Updates & News for Fall 2013

Updates & News: FALL 2013

Greetings from the Center of Excellence for Information and Computing Technology (coeforict.org). We have just had our 2013-2014 work plan approved, so we can now announce some free services, opportunities, and catch you up on some IT Skills Gap Forum (March 2013) results in case you missed it before, as well as provide links to the videos and keynote PowerPoint presentation (Mr. Keith Loeber, Microsoft) from the Pathways to IT Applied Baccalaureates for WA State Students Summit (June 2013).

In the meantime we have some news and updates related to a few things that your college might want to take advantage of.

What’s New?

IT Program Re-Envision Visiting Tour (Free Service): Between October 2013 and May 2014, the Center director will travel to a maximum of five upper & lower Western and Eastern Washington community and technical colleges (or, invite them for a three-day visit to the host college, Bellevue) and spend up to one-week with their IT Workforce Dean/VP, Program/Division Chair, and faculty to review IT program degrees and certificates.

After the visit, the Center will do the following (again, at no charge to the college):

Work with IT industry professional teams to create solutions and new opportunities for IT program
Perform research on labor demand, trends, emerging technologies and projected career pathways, as well as other research as identified by respective college(s)
Provide a summary report of strengths, challenges, and potential new directions for program
Support and discuss with the colleges any potential plans to offer an IT Applied Baccalaureate (AB), and assist upon request in the development of an IT AB.

Colleges may contact the Center on a first-come, first-serve basis, to request a visiting tour (or, visit to Bellevue College). The Center will try to schedule these tours; if the colleges in Eastern Washington, for example around the same time to minimize wasted resources (i.e. travel expenses for the Center). Please note: this service is available primarily for colleges that reside outside, King, Kitsap, and Snohomish. However, if this service’s requests do not reach the maximum of five by January 2014, then other colleges that reside within King, Kitsap, and Snohomish counties, who submitted a request, will be eligible for a visiting tour (or, visit to Bellevue College).

Please contact Maureen Majury, at maureen.majury@bellevuecollege.edu, between September and November 2013 to request a tour.

The Internet of Things by Michele Royer, PhD, Bellevue CollegeThe “Internet of Things” (IoT) also referred to as the “Web of Things” or the “Internet of Everything” is the evolving vision of more and more devices connecting to smart networks and interacting with humans and with each other through the Internet. In June 2012, the Internet switched over to Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) to prepare for the increasing number of devices with unique IP addresses that want to transmit and receive data. In addition to the expanded Internet, key technology enablers include device miniaturization, more powerful and lower costs microprocessors, and smart sensors, location devices and actuators. Currently applications are focused primarily around smartphones as hubs of connectivity. However, an increasing number of “smart devices” and “smart sensors” are taking on an IP address and connecting to the Internet resulting in ever more complex systems and interactions. Even though predictions on the growth and scope of IoT vary widely, there is agreement that IoT will play an increasing and critical role and will act as a change agent in all industry sectors and in all our lives.Read the new white paper (opens in a new window) by Bellevue College’s Michele Royer, PhD

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In Case You Missed It…

Event Videos and Keynote Speaker’s PPT Presentations Now Available

IT Pathways Summit

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At the June 7^th, 2013, Pathways to IT Applied Baccalaureate Degrees for WA State Students, the Center hosted over 131 IT CTC faculty and workforce administrators, high school educators, and industry professionals (26 CTC teams represented their colleges at the event). The Center subsidized travel expenditures for North/South Western, Central, and Eastern Washington colleges.

The faculty participated in group work sessions focusing on:

IT Common Course Objectives (networking and database design/development)
IT Applied Baccalaureate Degrees (updates and opportunities)
Industry professional feedback on current and proposed IT Applied Baccalaureate degrees
IT trends and workforce demand from Microsoft’s perspective

Video (and PowerPoint presentation and session notes coming soon) have been uploaded to the Center’s website. Evaluative data has also been tabulated and is available for review.

Overall comments from attendees of the IT Pathways Summit included:

I have a much clearer idea of what is being done and what is needed in IT higher education in WA State.
Really helpful event for those either pursuing or planning to pursue BAS program development. Really good chance to network with peers.
We had an excellent discussion – learned a lot. Good industry representation.

Participants gave an overall rating of 100% satisfaction for the IT Pathways Summit as being a worthwhile event.

IT Skills Gap Forum: PowerPoint, Questionnaire Results, Session Summary Notes & More…

The Center of Excellence for Information and Computing Technology held an IT Skills Gap Forum on Friday, March 22, 2013 at Bellevue College. In support of the work of Washington’s community and technical college system, the Center invited IT industry professionals, and 30 IT industry professionals attended the forum. The purpose of the forum was to obtain “real time” information from business and industry leaders about expected job growth trends over the next three to five years and to discuss workforce skills gaps that make filling job vacancies difficult for employers within the industry.

The following are available for downloading:

The State of the IT Industry PowerPoint presentation which focuses on technology trends and their impact on nine in-demand IT career pathways, as well as technical knowledge and skills of prospective employees identified with associated ratings of importance and difficulty in finding.
New Technology Adoption Graph for Software Developers: Supplement to the PowerPoint Presentation
Washington State Demand by IT Career Pathway (Source: EMSI): Supplement to PowerPoint Presentation
WA State Regional Breakdown By IT Occupation (Source: EMSI): Supplement to the PowerPoint Presentation
IT Skills Gap Questionnaire Results, March 22, 2013
IT Skills Gap Focus Group Questions & Answers, March 22, 2013
Fast Track to the Future IBM Tech Trend Report 2012 (Suggested Reading)

Video Available for Viewing from the April 17, 2013 Careers in IT: The Real Story

Careers in IT: The Real Story took place on Wednesday, April 17, 2013, in the Carlson Theater at Bellevue College with over 200 students and educators in attendance.

If you missed this year’s event, we captured the presentations of the keynote, the IT industry panel, and a behind the scenes look at Careers in IT.

You can watch the keynote Peli de Halluex, a Senior Software Developer/Researcher/Engineer for Microsoft Research talk about mobile application development and how you don’t need a PC to develop an application… Also, you can listen to the IT industry professional panelists, and hear what they have to say about computer engineering, working for Microsoft, the rewards and challenges of juggling work, college, and internships, as well as how IT professionals make decisions using data visualization, and more…

Look for more news and updates coming your way Fall 2013!

Contact the Center at maureen.majury@bellevuecollege.edu with news you want to share or questions.