Any good, upstanding web nerd knows Tim Berners-Lee. Recently he was interviewed by the British Computer Society. Berners-Lee makes some very good points about the state of the web and the direction its heading. Most of all he captures the essence of what has been discussed at several of the PSO meetings when asked about professionalism in IT.
When it comes to professionalism as a general topic there are important things to talk about and it makes sense to talk about being professional in IT. This may be a biased point of view, but standards are vital so that IT professionals can provide systems that last.
Customers need to be given control of their own data - not being tied into a certain manufacturer so that when there are problems they are always obliged to go back to them. IT professionals have a responsibility to understand the use of standards and the importance of making Web applications that work with any kind of device.
They need to take the view that data is a precious thing and will last longer than the systems themselves.
This point drives home the fact that Web Standards and best practices as a whole are more than just the trendy way to design. This idea is the driving force behind efforts like microformats. Web Standards provide us with a means of sharing information and proliferating it into the future.
