ILEV RADIN / SHUTTERSTOCK CEOS MESSAGE EXPLORERS NOT DAREDEVILS IRMs CEO Ian Livsey looks forward to a milestone for the risk profession W atching the flight of Solar Impulse earlier this month, I was struck by the stamina of the pilot, required to go virtually sleepless for six days, and by the intricate calculations of those managing the huge variety of risks involved. When poor weather forced the plane to land in Japan after 36 hours, it was actually a triumph of risk management. The routes by which IRM members come to risk management are incredibly varied; almost as varied as the roles and sectors in which they work. What they have in common was summed up for me when Solar Impulses co-founder responded to the early landing by saying: We are not daredevils, we are explorers. For me, that hits the nail on the head. Those working in risk are rarely credited in the headlines, but are absolutely necessary if we are to develop innovative solutions to the challenges and problems facing the world today. In that vein, I hope the next two months will prove significant, not just for IRM, but for the risk profession as a whole. Certification IRM certification launches on 1 July, with the first new certificates being given to members at a ceremony the following day. For me, those dates mark the before and after for the risk profession. After certification, risk practitioners will have a clear route to recognition of their knowledge, expertise and experience. Employers and recruiters, so often not experts in enterprise risk management themselves, will finally have a consistent and straightforward way to find the top-calibre risk professionals they need. We will be undertaking a high level of awareness-raising among employers groups, HR and recruitment companies, and the education press, to support certification launch. While we know getting recognition of risk management as a profession will not happen overnight, it will happen 1 July 2015 marks the first, vital step to achieving this.