NEW IT Alliance- September Tech Upload

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NEW Digital News

Happy back to school! With students across the region returning to school, our thoughts naturally turn to education. The NEW IT Alliance and many others have been working on educational opportunities to grow our digital talent. Keep reading to learn more about what’s happening in our region as well as across the state.

Career Pathways

Here in Northeast Wisconsin, the NEW IT Alliance and the NEW Manufacturing Alliance have been working with the Department Of Public Instruction’s Career Pathways team to finalize career pathways in IT and manufacturing. Thank you to all of the employers and colleges across the region who have helped provide feedback on required skills, certifications, and post secondary educational pathways available to students interested in pursuing careers in these fields. The IT pathways, which tie into academic and career planning, will be rolled out to regional school districts this fall, and available to students in the 2020-21 academic year. Northeast Wisconsin will be leading the way in offering career pathways in programming, networking, cyber security, project management/business analysis, and data analytics at the high school level. Learn more about Career Pathways here: https://dpi.wi.gov/pathways-wisconsin

Youth Apprenticeship

One element of the Career Pathways is that students have the ability to apply what they are learning. In order to provide work-based learning opportunities in IT for high school students, the NEW IT Alliance has been working with TechSpark and member organizations to grow the number of employers who offer Youth Apprenticeships, job shadows, or some other type of opportunity for students to experience a working IT department. For companies looking to grow their talent pool, develop their internal leadership skills, and give back to the community, offering youth apprenticeships can be a great opportunity. Contact us if you would like more information about starting a youth apprenticeship, or attend one of our information sessions at our NEW Connect IT event on November 21.

 

Women Facing Challenges in Tech Field

Women in Technology

At the collegiate level, work-based learning opportunities often take the form of internships. Internships and Youth Apprenticeships can be powerful tools for developing the IT talent pipeline in your company. Even more critical to your company’s ability to bring in talent can be your hiring process. Girls Who Code, a national organization focused on getting more young women into the tech field, recently published a study of young women’s experiences interviewing for an internship. An astonishing number of young women, 21%, personally experienced biased questions or inappropriate remarks during their internship interview. As we all face the growing shortage of IT talent it becomes increasingly important that we create an inclusive environment and work to attract an increasingly diverse talent pool. 

And it’s not just young women experiencing challenges in the IT workplace. NCWIT has published a 2008 report that shows that over time, 56% of women in tech leave the field – this is about twice the rate as men, and higher than both science (47%) and engineering (39%).

Attraction of young women into the IT field starts already in middle school, if not before. While women only make up about 26% of the IT workforce nationally, our recent survey shows that girls now make up 32% of or Computer Science enrollment in high school in Northeast Wisconsin. We attribute this to the strong efforts of Women in Technology Wisconsin in our region. Through their WIT4Girls initiatives, which include launching Girls Who Code Clubs, girls have an opportunity to explore IT careers in middle school and are provided strong female role models. The growth of the TEALS program in Northeast Wisconsin, all students have the opportunity to further develop their IT skills at the high school level with IT professionals acting as mentors in the classroom. As we move into the new academic year, we hope to grow the number of girls even further through collaboration with TechGirlz, another national nonprofit working to attract girls into IT and engineering. TechGirlz offers a number of free workshops in a box and camps in a box that schools, colleges, and others can use to help inspire young women.

Data Analytics – an in demand career!

Looking at the needs of our regional employers, Data Analyst is a role many companies are looking to hire, with several companies looking to build out significant sized data analytics teams. Over the past three months we’ve had conversations with five companies who are looking to hire roughly 20 data analysts between them. Our regional colleges are working on programs to help skill up new talent as well as existing talent within your departments. UW Oshkosh has recently launched their Data Analytics Certificate at the graduate level, as well as a business analytics certificate and a minor in analytics at the undergraduate level. UW Oshkosh and UW GB both offer a Masters in Data Science, and our regional tech colleges are working to launch programs.

UW Stevens Point offers a major in Data Analytics at the undergraduate level. They are also hosting The Great Lakes Analytics Conference on October 4. Businesses looking for data analytics talent are encouraged to attend.

Regional News

UWO to Offer Two New Collaborative Online Degrees

UWO will offer two new collaborative online master’s degrees: applied biotechnology and information technology (IT) management starting in spring 2020! These programs will help fill the projected 3,000 new IT jobs in northeastern Wisconsin the region will see by 2021. Learn more about these new programs by clicking on the link below to read the full article.

