How 19 Tech Titans Target Healthcare

How 19 Tech Titans Target Healthcare

CareerSource Florida...A smart NEW brandname for Florida's Workforce System

Hats off to Governor Rick Scott for implementing a statewide brandname for our Workforce Florida system. As some may know, the Workforce system within the State of Florida has a State Board plus 24 working regional boards. Each entity had a different DBA for their respective region, which at times would cause confusion and not provide the single voice that is needed when dealing with our expanding Corporate/Government culture within the State of Florida. As an example, Miami Dade's Workforce Board's name was South Florida Workforce while Broward's name was Workforce One Broward.

Through the hard work of our Governor, staff of both DEO /Workforce Florida and the regional boards, a new name and concept emerged that will blanket the entire state of Florida.

Let me introduce you to: Career Source Florida which can be found at their new website www.careersourceflorida.com.

This allows a more uniformed approach and focus for the entire state while still allowing customization/flexibility by each region. If an employer now would like to hire individuals in Miami Dade and Tampa, they are dealing with one name, one concept, one result.

More to come on this exiting new realization. Help us get the word out so that our fellow Floridians can easily find the services that they may need when dealing with unemployment, career counseling, etc.

Andy Perez
BoardMember

Growing the tech community - Editorials - MiamiHerald.com

Growing the tech community - Editorials - MiamiHerald.com

Free Tech Summit to celebrate all thing geek - Business Monday - MiamiHerald.com

Free Tech Summit to celebrate all thing geek - Business Monday - MiamiHerald.com

How to Get a Job in Healthcare IT

How to Get a Job in Healthcare IT

Gartner's Dark Vision for Tech, Jobs

Gartner's Dark Vision for Tech, Jobs

CIO: IT Skills Gap is Really an Education Gap

IT Skills Gap Is Really an Education Gap

– Gary Beach, CIO
October 14, 2013

The skills gap, as we discussed in the first installment of this series, is a controversial topic. But some, like Adam Davidson, founder of National Public Radio's "Planet Money" program, claim the term is misnamed. For him, a skills gap is really an "education gap."
Based on six years of research I invested in writing my book The U.S.Technology Skills Gap, I agree with Davidson. And with Glen Whitney, the founder of the Museum of Mathematics, the country's only math museum located in New York City, who says math (and science) are subjects Americans "love to hate and believe were done by dead Greek guys 1,000 years ago."

CIO.com's Gary Beach discusses the education gap in the United States.

