Editing British Computer Society (section)

==History==
The forerunner of BCS was the "London Computer Group" (LCG), founded in 1956. BCS was formed a year later from the merger of the LCG and an unincorporated association of scientists into an unincorporated club. In October 1957, BCS was incorporated, by [[Articles of Association (law)|Articles of Association]], as "The British Computer Society Ltd": the first President of BCS was Sir [[Maurice Wilkes]] (1913–2010), [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]].

In 1966, the BCS was granted charitable status and in 1970, the BCS was given [[Coat of arms|Armorial Bearings]] including the shield and crest.
The major ethical responsibilities of BCS are emphasised by the leopard's face, surmounting the whole crest and depicting eternal vigilance over the integrity of the Society and its members.

The BCS patron is [[Prince Edward, Duke of Kent|The Duke of Kent]], [[Order of the Garter|KG]]. He became patron in December 1976 and has been actively involved in BCS activities, particularly having been president in the [[Silver Jubilee]] Year in 1982–1983.

On 21 September 2009, the British Computer Society went through a transformation and re-branded itself as "BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT".<ref name="rebrand">
{{cite journal |url=http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/1828171/bcs-the-chartered-institute-it |title= BCS becomes The Chartered Institute for IT |first=Dave |last=Bailey |date=21 September 2009 |publisher=British Computer Society |journal=[[Computing (magazine)|Computing]] |access-date=9 March 2011}}</ref> In 2010, an [[Extraordinary General Meeting]] was called to discuss the direction of the BCS.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://yourfuture.bcs.org/ |title=BCS – Building for your Future |publisher=British Computer Society |year=2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528093404/http://yourfuture.bcs.org/ |archive-date=28 May 2010 }}</ref> The debate has been covered by the computing press.<ref>{{cite news | first=Bill |last=Goodwin |url=http://www.computerweekly.com/blogs/read-all-about-it/2010/04/the-egm-debate-bcs-v-len-keigh.html |title=The EGM debate: BCS v Len Keighley |publisher=[[Computer Weekly]] |date=14 April 2010 |access-date=9 March 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Maxwell |last=Cooter |url=http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/060410-bcs-membership-fights-over.html |title=BCS membership fights over direction |journal=[[Network World]] |date=4 June 2010 |access-date=9 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100607071255/http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/060410-bcs-membership-fights-over.html |archive-date=7 June 2010 |df=dmy }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Simon |last=Phipps |url=http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?blogid=41&entryid=3026 |title=BCS EGM: It's Time To Vote For Transparency |journal=Computerworld UK |date=18 June 2010 |access-date=9 March 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=John |last=Oates |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/06/21/bcs_rebel/ |title=BCS trustee threatens rebels with libel action |work=[[The Register]] |date=21 June 2010 |access-date=9 March 2011}}</ref>