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Envision 2019 - Beyond the Hype: Real AI Stories

EDCi is hosting Envision 2019 on Tuesday, October 29, 2019. Go beyond the hype and hear from local and global companies and brands that have implemented AI. You will hear it all – The wins, the losses, the challenges and the struggles behind AI integration. Potawatomi Hotel and Casino is a unique venue that will host the AI conference. Come for the conference and stay for fun afterwards!

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New Lakeland University Degree Addresses Growth in Use of Data

Lakeland University is introducing another program designed to meet the needs of students and employers with the launch of a bachelor of science in industrial systems analytics. This new program is highly sought by regional employers and will immerse students across the fields of technology, programming, statistics and data analysis and visualization.Wisconsin’s Workforce and Labor Market Information System notes that operations research analyst is the fastest growing job market in the state, and is growing faster in Wisconsin than nationally. 

To learn more about Lakeland’s industrial systems analytics degree and how it influences tomorrow’s workforce, click on the link below.

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What Do I Do with This? A Guide to Disposing of Electronics and Hazardous Materials

Disposing of electronics such as computers, audio/visual equipment, batteries, and printers—items that may contain hazardous materials—is no easy feat. It’s hard to know what to do with them, and improperly disposing of them can come with legal ramifications and hefty fines, particularly for businesses and large organizations.

So, what kinds of materials are considered hazardous, should be recycled, or require special disposal, and where do you go? Read on for insights on how to keep electronics and dangerous materials out of the landfill and keep your business out of trouble.

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Interactive App Teaches Children How to Use 911

Skyline Technologies partnered with the Center for Childhood Safety (CCS) in Ashwaubenon to develop Kid’s Practice 911 Dialer – a free app that teaches children ages 4-9 how to properly use 911. Through educational videos and simulated recordings based on actual 911 operator scripts, children will learn how to have a conversation with emergency personnel about a stressful situation.

The app includes animated lessons, practice sessions, and a realistic phone dialer. Children make a simulated 911 call and can practice giving their address, the number they’re calling from, and clear details of their situation. The app evaluates the child’s accuracy and gives them feedback to help them improve.

Read on to learn more about this influential app from Skyline Technologies.

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Luxemburg-Casco School District ranks among Top 20 percent in state

Luxemburg-Casco School DistrictThe Luxemburg-Casco School District is among the Top 20 percent of districts within Wisconsin, according to the 2020 Niche Best School Districts rankings. The L-C district came in 63rd amid 367 districts in the state, putting it inside the 18th percentile (17.2%). It also ranked 12th among the 38 CESA 7 school districts of Northeast Wisconsin.

“We believe that the Luxemburg-Casco School District is one of the highest-performing districts in our area, and the Niche rankings affirm that position,” says District Superintendent Glenn Schlender. “Much of the credit for the high scores of L-C goes to our teachers and educational staff, who also rated highly. We anticipate that the new facilities coming available through our referendum projects will provide an opportunity to score even higher in the future.”

The Luxemburg-Casco School District was recognized for other accomplishments as well. Read the full article on the Luxemburg-Casco School District by clicking the link below.

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UWO's Interactive Web Management Club Seeks Guest Speakers

Interactive Web Management UWOInteractive Web Management combines four main majors at UW Oshkosh: marketing, computer science, information systems and journalism. Since it covers such a broad spectrum we try to bring in speakers from each of the four areas throughout the semester. Guest speakers will have the chance to give insight to students about their area of expertise, show off their company, and network with the upcoming talent in the workforce. Right now we are currently looking for speakers for our fall meetings. The meetings are every other Wednesday starting September 11th from 5-6pm.  We would also be interested in finding a few speakers for the spring semester as well (this starts in February). If you are interested in sharing what you or your company does that relates to our degree please reach out to Kaitlyn Alexander at the IWM Club email: iwmclub@uwosh.edu

The Wisconsin IoT Council Inaugural Event

Wisconsin IoT Council LogoOn September 17th, the Wisconsin IoT Council is hosting the event: “Challenges and Opportunities: The Future of IoT in Wisconsin” at the Blue Harbor Resort in Sheboygan. Hear from Global Leaders right here in the great state of Wisconsin on how they are approaching IoT, why they are leveraging IoT, and what are some of the challenges they have had to overcome to find success. Find more information on the event on our events page.

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