The first cracks in America's education gap could first be observed in 1909, according to A Short History of Mathematics in the United States, a book written by David Klein.
In his work, Klein tracks a precipitous 41 percent drop in the percentage of American high school students enrolled in math courses from 1909 through 1934. Even at a time when there was incredible technological innovation in America like the Henry Ford's Model T automobile(1908), the radio circuit (1918) and Polaroid photography (1931).
[Related: Is the Technology Skills Gap Fact or Fiction?]
That American kids were not math whizzes should not have come as a surprise. Education was not valued in America at the time. In fact, though the inventions just mentioned were brought to market by Americans, the world's center of technological innovation in the 1930's was not America. It was Germany -- a country where math and science skills were revered. A country that was putting those math and science skills to work building massive war machines in the country's run up to World War II under Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.
I often ask CIOs and IT executives this question: Who was/is the most famous scientist in the history of America? More often than not, the reply I get back is "Albert Einstein."
Technically, the answer is correct. Einstein was an American citizen for the last 15 years of his life. But he never was taught in an American classroom. Rather, Einstein was educated in Switzerland and Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1933 as Hitler was about to come to power in Germany.
After America entered the war in December 1941, the United States War Department bluntly awakened America to its math and science problem. Though the American military at that time had more mules than tanks, the new equipment the War Department did have was more sophisticated than war equipment used at the end of World War I. Equipment that demanded intelligent people to operate complex machines.
The hitch was this: though millions of patriotic men and women lined up to serve, many of them lacked skills in math, science and cognitive thinking. The War Department, therefore, was forced to quickly assess those deficiencies by creating an aptitude/IQ test called the "Army General Classification Test."
Introducing this test to the American public, the War Department claimed it was necessary "to minimize the effects of public schooling."
The goal of the Army General Classification Test was to identify intelligent people to fly the new planes, drive the new tanks, command the new ships and operate the new canon. One year after the test's deployment, the Army General Classification Test issued this assessment of the intelligence of the recruits: Nearly 40 percent had the mental capacity of eight-year-olds.
Regardless of their intellectual abilities, these brave men and women fought, and won, World War II. But as they returned home from war, they confronted with weak U.S. public school system that the U.S. War Department sought to "minimize" as the war started. A system where 60 percent of students dropped out of high school before graduation.
And a system that was not prepared for the onslaught of the Baby Boomer Generation, a generation of Americans born from 1946 - 1964. A history-defining generation of Americans who entered the U.S. public school system in 1952 at a staggering pace of two million additional students per year. A generation of Americans that crippled an already ailing school system and infrastructure.
Prior to World War II, the process of teacher certification was arduous. After the war, however, as millions of Baby Boomers created overcrowded classrooms, another huge problem arose. There was not enough teachers to teach these Baby Boomers. In fact, there was a shortage of 132,000 K-12 teachers in America.
To address the situation, many states lowered, or abolished entirely, teacher certification programs. Teachers, who would have never qualified to be a teacher prior to the war, now stood in front of millions of young American students.
Life magazine, in March 1958, ran a four-part series on the state of American education entitled "Crisis In Education" where it compared lives of teenagers in America to those living in Moscow. A comparison that didn't fare well for America.
Just as the Life magazine was being published, the U.S. Government, coming just months after the Soviets launched Sputnik into space, sent two delegations from the U.S. Office of Education to the Soviet Union, our country's cold war adversary, to study how their school system functioned. The delegations conclusion read, "we came back deeply concerned about our poorer schools now suffering neglect with this question: will we Americans work and sacrifice to improve public education in the United States?"
Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, Baby Boomer students, many of taught by incompetent, unqualified teachers, didn't learn their math lessons well. Here's proof. American high school students generally take their SAT tests when they are 17. Do the math. The first group of Baby Boomers to turn 17 did so in 1963. And how did they do? Not very well. For 14 consecutive years, from 1963 through 1976, SAT math and verbal scores for Baby Boomers declined year-after-year-after year.
The long tail of overcrowded classrooms and incompetent teaching of this era remains with America to this day as about 40% of the current teacher population in the United States are Baby Boomers. Teachers whose generation was subjected to horrendous education conditions in America. Teachers whose generation did not learn well math, and science, skills from teachers who shouldn't have been teachers.
(Aside: if you took the SAT test prior to 1995, I can guarantee you that reading The U.S.Technology Skills Gap will add over 100 points to your score. I am not kidding.)
Other cracks were forming in the United States' education gap. One year after the SAT train wreck began in 1963, the First International Mathematics, organized by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, was fielded in 1964 among eighth grade students around the world.
America's students didn't do well. They came in 13th.
Out of 14 countries included in the study.
Seven years later, in 1971, the same organization conducted a science assessment test again among eighth grade students. Different subject. Same result. America's students came in next to last among the 13 countries that participated in the test.
Those results should have shocked America. Instead, it was pushed aside by even more prominent news as the political assassinations of President Kennedy, Martin Luther King, racial tension in America's cities, the growing involvement of our country in the Vietnam War and Watergate dominated headlines across the United States.
Read this paragraph. After you do, I have two questions for you.

"Our Nation is at risk. Our once unchallenged preeminence in commerce, industry, science and technological innovation is being overtaken by competitors throughout the world. While we can take justifiable pride in what out schools and colleges have historically accomplished and contributed to the well-being of the United States, the education foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people. What was unimaginable a generation ago has begun to occur. Other nations are matching and surpassing our educational attainments. If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might have well viewed it as an act of war. As it stands, we have allowed this to happen to ourselves. America has been, in effect, been committing an act of unthinking, unilateral educational disarmament."

