Impact Of Technology In Education And Training

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ndustry and restricting its growth. As the IT industry rapidly increases, both domestically and globally, the U.S. continue to experience a decline in students matriculating in such subjects as computer science, engineering and disciplines critical to the continued growth and health of the IT industry.
In order to foster a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamic Information Technology (IT) workforce, Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) commissioned a study in 1999 entitled Help Wanted: The IT Workforce Gap and the Dawn of a New Century. This groundbreaking survey clearly and accurately measured the labor shortage and variables currently experienced by both IT and non-IT companies. A major part of ITAA’s effort has also been the initiation of an education awareness campaign, requesting the country’s policy makers to place greater focus on U.S. education and training to satisfy the rapidly growing demand for skilled IT workers. ITAA recognizes that beginning with educating, which is the key player; the U.S. can work towards collaborative efforts, to change workforce and education policy and ultimately increase the labor pool for IT (Skinner, 2000, p. 52-5).
The National IT Workforce Convocation, the federal government, and academia held the first National Information Technology Workforce convention January 2000. Leadership from Information Technology Association of America, the U. S. Commerce, and U. S. Department of Education, in teamwork to examine the root causes of the skills gap and reiterated the need for public/private partnerships to address the issue. Reports from task forces described the effects of poor math and science competencies among students, the “nerd” image often associated with IT jobs, groups not well represented in the IT field, quality and productivity of the IT workforce, and skill upgrading of the current workforce. The Office of Technology Policy and the U. S. Departme...