April/May/June 2020 I 5
From the President, Todd W. Taylor, RCDD, OSP, NTS
2020—A NEW
DECADE—A NEW VISION
My journey as BICSI’s president, a position I am grateful
and honored to hold, began several years ago while
volunteering on several committees. The past two
years have flown by, and little did I know what valuable
learning opportunities volunteering at this level
would provide me.
The planning for the renovation of the BICSI headquarters
would be the first task at hand. It had been over
20 years since the BICSI building had been constructed.
To continue providing the industry with the leading services
it has come to expect, a much needed upgrade
in workspace and technology would be required. We
looked to our own intelligent building standard, ANSI/
BICSI 007-2017, Information Communication Technology
Design and Implementation Practices for Intelligent
Buildings and Premises, to lead the way in design
and innovation. The use of technologies, such as PoE
lighting, sound masking and HDBASE-T, allowed BICSI
to update workspaces and classrooms and to create
equipment rooms showcasing advanced technologies.
These technologies also expanded the BICSI
Learning Academy, allowing BICSI the opportunity
to provide to the ICT industry a smart and Best in Class
educational facility. Its success is a demonstration
of industry-wide collaboration. Twenty-three corporations,
committed to the advancement of ICT, contributed
time, product and technical expertise.
My travels and participation in BICSI global events led
to an experience that would lead to a new appreciation
for the effects that technology has on the continual
growth of a connected world and digital infrastructure.
There is a growing interest in the education
and credentialing that BICSI offers, which was made
evident by the number of non-member attendees
at major BICSI events. The constant message was that
of a connected and intelligent city/world/ecosystem
driven by technologies, such as artificial intelligence
(AI), augmented reality (AR), global internet of things
(IoT) and edge data centers (EDCs). Event attendees
are looking for BICSI to lead the way in integrating
these technologies to achieve the connected
world vision.
2019 brought about a turning point for BICSI. Our then
current CEO and Executive Director, John D. Clark,
announced his retirement after approximately 11
years of dedicated service. Consequently, I chaired
the committee that led the search for his replacement.
Together with board members, a past BICSI
president, staff members and the help of a recruitment
firm, we set forth on the selection process. This
lengthy process would give us a good opportunity
to conduct a deep dive into the workings of BICSI,
thereby giving us a much better view of any new
directions needed in the industry. Through a yearlong
process, the selection committee chose a new BICSI
CEO and Executive Director, John H. Daniels. John
joins us from a different vertical within the ICT industry
and brings strong management and global experience
that will help propel BICSI forward as the preeminent
standards and manuals, professional development
and credentialing leader for the global ICT
industry and community.
Fast forwarding to 2020, the culmination of my past
two years’ adventures has led to a new approach for
BICSI’s strategic plan and direction. Past strategic
plans placed a strong emphasis on placing BICSI in
the global ICT arena. Unintentionally, it created the
perception that there are two global initiatives, BICSI
North America and BICSI Global. Therefore, one of my
main goals is to bring our organization back to one
global BICSI community with the look and feel of one
association regardless of where in the world BICSI is
represented. Increasing membership value is another
goal, characterized by aligning products and services,
obtaining a wider adoption of manuals, standards and
best practices via AHJs, and strengthening our relationships
with other supporting technology organizations.
In closing, I am proud to mention a major first for BICSI.
We welcome the first woman BICSI President-Elect,
Carol Everett Oliver! I look forward to working with
Carol, the current and new members of the BICSI
Board of Directors, John Daniels, and our committed
staff as we move BICSI into the new decade
of change and growth!