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The Institute of Project Management was featured in The Irish Times Continuing Professional Development Special Report, published 1st May 2026, one of Ireland’s most widely read annual guides to workplace learning and upskilling.
The feature sits alongside commentary from some of Ireland’s leading voices on lifelong learning, including DCU’s National Institute for Digital Learning, and reflects the growing urgency around professional development in a market being reshaped by artificial intelligence, sustainability requirements, and new delivery models.
The Profession Has Changed More in Five Years Than in the Previous Twenty
That is not an exaggeration. AI-assisted planning tools, remote-first delivery, increasing regulatory complexity, and shifting stakeholder expectations have fundamentally altered what it means to manage a project in 2026.
The World Economic Forum estimates that 39 per cent of the skills required in today’s jobs will be obsolete or significantly transformed by 2030i. For project managers, that number is not abstract. It shows up in the tools you are expected to use, the frameworks you are asked to apply, and the conversations you are expected to lead.
As John Naughton, CEO of IPM, noted following the Irish Times feature:
“Project management has changed more in the past five years than in the previous twenty. AI, new delivery models, and increasing complexity. The gap now is simple: those who keep evolving, and those who don’t.”
Continuing professional development (CPD) refers to the ongoing process of tracking and documenting the skills, knowledge, and experience you gain after entering the workforce. It is structured, intentional, and tied to your professional goals rather than your initial qualification.
For project managers, CPD serves two practical purposes:
1. Maintaining Certification: Most internationally recognised project management certifications, including those awarded by IPMA, PMI, and PRINCE2, require holders to demonstrate ongoing learning to maintain their credential. IPMA certification, for example, requires regular CPD activity to retain your designation at every level.
2. Staying Relevant: Beyond certification maintenance, CPD is how you ensure your knowledge reflects how the profession is practised today, not how it was practised when you first qualified.
CPD and Project Management Certification: How They Connect
IPM’s qualification pathway is structured around the IPMA framework, one of the most widely recognised project management certification systems globally. Each level of the pathway carries CPD value and contributes to your ongoing professional profile.
Certified Project Management Diploma (CPM Level 1)
The entry point into professional project management. This programme develops the core competencies required to plan, execute, and close projects effectively. Completing the CPMD earns you the IPMA-D designation, which requires ongoing CPD activity to maintain.
Suitable for: practising project managers, team leads, and those moving into project delivery roles.
Strategic Project & Programme Management Diploma (CPM Level 2)
Designed for experienced practitioners moving into programme management and PMO leadership. CPM Level 2 maps to the IPMA-C designation and covers portfolio management, strategic alignment, and senior stakeholder engagement.
Suitable for: senior project managers, programme managers, and PMO leads with three or more years of experience.
Project Leadership & Management Diploma (CPM Level 3)
The most advanced level of the IPM pathway. CPM Level 3 prepares experienced professionals for project director and executive-level roles and maps to the IPMA-B and IPMA-A designations. At this level, CPD is not just about maintaining a credential; it is about shaping how the profession develops around you.
Suitable for: senior leaders with four or more years managing complex, high-value projects.
One of the barriers people consistently cite around professional development is time. Working and studying simultaneously is genuinely difficult, and the traditional model of full-time classroom learning does not fit most working professionals.
IPM’s programmes are designed around that reality. All three diploma programmes are available online and structured to fit around existing work commitments. The Irish Times CPD report specifically highlighted micro credentials and flexible learning as the direction the market is moving, our short & academy courses portfolio reflects exactly that shift.
For project managers specifically, the IPM AI Project Professional® is a short programme focused on applying AI tools across the full project lifecycle, directly addressing the skills gap the Irish Times report flags.
Beyond formal qualifications, CPD activity can include:
IPM members have access to all of these through the IPM Hub, which includes monthly EMEA events, a mentorship programme, and a professional community of over 57,000 members.
The Irish Times feature placed IPM within a broader national conversation about how Ireland’s workforce adapts to structural change. With a high concentration of knowledge-intensive sectors: technology, financial services, pharma, and public sector, the pressure to upskill continuously is particularly acute in the Irish market.
What the report makes clear is that the responsibility for CPD is shifting. It is no longer something employers manage on behalf of their people. Increasingly, individuals are expected to own their professional development trajectory, to identify the gaps, source the learning, and document the progress.
For project managers in Ireland, that means having a clear answer to the question: what have you learned in the past twelve months, and how does it make you better at your job?
A recognised qualification pathway (combined with the CPD infrastructure that comes with IPMA membership) gives you both the answer and the evidence.
Being featured in Ireland’s national newspaper alongside leading academic institutions and CPD providers reflects IPM’s position in the Irish professional education market. Since 1989, IPM has been the specialist in project management education in Ireland and beyond and the profession’s increasing complexity makes that specialisation more relevant, not less.
As John Naughton noted, his father, Ed Naughton, built IPM’s foundation over 35 years. The institution has evolved considerably since then (new programmes, new markets, new delivery models), but the core commitment has not changed: building real capability that keeps pace with how project management is practised.
That is what continuing professional development looks like in practice.
If you are considering your CPD options in project management, the best starting point is understanding where you are in your career and where you want to go.
Speak to one of our advisors to find the right fit for where you are now.
The Institute of Project Management is Ireland’s leading specialist in project management education and certification, with over 35 years of experience and 50,000+ professionals trained worldwide. IPM is the Irish national body for IPMA, the International Project Management Association.