When was it written? And, by whom was it written?
This paragraph is extracted from A Nation at Risk, a report released by the U.S.Department of Education in April 1983 (http://datacenter.spps.org/uploads/sotw_a_nation_at_risk_1983.pdf). The report was an immediate hit with the media with headlines like "Education Panel Sees Rising Tide of Mediocrity", "U.S. Education Unsatisfactory" and "Failure in Education" appearing in editorials across the country.
But the findings and recommendations of Nation at Risk, a report written to warn Americans about how our country was falling behind Japan in key industries like automobiles, electronics, photography and office automation, were not embraced.
Besides the attention grabbing headlines, the report did little to stem the tide of mediocre student performance in academic assessment tests administered by the U.S. Department of Education or private organizations like the College Entrance Examination Board who conducts the well-known SAT test.
Over the next 30 years, from 1983 - 2013 , as a litany of results from other tests were released by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011), the Programme International Student Assessment test (2000,2003,2006, 2009), and more stringent national testing mandated by law through the U.S. Department of Education's National Assessment of Educational Progress's "No Child Left Behind" initiative, this sombering picture of America's education gap came into clear focus:
The deeper an American student proceeded through the U.S. public education system, the further behind the rest of the world American young people fell even though, as a nation, the $600 billion the United States spends annually on public education is, by far, the most of any nation in the world)
Here's a story that illustrates why America's education gap threatens our country's future prosperity. Earlier this year I attended a technology conference that included a keynote panel on the topic of the "skills gap."
The panel members included a high-ranking official from the U.S. Department of Labor, and several business executives. As the panel began, the government official claimed that despite 12 million unemployed Americans, and nearly 4 million open job postings, jobs that cannot be filled because employers say applicants do not have the right skills for the job, "there is no skills gap in America because if there was, the Department of Labor would be monitoring higher weekly wages (because employers would have to compete with higher salaries for valued workers ) and
The existence of a national skills gap would mean lengthening of hours worked per week (because employed workers would have to work overtime to do the work of open job positions)."
As the Labor Department official ended his opening comment, one of the business executives on the panel disagreed strongly with the secretary's comments and said the following:

"Mr. Secretary, I respectfully disagree with your point of view. Wages per hour and number of hours worked per week are so 20th century labor measurement points. Right now, I have an open position for a software engineer. I haven't been able to find one here in the United States. So tomorrow I am making an offer to a German engineer who lives in Berlin. And I am going to pay her a lot of money. Mr.Secretary, those wages will never show up on your domestic reports."

And then another panel member, this one the CEO of a global manufacturing firm, said, "Mr.Secretary, my firm has just concluded an internal audit of our employment needs in the coming three years. The audit claims for us to remain globally competitive our company will need to hire 5,000 IT workers. 5,000 workers"
He continued, "my business, the business of manufacturing, is changing rapidly. In fact, it has become a software-driven business. A business where software drives robots, lasers and computers on my manufacturing floor. I can source work anywhere in the world where a talented job candidate has a computer and an Internet connection. My audit concludes we will not be able to find those workers here in America."
America's education gap is real. After 60-years of widening, many, including myself, feel it is rapidly reaching a national tipping point that threatens our nation's future economic growth, the employability of our workers and our national security as the prospect of cyberwar lurks on the horizon.

I have heard this analog several times: America seems like the proverbial frog in the pot of water, content as the temperature rises slowly. But then unable to escape as it reaches 212 degrees.
In 1962, as President Kennedy was encouraging Americans to look to the end of the decade and land a person on the moon, an obscure Japanese physicist by the name of Mitsutomo Yuasa was looking back 450 years. In an essay in a Japanese scientific journal, he concluded since 1540 the world's center of scientific activity has shifted west from one country to another every 80-110 years.
Yuasa placed the mantel of worldwide scientific leadership on the East Coast of America in 1920. Do the math. If Yuasa's theory, often referred to as Yuasa's Phenomenon, is in play again, it claims between now and 2030 another country, a country to America's west, will take over as world scientific leader.
Some say the next center of world scientific activity by 2030, if Yuasa's Theory is to be believed, will be the People's Republic of China. I am not thoroughly convinced it will be. But what I am sure of is this: If America wants to prolong its position as world's scientific leader it must continue to excel at innovation and invention. Two areas that put a premium on a country's ability to produce a world-class education system.
In 1990, the Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, released a report with a provocative title that read "America's Choice: High Skills or Low Wages?"
Sadly, in my opinion, America has not yet made that choice.
Our nation's education gap continues to widen.
The temperature of the sea of mediocrity that America seems to content to swim in is fast approaching 212 degrees. Our nation remains at risk.
Gary Beach is Publisher Emeritus for CIO.com and CIO Magazine. Follow him on Twitter @GBeachCIO.Follow everything from CIO.com on Twitter @CIOonline, Facebook, Google + andLinkedIn.

