mentioned last month that we are developing material to provide basic SFIA education and awareness in an accessible and engaging style.
    • The aim is for the material to be used by individuals, employers, professional bodies, universities, colleges, SFIA Consultants, SFIA Practitioners etc.
  • We have a small group now developing the target learning outcomes and looking at options for delivering the learning material. 

Your input 

  • In addition we have a very short survey to quickly get your thoughts on a couple of questions related to this
  • We don't need detailed or lengthy answers - just 1 or 2 bullet points in response to 2 questions
  • The form can be found here https://forms.office.com/r/k6Mt4WFUX0

Change requests

  • We published the current version of SFIA (SFIA 8) in September 2021 
  • We typically operate a 3 year update cycle - provisionally this means SFIA 9 would be published around Q2 2024 to Q1 2025
  • Although this is still some time away - we have now opened up Future SFIA on the website where anyone can submit change requests and keep in touch with developments to the SFIA framework
  • As well as change requests - we are collecting ideas for major industry themes.
    • This is to consider changes where the impact may be wider than individual SFIA skills or groups of skills
  • SFIA 8 included a significant re-write and re-structuring which has had very positive feedback.
    • Enabling change requests early allows for ideas to be submitted in a timely fashion and allows for quality solutions to be developed

Incremental versions of SFIA (between major releases) 

  • SFIA is updated more frequently and more reliably than other similar frameworks
    • Over time - a 3 year update cycle has proven to provide an optimal balance between keeping up to date and providing a stable resource
  • In response to user demand - we are looking at the benefits and impact of releasing incremental versions of SFIA between major releases
    • This could mean additional skills and/or updating content of existing skills - e.g. refining the guidance notes for skills, adding new skill level descriptions
    • There are advantages and disadvantage to incremental releases. The SFIA Design Authority will be investigating this and we will share ideas for this before implementing any changes 

Please get in touch with ideas or questions .

Peter Leather

SFIA Updates Manager