Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence

At #Strategic, we don’t see others in the communication space as competitors - we see them as collaborators in advancing the profession. That philosophy has shaped our partnerships, such as with IABC, our global #WeLeadComms initiative, and the way we approach publishing, events and community-building. In this month’s Editor’s Note, Mike Klein, IABC Fellow shares why Strategic was built differently - and why collaboration matters more than competition in today’s communication landscape. Read the full Editor’s Note here: https://lnkd.in/e2bbMA9D

🤖We Did It. The Reimagining Tomorrow 2026 Report Is Here.🤖 The Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence is proud to announce the launch of the Reimagining Tomorrow 2026 Report — From Adoption to Accountability: Communication Professionals Step Up on Responsible AI — released Friday, 22 May, at the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management European Summit in Prague, Czech Republic. The Reimagining Tomorrow 2026 Report is a Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management initiative, with the research led by Adrian Cropley OAM, FRSA, FCSCE, IABC Fellow, SCMP, GCSCE alongside fellow Global Alliance Board Director Bonnie Caver, SCMP®, IABC Fellow, FCSCE, Founder and CEO of Reputation Lighthouse. Together, they have produced what is now the profession's most comprehensive annual study of AI adoption, governance, and responsible practice. The full Reimagining Tomorrow 2026 Report is now available. Read the findings, explore the year-on-year comparisons, and consider what they mean for your organisation and your practice. 👉Download the report: https://lnkd.in/g79KtFWQ #AI #ReposinsibleAI #Communication

If we want communication to be taken seriously as a management discipline, we need to start treating professional standards seriously too. Because whether we like it or not, business leaders generalise. When one communication professional underperforms strategically, it doesn’t just affect their reputation. It affects all of ours. Leaders don’t think, “That person lacks training.” They think, “Communication doesn’t operate at this level.” Your credibility affects mine. And mine affects yours. That’s one of the reasons I care so deeply about certification and globally benchmarked standards in our profession. I’ve spent 30 years working in communication across sectors, industries and countries, and I genuinely believe our profession is at an important point in its evolution. Communication has influence. It affects organisational decisions, stakeholder trust, culture, reputation and ultimately business outcomes. And in high-stakes environments, executives need confidence that the people advising them understand governance, ethics, strategy, risk and accountability – not just channels and content. Last month, the Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence (CSCE), in partnership with Strategic and the Global Communication Certification Council (GCCC), launched Credentialed – a certification sponsorship initiative designed to support communication professionals pursuing globally recognised credentials. Through this initiative, selected individuals will receive funded access to pursue their CMP or SCMP certification through the GCCC. If you’ve been thinking about certification, this is your sign to seriously consider it. Don't do it for the letters after your name or for the status. Do it for what it says about how seriously you take our profession and the standard you hold yourself to. Because every time one of us invests in recognised professional standards, it strengthens the standing of communication as a discipline. And honestly, our profession deserves that. Applications are now open and places are limited. You can review the criteria and apply here: https://lnkd.in/dymhBVWf

Most communications professionals move through their careers without ever being asked to get certified. Experience delivers results. Credentials feel optional. Wemimo Onikan, SCMP®, felt the same way - until she didn't. After more than a decade in the field, she found herself wanting more than accumulated instincts. She wanted a global framework, a sharper language for engaging with the leadership table, and an honest benchmark against best practice. What she found through the Global Communication Certification Council's Strategic Communication Management Professional certification was something she hadn't fully expected: not just validation, but a genuine shift in how she thinks. Her account is worth reading carefully. https://lnkd.in/eZ3pTgbf IABC Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence

AI adoption was only the start. Accountability is where the real work begins. Launched in Prague at the Global Alliance European Summit, Reimagining Tomorrow 2026 explores how communication professionals are stepping up on responsible AI, and why governance, ethics, and leadership now matter more than ever. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dA4WndZa

How does communication endure under AI acceleration through purpose and longevity? New article published on the Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence (CSCE) Insights platform. We spend enormous effort aligning communication before publication. The real difficulty often starts after communication begins to move. At last year’s Communication Leadership Summit (CLS) in Brussels, I led a session called: When do our messages actually start losing impact? Usually not at launch. Usually later, once communication starts moving across teams, contexts, channels, and increasingly through AI-supported workflows. This article develops that discussion further. It builds on our earlier article on sustainable communication published through the Strategic platform following conversations with Mike Klein, IABC Fellow Klein around last year’s CLS. It also benefited from ongoing collaboration and discussions with Sia Papageorgiou FRSA, FCSCE, IABC Fellow, SCMP Papageorgiou, Co-Founder of CSCE. The article was co-developed with David Baldwin Friedman through our ongoing work at C&F Sustainable Communication around communication coherence, operational communication strategy, and AI-supported communication systems. We explore: → when communication becomes a coordination problem → why AI acceleration makes drift harder to detect → the role of purpose and longevity → how communication can be designed for reuse without losing meaning → and what capability shift communication professionals need to lead next One conclusion became difficult to ignore: AI can scale communication instantly. Meaning still has to survive the journey. If these dynamics sound familiar from your own work across teams, leadership communication, or AI-supported content, I’d be interested in your perspective.

Join us in June for an exclusive global online event with internationally recognised internal communication expert Rachel Miller as we mark the release of her new book, Successful Change Communication: How to Inform, Involve and Inspire Employees. Hosted by the Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence, this special session marks the global premiere of Rachel’s second book and follows the success of her acclaimed first publication, Internal Communication Strategy. All registered participants will receive: 📚Access to the live webinar 📚The session recording if you can’t attend live 📚An exclusive 25% discount code for both of Rachel's books: Internal Communication Strategy and Successful Change Communication to the live webinar Additional Value for CSCE Members: 👉Detailed session notes and key insights 👉An exclusive Change Communication Conversation Guide developed by the Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence, featuring practical leadership conversation prompts, stakeholder discussion questions and communication checklists to support leaders and communication professionals during periods of organisational change 👉 Register today for #free: https://lnkd.in/gdRM2_M4 #Communication #Internalcommunication #ChangeCommunication

Prague. ✈️ Made it. I am here for the Global PR Conference with the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management, supported by ASCOPA – Asociace strategické komunikace a vztahů s veřejností — and genuinely buzzing about the conversations that kick off Friday. I will be presenting on Key Competencies for Communication Professionals in an AI Era, drawing on the findings from the Global Alliance Reimagining Tomorrow 2026 Report (to be launched during the conference). The headline? Our profession is making real progress on AI — ethical confidence up 48% in a single year, and more of us are communicating about responsible AI than ever before. However, there is still a gap to be closed. 95.9% AI adoption. Only 8.6% of PR and communication teams are leading on formal AI governance. That is scary low if we want to take a leading role as a profession. Involvement is not influence and the competencies that close that gap are what I am here to talk about. Thank you to the Global Alliance and ASCOPA, especially Pavel Vlcek, for bringing this community together to discuss what is important to our profession. Thanks to the Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence and Reputation Lighthouse for pulling out all stops to get the report ready for launch. I am looking forward to the conversations ahead with PR and Communication professionals from around the world. Oh and the local beer, food and amazing history of this beautiful city.