© 2013 CXO Media Inc.

Miami to NY hedge funds: We’re ready for you now - Business - MiamiHerald.com

Miami to NY hedge funds: We’re ready for you now - Business - MiamiHerald.com

CCNA and CCNP (Cisco All Access) Live Instructor Led Bundle Package with Exams for $7,995



Live Online Cisco Certified Associate + Professional Levels Training Package

This package provides training and exam prep, plus exam vouchers, for the Cisco Associate level certifications of CCNA: Routing and Switching, CCNA: Voice, and CCNA: Security, as well as for the Cisco Professional level certifications of CCNP: Routing and Switching, CCNP: Voice, and CCNP: Security.  The live online courseware includes live sessions with seasoned subject matter experts, custom-built Cisco IOS simulators, and supplemental mentoring resources to answer any questions and provide any additional resources you might need.

 

Tuition: $7,995. Covers all instruction for exams mentioned below, books and all Cisco Exams!

 

Specific courses included:

Interconnecting Cisco Network Devices – part 1 (ICND1)

Interconnecting Cisco Network Devices – part 2 (ICND2)

Implementing Cisco IOS Network Security (IINS)

Introducing Cisco Voice and Unified Communications Administration (ICOMM)

Securing Networks with Cisco Routers and Switches (SECURE)

Deploying Cisco ASA Firewall Solutions (FIREWALL)

Deploying Cisco ASA VPN Solutions (VPN)

Implementing Cisco Intrusion Prevention System (IPS )

Implementing Cisco Voice Communications and QoS (CVOICE )

Implementing Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Part 1 (CIPT1 )

Implementing Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Part 2 (CIPT2 )

Troubleshooting Cisco Unified Communications (TVOICE )

Integrating Cisco Unified Communications Applications (CAPPS )

 

Upcoming Start Dates:

October 7^th: Interconnecting Cisco Network Devices – part 1 (ICND1)

December 2^nd: Interconnecting Cisco Network Devices – part 1 (ICND1)

 

 

 

 

Special pricing will be honored until September 30. For more information, please visit www.ITACADEMYMIAMI.com.

NEW Live Online Instructor-Led Bundle packages for Cisco, Microsoft, PMP and CISSP - Special one time only pricing for month of September!

Management is pleased to announce that the IT Academy Miami's courses are now available as instructor-led Live Online Training. If you've had trouble finding a training course in a nearby city, you can now attend our expert-led courses from any location in the world. The IT Academy Miami's Live Online classes are offered as a series of half-day, hands-on sessions. Your instructor uses screen sharing to deliver the same course you'd receive if you attended classroom training - all you need is a good Internet connection, a computer and a headset. Each lecture is recorded for encore viewing, and there are even "office hours" where you can ask your instructor questions or for help with authorized vendor labs. Live Online Instructor Led Bundle Packages Microsoft, Cisco, PMP and CISSP Bundles The IT Academy Miami has assembled the NEW Live Online Instructor-Led Bundle Training and Certification Packages with you in mind! All courses are Authorized and Vendor approved. Tuition includes Books and Exams for most packages. Pricing is valid until September 30.  CCNA R+S, CCNA Voice, CCNA Security Bundle $3,595 CCNP Professional Routing and Switching $3,995 CCNP Professional Security Bundle $4,295 CCNP Professional Voice Bundle $4,495 Cisco All Access Bundle $7,995 CISSP and PMP Bundle $3,299 CCNA R+S, CCNA Voice, CCNA Sec and PMP Bundle $3,995 CCNP Routing and Switching and PMP Bundle $4,595 MCSA/MCSE 2012 with PMP Bundle $3,995 Financing is available for those who qualify. GSA approved.  For more information about Florida's IT Industry, events, new certification course offerings, please visit our website www.ITACADEMYMIAMI.com or continue to follow our blog! Thank you.

