The i.c. stars Technology "Boot Camp"

Here's a recent article from the Tribune about a technology training program in Chicago I'm proud to be a part of called i.c. stars.

Do Technology Jobs Require Creativity?

The shortage of talent in IT is an increasing problem, as interest in hard skills like math, science and technology courses has been waning recently. GenY'ers have a great opportunity to fill the gap and create an alternative to outsourcing our technology demand overseas.

Here's a video clip from a recent CIO conference I attended at the Chicago Cultural Center on the IT talent shortage. The brainstorming session was led by Michael Krauss of the Market Strategy Group at the i.c. stars annual "iOpener" event.

Some of the questions to the audience included the need for creativity in IT, and how technology jobs compare to a job in accounting (accounting is about what happened; IT is about what's going to happen).

How Does Offshoring Affect You?

Here's a striking discussion by Princeton economist Alan Blinder on the nature of offshoring and what it means for the flat world. Blinder is the author of "The Quiet Revolution." He compares programming and other currently "offshorable" jobs to farming in the late 18th century --

"Let me give you a large-scale analogy: suppose you were privileged in the year 1802 to walk into President Jefferson's office and say, "You know what, President Jefferson? Right now, 83 percent of Americans earn their living on farms. In 150 years, that'll be about 3 percent." You know, Jefferson might have asked you, "Well, what will the other 80 percent do?" And of course, you wouldn't have known, and nobody would have known. But they found better things to do than working on farms. And so in the end, I think we're gonna have huge gains from this process. What I'm worried about is getting from here to there..."

Next month's i.c. stars CIO event "Capitalize on Illinois" in Chicago focuses on offshoring and I'll include a summary of that discussion here.