With summer just around the corner, we want to say a big thank you for the time, energy, and enthusiasm you bring to the BCS community.
This quarter’s edition features some great articles in the Community Spotlight Series, celebrating the winners of the BCS Lovelace and Society Medals, and key updates on events, expenses, and resources to help make your volunteer experience even smoother.
As always, we encourage you to explore upcoming events and opportunities to stay connected and inspired. We’ve included highlights on upcoming conferences, a progress update on the Member Group Rules Review and news from our incoming President.
Finally, we’d like to wish all our volunteers a wonderful summer and thank you again - your support truly makes a difference, and we’re so grateful for everything you do.
Quishing: QR or QRn’t? By Tim Clark MBCS Tim explores the rising threat of ‘quishing’—QR code phishing—and what individuals and organisations can do to stay one step ahead of this evolving cyber risk.
12 ways psychology makes computers better By Kolawole Daramola MBCS Kolawole highlights how principles from psychology can enhance computing, bridging the gap between human behaviour and digital design.
60 years of computing and the development of IRMA By Dr John Mitchell FBCS (BCS Information Risk Management & Assurance Specialist Group) This article highlights the Information Risk Management and Assurance (IRMA) Specialist Group's significant contributions to the field of information risk management over the past six decades.
The ethics of travel: Balancing safety, sustainability and personal autonomy By Professor Neil Gordon, Tunde Akindele, and Pierre Morel (BCS Ethics Specialist Group) How do ethical considerations, like environmental impact, personal freedom, and public safety, shape our travel choices in an increasingly connected world?
Dare, always dare: Lovelace Colloquium 2025 BCSWomen Specialist Group Celebrating its 18th year, the 2025 BCSWomen Lovelace Colloquium featured keynote talks, a record-breaking poster contest, and vibrant networking opportunities, all aimed at empowering the next generation of tech talent.
Established in 2020, the Society Medal is one of BCS's highest awards. It celebrates people who make extraordinary use of IT and computing for the benefit of society. Winners can be recognised across any discipline, including design, practice, research, influence and policy.
Established in 1998, the BCS Lovelace Medal recognises people who have made exceptional contributions to either the understanding and advancement of computing, or to computing education
We’ve noted recently that we are receiving expense claim submissions on previous version of our Expense Claim Form. Claims submitted on previous versions of the form will no longer be processed and incorrect submissions will result in delays in reimbursement.
Following feedback to CSC and the Community Team, we have introduced a new mailing list feature that enables you to contact new members of your group.
All you need to do is add ‘+new’ to your mailing list address, for example, if ‘swindon@lists.bcs.uk’ is your group's all member mailing list, ‘swindon+new@lists.bcs.uk’ would send to just the new members.
The list is continuously refreshed incorporating members who have joined in the last 30 days, after each send to the list members who have been contacted already are removed, ensuring only new members are included in comms.
Event Lead Times
As we enter the summer months, we are seeing an increase in community event requests. We wanted to remind Member Groups that the lead time for event requests is 6 weeks. The Community team are currently working through submitted request forms and require event requests to be submitted in good time to allow for processing and adequate promotion.
Please ensure you have read the submission and that it is accurate before sending it; any inaccuracies may require further correspondence before the event can be published and cause a delay in publication.
With the current surge in Member Group events, we wanted to spotlight our sponsorship guidance. With a multitude of sponsorship types available to groups, our Volunteer Help Centre provides details of the mandatory requirements, the sponsorship process (for both procuring a sponsor and being a sponsor), as well as tips for pitching sponsorship opportunities, including a sponsorship brochure template.
If you require further support pursuing a sponsorship or wish to submit a sponsorship proposal for consideration, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Community Team at groups@bcs.uk.
Volunteer Awards and Recognition
At BCS, our volunteers are the driving force behind our mission and the fulfilment of our charitable aims under the Royal Charter. Your commitment, passion, and hard work make a real difference and we’re proud to celebrate your incredible contributions through our dedicated volunteer awards.
Recent award recipients: We’d like to celebrate the following volunteers who recently received volunteer awards:
10 Years Long Service award – Fred Long and Andy Cox
Mark your calendars! Join your fellow community members for a plethora of events, both online and in person. Curious about what's coming up? Check out the community events calendar here!
Conference season in the BCS Community is officially here! BCS SIGiST Summer Conference 2025 - Finding Calm in Chaos: Applying Testing to a Changing World:
Can you help the next generation of tech professionals? An IT career is one of the most powerful catalysts for social mobility and My Digital Future aims to make careers in tech accessible to all young people, no matter their background or circumstance. This three-year support programme for 16-24 year olds offers tailored support, including coaching, and financial support for IT equipment, materials training or travel.
My Digital Future is made possible through the generous donations of individuals and organisations to the BCS Foundation. Find out how you too could make a difference through a regular or one-off donation:The BCS Foundation
Teach in FE Campaign: Calling all Digital and IT professionals!
If you’ve got real-world experience and a passion for sharing your skills in the digital sector, you could make a great Further Education (FE) teacher. With hiring activity decreasing in the tech sector due to skills shortages, there’s never been a better time to consider a career pivot into FE teaching and share your expertise with the next generation of digital and IT professionals. You don't always need prior teaching qualifications to start, either; you can train on the job and begin earning straight away. FE teaching can be flexible, allowing you to teach full time or part time alongside your current job or on an ad-hoc basis. This means you can continue working in the industry you love while sharing your skills in FE.
To find out how you can change lives without changing career, visit Teach in Further Education and help shape the future of digital and IT talent.
Impact Highlights
Meet the new President: Daljit Rehal - Incoming President Daljit Rehal FBCS, Chief Digital Information Officer at HMRC, talks to Georgia Smith, MBCS about his career so far, continuing the focus on CITP and his vision for a more recognisable BCS.
The Community Support Committee (CSC) is excited to share that its review of the Member Group Rules has reached its final stage. Following a period of volunteer consultation from Q3 2024 to Q1 2025, the committee has carefully considered all feedback and produced a revised draft of the rules.
The draft is now under review by the Community Board, with a final version expected to be ratified and published in Q3 2025.
The CSC extends its sincere thanks to everyone who contributed their thoughts and perspectives. Your input has been instrumental in shaping rules that are not only effective but truly co-created with the community.
We want to tailor the content included into these newsletters to the volunteer experience, so if you have any feedback, we’d love to hear it!
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