Recorded webinar of our InfoSec Warrior (CEH, CISSP, ENSA) Program

Don't sweat it if you missed our Director of Education Frank Martinez's presentation with regards to the InfoSec Warrior program. We have a recording for you to enjoy.

 

InfoSec Warrior Presentation (Pre-Recorded)

 

Big announcement on Monday, August 26 on our expansion of Online Anywhere (Online Instructor Led Course) offerings. Stay Tuned!

 

For more information on Florida's Information Technology Industry, events and/or course offerings by The IT Academy Miami, please follow this blog or visit www.ITACADEMYMIAMI.com.  

 

 



Are we selling South Florida technology short?

Are we selling South Florida technology short?

Far article on the current Information Technology market within South Florida. We need a single entity to speak up and organize all the assets within our Region.

www.ITACADEMYMIAMI.com

CISSP Training Boot Camp on September 16th in Miami. Special pricing and financing available.

Description

The goal of this five-day accelerated course is to provide information security professionals a fully-immersed all-inclusive CISSP training and certification experience. Our CISSP Boot Camp encompasses the CISSP Seminar, value-added instruction, on-site examination delivery, unlimited practice exams and scenarios, and meals.


The CISSP certification is governed by the International Information Systems Security Certifications Consortium (ISC²) and has gained importance as a key component in the selection process for management-level information security positions.

The Certification examination consists of 250 multiple-choice questions. Candidates have up to 6 hours to complete the examination. Ten CISSP information systems security test domains are covered in the examination pertaining to the Common Body of Knowledge:

Access Control Systems & Methodology
Applications & Systems Development
Business Continuity Planning
Cryptography
Law, Investigation & Ethics
Operations Security
Physical Security
Security Architecture & Models
Security Management Practices
Telecommunications, Network & Internet Security

Prerequisites

The CISSP program is targeted at professionals with at least 5 years of experience in the information security field or 4 years of experience and a college degree (or equivalent experience).

Reminder: Free Webinar Tomorrow for our InfoSec Warrior Program (CEH, CISSP, ENSA)

Please register for InfoSec Warrior™ - Preparing you to defend your networks and infrastructures on Aug 22, 2013 1:00 PM EDT at:

Register Here

This webinar will highlight the content and layout of our InfoSec Warrior™ program. Comprised of three of the IT industry's most recognized and valued security certifications, the InfoSec Warrior™ program will prepare IT professionals to enter into security specialized positions and develop the skills necessary to protect and defend today's complex networks and corporate infrastructures. Join us to learn how InfoSec Warrior™ can serve your future by helping you to acquire the skills and certs that will make you an invaluable asset to whatever entity you work for.

If you are interested in more information regarding Florida's IT Industry, events or upcoming course offered by The IT Academy Miami, please continue to follow our blog or visit our website at www.ITACADEMYMIAMI.com.

MCSE : SharePoint 2013 Boot Camp on August 26 - Call now to find out special pricing.

Earn recognition for your expertise in helping a company organize, sync, collaborate, and share information across the organization.

The Academy's MCSE SharePoint 2013 Boot Camp is a combination of the following official Microsoft courses:

Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012: 410 (exam 70-410)
Administering Windows Server 2012: 411 (exam 70-411)
Configuring Advanced Windows Server 2012 Service: 412 (exam 70-412)
Core Solutions of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013: book (exam 70-331)
Advanced Solutions of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013: book (exam 70-332)


This MCSE certification requires you to show continued ability to perform in your chosen solution area by completing a recertification exam every three years.


