The Seoul Accord (www.seoulaccord.org) is a mutual recognition agreement pertaining to computing and information technology-related programs, in the same way that the Washington Accord is a mutual recognition agreement pertaining to engineering programs.

The jurisdictions of the U.S.A., Canada, Australia, UK, Japan, Republic of Korea, Chinese Taipei, and Hong Kong have found it advisable in this age of globalization to become signatory members of the Seoul Accord.  The signatory members of the Seoul Accord are intent on having the Accord:

• Serve as the international authority on quality assurance for education in the Computing and IT-related professions;

• Promote and develop best practices for the improvement of education in Computing and IT-related disciplines;

• Continually review its policies and procedures to ensure that they are relevant and reliable indicators of the future of Computing and IT-related technologies.

The Seoul Accord Guiding Principles specify that a jurisdiction’s representative to the Seoul Accord must be an association of individuals engaged in the professional practice of computing and information technology-related occupations. This association must neither be an educational institution nor a part of government.

Thus, it is the Australian Computer Society, the British Computer Society, the Canadian Information Processing Society that represent their respective jurisdictions in the Seoul Accord. In the Philippines, it is the Philippine Computer Society (PCS), the longest-existing association of computing and IT-related professionals in the country that leads the Philippine jurisdiction initiative for signatory membership in the Seoul Accord.

Just as the Philippine Technological Council (PTC) established within itself the PTC Accreditation and Certification Board for Engineering and Technology (P-ACBET) as the accrediting agency to represent the Philippine jurisdiction in the Washington Accord (www.ieagreements.org); PCS has established within itself the PCS Information and Computing Accreditation Board (PICAB) as the accrediting agency to represent the Philippine jurisdiction in the Seoul Accord (www.seoulaccord.org).

PICAB’s Board of Directors is comprised of individuals from PCS (www.philippinecomputersociety.org); PSIA (www.psia.org.ph);  PSITE (http://www.psite.org); and CSP (www.csp.org.ph).  PICAB has been formally delegated autonomous powers to manage, supervise, conduct, and decide regarding the accreditation of computing and information technology-related baccalaureate programs. PICAB, through its activities, aims to promote and develop best practices for the improvement of education in computing and IT-related disciplines.

The application of PICAB for the Seoul Accord provisional signatory was accepted unanimously by the signatories at the Seoul Accord General Meeting 2015 on June 20, 2015, in Istanbul, Turkey (http://www.seoulaccord.org/newsdetail-99.html).