November 2026 Tech Upload
NEW Digital News
2026 Tech Summit Recap: The Next IT Workforce
On September 30, the NEW Digital Alliance brought together technology professionals and business leaders from across Northeast Wisconsin for our 2026 Tech Summit at the Best Western Bridgewood Resort in Neenah.
With the theme “The Next IT Workforce: How AI Is Reshaping Technology Careers, Teams & Leadership,” the summit explored how artificial intelligence is changing the way technology professionals work and how organizations can prepare their people and teams for what’s ahead. The afternoon featured presentations, a panel discussion and an opportunity for attendees to connect with peers from across the region.
Thank you to our speakers Matt Kirchner (TechEd Podcast), Rusty Zaspel (FTI) and John Kreul (Jewelers Mutual), for sharing their perspectives and experiences. We also thank John Muraski (UW–Oshkosh) for moderating the panel discussion.
We are grateful to our sponsors for making this event possible:
- Tech Summit Partner: Thrivent
- AI Innovation Sponsors: Onwardpath & Faith Technologies Incorporated
- Supporting Sponsors: Beacon Hill, The Boldt Company, New Resources Consulting & StellarBlue.ai
Thank you to everyone who joined us and contributed to the conversation about the future of our region’s technology workforce!
Special thanks to our in-kind photographer: Images by j. lynne
The NEW Digital Alliance would like to thank the following for their support as Strategic Level investors!
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Upcoming northeast Wisconsin IT events
2026 AI Business Summit
Tuesday, November 3
8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Hilton Appleton Paper Valley, Appleton
Organizer: Fox Cities Chamber
Network Security in the Age of AI
Tuesday, November 10
11:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Best Western Premier Bridgewood Resort Hotel, Neenah
Organizer: EDCi
Voices on AI: From Student to Professional to Practice
Friday, November 13
8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
D. J. Bordini Center (FVTC), Appleton
Organizer: Women in Technology
IT Roundtable: The Next Phase of AI – From Tools to Digital Teammates
Tuesday, November 17
12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Virtual
Organizer: NEW Digital Alliance
Sip & Sync in Appleton
Wednesday, November 18
8:00 – 9:00 a.m.
Copper Rock (College Ave), Appleton
Organizer: Women in Technology (WiT) Wisconsin
Small Business b(AI)sics
Curious about how artificial intelligence can help your business save time, improve efficiency and identify opportunities for growth? Join us for Small Business B(AI)sics, a free, in-person program designed to help small business owners and entrepreneurs build practical AI skills—no technical background required.
Participants will explore AI basics, data protection and ethical use, along with tools and practical steps they can apply to their businesses. The NEW Digital Alliance is proud to partner on this opportunity with the Oshkosh Chamber’s Amplify program. Small Business B(AI)sics is a national initiative of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, with support from Google.
Friday, November 13, 2026
Moraine Park Technical College
235 N. National Avenue, Fond du Lac, WI
Cost: Free
Two session times are available:
- 9:00–11:00 a.m. — Morning session details and registration
- 1:00–3:00 p.m. — Afternoon session details and registration
Upcoming Career Fair Opportunities
Connect with the next generation of talent by participating in an upcoming high school career fair in our region! These events give businesses an opportunity to showcase their industry, share career pathways and engage with students exploring their futures. Click on a location below for more details and to register your company for each event.
- Omro High School | November 3 | 8 – 10:45 am
- Little Chute High School | December 2 | 8:15 am – 1:45 pm
- Hortonville High School | December 8 | 9 – 11:15 am
- Hilbert High School | December 12 | 9 – 10:30 am
Labor Market Insights: October 2026
What’s driving changes in the labor market—and what do they mean for employers? In its October 2026 Labor Market Insights, Carex Consulting Group points to an aging population, retirements and slower labor force growth as factors shaping the future workforce.
While overall labor force participation has declined over the past 20 years, participation among workers ages 25–54 has remained relatively steady. The article also highlights the importance of creating opportunities for young people to enter the workforce, including internships and other early-career experiences.
For employers, the takeaway is clear: As the available talent pool tightens, attracting, retaining and developing employees will become increasingly important. This is especially relevant for technology teams as AI reshapes roles and traditional entry points into IT careers.
Other IT News
Demand for Tech Talent Reaches Highest Level in More Than Three Years
(Image cred: Adobe Stock)
Despite continued uncertainty surrounding the technology labor market, employer demand for IT talent strengthened significantly in September. Employers posted more than 272,000 new openings for technology occupations, while active postings reached 625,633, the highest level in more than three years. New IT job postings were also up 16% compared with September 2025. Business Journal
Software developers and engineers remained the most in-demand positions, followed by systems engineers, tech support specialists, data analysts and DevOps engineers. Interestingly, the numbers show the same complicated workforce picture we’ve been seeing: strong employer demand for skills even while employment within the technology sector itself remains uneven.
Source: Business Journal Daily / CompTIA, October 2026
NIST Releases Roadmap for Transition to Post-Quantum Cybersecurity
(Credit: J. Wang/NIST and Shutterstock)
On October 27, NIST released a new roadmap designed to help organizations transition from today’s encryption methods to post-quantum cryptography. Current public-key encryption could eventually be broken by sufficiently powerful quantum computers, making the transition an issue organizations need to begin planning for well before those computers exist.
NIST’s roadmap identifies which existing cryptographic standards are vulnerable, which quantum-resistant standards will replace them and timelines organizations can use when developing their migration strategies. NIST also highlights the “harvest now, decrypt later” threat, attackers can collect encrypted information today with the intention of decrypting it once sufficiently capable quantum computers become available.
Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), October 27, 2026
Microsoft’s Record-Breaking Patch Tuesday Highlights Growing Vulnerability Management Challenge
(Photo cred: Adobe Stock)
Microsoft’s October Patch Tuesday addressed more than 1,400 security vulnerabilities, making it the company’s largest monthly security update on record. The fixes included dozens of critical vulnerabilities as well as a Windows zero-day that was already being actively exploited.
The sheer volume of vulnerabilities also highlights a growing challenge for IT departments: determining which patches need immediate attention. Microsoft introduced an experimental “risk cohorts” approach that groups related vulnerabilities together to help organizations better prioritize remediation based on actual risk.
Source: SecurityWeek, October 14, 2026
Major Cloud Outage Raises Questions About Reliance on Hyperscale Providers
(Image credit: Getty Images)
An approximately eight-hour Google Cloud outage on October 20 disrupted organizations across multiple industries, including major banks, delivery services and court systems. The incident affected Google Cloud’s London region and was attributed to a power event at a facility.
The outage has prompted renewed discussion about how heavily organizations rely on a small number of major cloud providers. For IT leaders, it raises practical questions around business continuity, redundancy, multi-cloud strategies and whether backup systems are truly independent of primary infrastructure. European and British financial regulators are also examining the outage because of its impact on banking services.
Source: ITPro, October 21, 2026