This 14-day boot camp provides the skills and knowledge necessary to implement and administer a core Windows Server 2012 infrastructure in an existing enterprise environment. This course covers implementing, managing, maintaining, and provisioning services and infrastructure in a Windows Server 2012 environment. This course covers the implementation and configuration of core services including Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), networking services, and Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012 configuration. This course covers advanced configuration of services necessary to deploy, manage and maintain a Windows Server 2012 infrastructure, such as advanced networking services, Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), identity management, rights management, Federated services, network load balancing, failover clustering, business continuity and disaster recovery. Prepare for Exam 70-331—and help demonstrate your real-world mastery of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013. Designed for experienced IT Professionals ready to advance their status—Exam Ref focuses on the critical-thinking and decision-making acumen needed for success at the MCSE level. Prepare for Exam 70-332—and help demonstrate your real-world mastery of Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013. Designed for experienced IT Professionals ready to advance their status—Exam Ref focuses on the critical-thinking and decision-making acumen needed for success at the MCSE level.



After completing this course, students will be able to:
•Install and Configure Windows Server 2012.
•Describe and Maintain AD DS.
•Manage: Active Directory objects, User and Service Accounts, User Desktops with Group Policy
•Automate Active Directory administration.
•Implement: IPv4, DHCP, DNS, IPv6, local storage, Group Policy, NAP, server virtualization using Hyper-V, Group Policy Infrastructure, Update Management
•Share files and printers.
•Use GPOs to secure Windows Servers.
•Deploy and Maintain Server Images
•Configure and Troubleshoot: DNS and Remote Access
•Install, Configure and Troubleshoot NPS role
•Optimize File Services
•Configure Encryption and Advanced Auditing
•Monitor Windows Server 2012
•Implement: advanced network services, advanced file services, Dynamic Access Control, distributed AD DS deployments, AD DS sites and replication, AD CS, AD RMS, AD FS, NLB, failover clustering with Hyper-V, disaster recovery
•Design a SharePoint Topology
•Plan Security
•Install and Configure SharePoint Farms
•Create and Configure Web Applications and Site Collections
•Maintain a Core SharePoint Environment
•Plan Business Continuity Management
•Plan a SharePoint Environment
•Upgrade and Migrate a SharePoint Environment
•Create and Configure Service Applications
•Manage SharePoint Solutions, BI, and Systems Integration

Prerequisites

Before attending this course, students must have:

•A good understanding of networking fundamentals, Active Directory, networking infrastructure, Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) fundamentals and networking concepts, and basic Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) concepts.
•An understanding of and experience with configuring security and administration tasks in an enterprise environment.
•Hands on experience working with Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, or Windows Server 2012 enterprise environment.
•Real-world experience implementing, managing, and configuring AD DS and networking infrastructure in an enterprise environment.
•Four or more years of hands-on experience planning and maintaining SharePoint and other core technologies upon which SharePoint depends, including Windows Server 2008 R2 or later, Internet Information Services (IIS), Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 or later, Active Directory, and networking infrastructure services.
•IT professional who plans, implements, and maintains a multi-server deployment of SharePoint 2013.
•Working knowledge of and hands-on experience with SharePoint Online
•Broad familiarity with SharePoint workloads
•Experience with business continuity management, including data backup, restoration, and high availability
•Experience with authentication and security technologies. Has experience with Windows PowerShell.
•Experience with Windows PowerShell and knowledge of SQL Server Management Studio.

 

 

For more information, CLICK HERE or visit our website at www.ITACADEMYMIAMI.com



The High-Paying, Creative Career That Desperately Needs You

 

In the U.S. alone, 150,000 computing jobs open up each year, according to the New York Times. But fewer than 40,000 American grads earn bachelor’s degrees in computer science.

What does this mean? North America is simply not producing enough computer science grads to fill industry needs — not by a long shot. In today’s tough job climate, it’s a paradoxical situation.

This dearth of technical talent has led to an international feeding frenzy on qualified developers and software engineers. Silicon Valley is wooing new grads with six-figure salaries. Demand is so high that big tech companies have taken to lobbying for looser immigration rules in order to tap into additional overseas talent. This spring, Mark Zuckerberg and executives from Google, Yahoo and LinkedIn joined forces as FWD.us to push for comprehensive immigration reform in the U.S.

Yet, this doesn’t get at the root of the problem. Importing foreign engineers may offer a temporary fix, but it does little to nurture a homegrown and enduring tech scene. A lasting solution has to start in high schools, colleges and universities. North American students need to be exposed to formal computer education early and to understand the kinds of fulfilling career opportunities that tech offers.

