Book excerpt: The major part of this book consists of a curriculum for those who intend to follow a professional career in information systems design. This is a comprehensive revision of a curriculum initially prepared by IFIP and published in 1974. The new curriculum is much broader in scope and takes account of the immense changes in the technology available, in the variety of systems being developed and in the role of the systems designer. The material can be readily adapted by designers of courses to meet their own specific requirements. The second part of the book comprises papers from a number of international contributors on the practical aspects of implementing such a curriculum in different parts of the world.