Challenges of Professionalization: Bridging Research and Practice through a Body of Knowledge for IT Specialists

This paper suggests that the interpretation and development of IT occupations as knowledge work might provide a more realistic avenue to proceed towards more professional practice in the IT field rather than the ambition of trying to establish them as true professions. The idea of knowledge work leads us to focus on the body of knowledge possessed by it specialists, which is the hallmark of all professions. The on-going debate about the practical relevance of IT research suggests that there is a significant gap between research and practice in the IT field. The paper discusses how the gap could be bridged by making IT research more sensitive to practice.

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