Right now, that’s not happening. In the U.S. for example, colleges and universities continue to train young people for jobs that simply aren’t in demand. Youth unemployment hovers at an abysmal 16%—double the country’s overall unemployment rate. Hundreds of thousands of recent university grads are unemployed or underemployed. Last year it was reported that 60 percent of college grads were unable to find work in their chosen field.

Meanwhile, companies are struggling to fill entry-level engineer and developer positions. In a climate of global recession, well-paid tech jobs are sitting vacant. Something is deeply wrong with that picture.

This training gap isn’t just a handicap for the tech industry. Without workers with the right skills, the nation as a whole can’t remain competitive.

What we need is a better way to connect eager, talented students with the kinds of jobs that provide stable and rewarding careers. I’m a hacker at heart — confident that enough hustle, ingenuity and late nights can fix almost any problem. There has to be a solution out there for this one.

Reaching high school students with career guidance before they get to university seems a logical first step. Considering where the contemporary economy is headed, it’s time we launched a renewed push in secondary schools toward science and math fields. In particular, students need to see that computer science is relevant, rewarding financially and even fun. This may require getting a little creative. Microsoft engineers in Seattle, for example, recently began teaching high school classes on a volunteer basis, offering instruction to students who might not otherwise have access to computer science courses.

At the university level, we need more connections between industry and academia. The formula has proven highly effective in Silicon Valley itself. At Stanford, executives from Google, Intel, YouTube and other leading companies sit in on classes and serve as mentors for aspiring developers and entrepreneurs. In an effort to do our part, my company has recently developed a program that provides real-world educators with free resources they can use to teach students some of the digital skills needed in today’s workforce. These “Professor’s Toolkits,” consisting of assigned readings, videos, assignments, and projects, are currently being used by hundreds of institutions globally, including the Columbia School of Journalism and NYU Stern School of Business. Educators building bridges with industry creates a critical feedback loop. Students get real-time perspective on what jobs are in demand. They learn the skills needed for contemporary careers. And they cultivate relationships with forward-looking companies for after graduation.

Finally, it’s up to us tech people to do a better job correcting outdated stereotypes of software engineering as tedious, mechanical work. Engineering done right is a highly creative pursuit—one that rewards inventiveness, playfulness and experimentation. Developers and engineers are as much a part of today’s creative class as artists, musicians and writers. Not to mention that tech is sexier and more visible than ever–Smartphones, tablets and social media have brought computing into the limelight. It shouldn’t be hard to sell people on careers that shape one of the most central aspects of our lives.

I’ll admit that I do have a vested interest in all of this. I want to make my city Vancouver into a real Silicon Valley North. The new Facebook office that opened up here this year will have come and gone in a year’s time, but I’m here for the long haul. My colleagues and I want to grow our social media platform, HootSuite, into a billion-dollar company right here in Vancouver, then go on to fund a whole new generation of tech ventures in the city. We’ll have the capital and the experience to make a real run at turning Vancouver into a legitimate high-tech center.

But without homegrown talent, it’s never going to happen—neither here or anywhere else in North America. High schools and colleges need to funnel students into engineering programs now and send the message that the jobs of tomorrow are in tech. Rewarding, creative jobs with great compensation and long-term prospects are waiting to be filled. Isn’t it time we nurtured some of the talent in our own backyard and steered the next generation to tech?

 

 

For more information regarding Florida's IT Industry or upcoming courses, please continue to follow our blog or visit our website www.ITACADEMYMIAMI.com.

