On Saturday, Feb. 25, at Microsoft Headquarters, NetCom Learning Teams Up With Microsoft for Business Technology Conference to Help Address Business Skills Development Gap. AsianInNY was a proud Media Sponsor.
The iBusiness 2012: Differentiate Yourself, Transform Your Future event gives attendees a chance to learn about the latest technology trends for any industry and explains how to become a business leader by mastering skills development.
Young professionals of any industry can learn how to be the first in their industry to know about the leading business technology trends and the secrets that keep Fortune 500 companies ahead of the competition. iBusiness 2012 explained the advantages of getting to know business technologies such as unified communication and collaboration, unified business intelligence strategies and cloud computing, and how to navigate the constantly changing business technology environment.
“Every industry in the workforce uses technology. So it’s critical to learn the skills that will allow you not only to stay on top of the ever-advancing IT market, but also to know how to apply those solutions to your field. Being able to adapt to the latest technology is the best way to become a leader in your business industry,” said Russell Sarder, Business Magnate, award-winning Author, and CEO at NetCom Learning.
The event is timely considering a recent Financial Times article explaining the existence of a skills gap between the skills that companies need and the training that schools and universities are providing the workforce. According to statistics from a 2011 Robert Half Technology survey, 51 percent of CIOs say it’s challenging for their companies to find skilled IT professionals. Additionally, a 2009 ASTD Skills Gap poll taken by 1,179 organizations showed that 79 percent said there is a skill gap in their organization. The need to confront the skills gap with directed education is so important that President Obama emphasized it during the State of the Union address held on January 25th.
This skills gap is caused by a variety of influences, not least among them the fact that jobs are simply changing. Factors like globalization, IT revaluation and the impact of technology and internet connectivity are having an impact as well. A change in workforce demographics has also had an influence, especially since 27 percent of the current workforce is coming from the Net Generation (1977 to present) and bringing with them a different work and learning style.
One of the biggest influences, however, is unprepared college graduates. Companies are requiring workers to have more knowledge, training and skills, and universities aren’t always equipped to train in the latest IT innovations because the IT industry evolves so fast.
The iBusiness 2012 event featured speakers like Sarder; Savio Chan, CEO of U.S. China Partners; Joey Snow, Senior Technical Evangelist for the Worldwide Developer and Platform team at Microsoft; Chris Martin, Talent Management Strategist in the Fortune 1000 marketplace; Sam Polsky, subject matter expert and trainer at NetCom Learning; and Alison Cunard, General Manager for Sales and Marketing, Microsoft Learning. Cunard leads the sales and marketing team that enables skills development for millions of people globally.
“It’s an exciting time for technology. Today’s rapid changes and innovations in technology touch every industry globally, making it imperative to stay up to date on technical skills. I’m thrilled see the IT industry embracing the skills development initiative, which will help people and businesses succeed today and into the future,” Cunard said.
For more info: http://www.netcomlearning.com