Reminder : Tech Night at the Ball Park Tomorrow, August 20th @ 5:30 PM

Reminder for Tomorrow's Tech Night Event, tickets must be purchased today. Participants will be entered into a drawing for a free CCNA Boot Camp. If you are interested in attending the Networking Event plus the Marlins game, please click on the link below:

 

Register Here

 



Atlanta tech promoter named new Beacon Council president - Breaking News - MiamiHerald.com

Atlanta tech promoter named new Beacon Council president - Breaking News - MiamiHerald.com

Cisco CCNA Voice Boot Camp on August 19 - Last minute special

Enroll now here: https://www.itacademymiami.com/courses/9-cisco-ccna-voice-accelerated-boot-camp

 

Description

 

Duration: 5 Days

The Academy offers the finest accelerated CCNA® certification training in Florida. The Academy’s CCNA Voice - This certification confirms a candidate's skills for job roles such as voice administrator, voice engineer and voice manager. It also validates skills in voice over IP (VoIP) technologies such as IP PBX, IP telephony, handset, call control and voicemail solutions. Candidates also get exposure to the Cisco Unified Communications architecture and design for mobility, presence and TelePresence applications. This 3-day accelerated course provides the student with Unified Communications concepts, component definition and high level designs.This is also the core technology course in the certification path to achieve the CCNA Voice designation. Students will be able implement and configure small to medium sized IP Telephony solutions. UC products covered during labs include the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express / Cisco Unity Express and the UC500 Smart Business Communications System.

Benefits:

The complete Cisco® Press courseware

Subject Matter Experts for instructors. Our instructors are unequaled among training providers, and hold the most prestigious certifications and cutting-edge expertise. They are available to you throughout the day for the length of the course for group instruction, lab exercise leadership and individual coaching.

We teach to accommodate every student's learning needs, including instruction, hands-on labs, lab partner and group exercises, independent study, self-testing, question and answer drills, and friendly competitions between concurrently running classes.

Lab manuals, guidebooks, and Measure Up self-testing software are utilized to augment your courseware and instruction. And the instructors are with you every step of the way.

State-of-the-art educational facilities. The school has dedicated, well-equipped educational facilities where you will attend instruction and labs, and have access to comfortable study and lounging rooms. Our students consistently say our facilities are unsurpassed!


Course Objectives:

Describe the components of a Cisco Unified Communications solution and identify call signaling and media stream flows.
Understand call flows in Cisco Unified Communications Manager and Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express.
Perform endpoint and end-user administration tasks in Cisco Unified Communications Manager and Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express.
Administer users in Cisco Unity Connection and Cisco Unified Presence, and enable the most commonly used features for both applications.
Describe how to maintain a Cisco Unified Communications solution

Exam:

640-461 ICOMM v8.0 Introducing Cisco Voice and Unified Communications Administration v8.0 ICOMM


Tuition includes the following:

Books and materials
Breakfast & Daily Snacks
Exam vouchers
Registration Fees


Your training may also be partially tax-deductible.
Please note – Tuition does not include airfare, hotel or transportation to the Boot Ca

On-site testing
Five (5) full days of intensive instruction, labs, and review
Hands-on practice and skills development on real Cisco Equipment
Custom Courseware
Unlimited Practice Tests


The exam is delivered at the training center, which is an authorized VUE Testing Center. We will provide a large number of testing stations dedicated to the boot camp. A test administrator will be available throughout the day, and in the evening, to register you for the tests.

Prerequisites

The Boot Camp is designed for existing and aspiring network professionals (PC technicians/ Systems Administrators / Network Administrators / Systems Engineers). Students need to have basic computer skills before attending this class, as well as a basic understanding of networking. Students must have a fundamental knowledge and experience base with TCP/IP, including configuration of client systems and basic routing knowledge. While not required, if you have any of the following certifications, you are most likely ready to take the Boot Camp: A+, Network + or MCP Certification. A learner must have skills and knowledge equivalent to those learned in Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 1 (ICND1). Students must also posess a working knowledge of the Windows operating system.

Miami Dade Public Schools NAF Academies recognize Frank Martinez, DOE for his outstanding and dedicated service for it's Public School teachers!

Miami Dade Public Schools NAF Academies recognize Frank Martinez, DOE for his outstanding and dedicated service for it's Public School teachers today during their STEM Board meeting.

The IT Academy Miami team is proud of Frank's service to Miami Dade Public Schools' Teachers and the future of our children within the NAF Academies.

If you would like more information on what The IT Academy Miami is doing within Miami Dade Public Schools and it's NAF Academies, visit our website at www.ITACADEMYMIAMI.com.