Knowledge Worker Development: Technology Neutrality and Growth of the IT Industry

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• Knowledge Worker Development Technology
  Neutrality and Growth of the IT Industry

Michael Mudd, Director of Public Policy Asia -
Pacific The Computing Technology Industry
Association - CompTIA mmudd_at_comptia.org
September 29th 2005
14th Vietnam IT Week, 26/9- 2/10 2005, Hanoi,
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
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Agenda

• Who is CompTIA
• The changing needs of the economy
• Multi-stakeholder partnerships - NITAS
• The importance of Technical Neutrality
• How to create a sustainable and competitive
  IT industry
• Public/Private partnership - examples
• Our Initiatives

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CompTIA - a leading ICT Industry Association

• Global Reach
• 20,000 plus Corporate Members in 102 countries,
• Over 4,000 institutional members and 8,000 IT
  professional (individual) members
• 85 of members are SMEs
• Inclusive
• Members from major industry markets, representing
  all in the IT industry Hardware Software
  Telecommunications IT Services
• Corporations and not-for-profit organizations/
  Schools, Community Colleges and
  Universities/government partnerships
• Effective
• Largest vendor-neutral provider of IT training
  certifications
• Successful track record of collaboration and
  facilitation of global standards
• Working with governments in a public/private
  partnership
• Industry driven through members cornerstone
  process

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Earthweb Eastman Kodak Entex Information
Services ePresence Exide Electronics
Group FileNet Fujitsu Computer GE Information
Global Knowledge Network Guru Labs gtslearning He
wlett-Packard Co. iGeneration Imaging 501
IMNET Systems InaCom Corp. Information
Technology (ITMI) Ingram Micro Inc. Intel
Kofax Imaging Products Lava Systems Law
Cypress Company Learning Centers, Inc. Learning
Tree
Lotus Marcraft International Microsoft Motorola
New Horizons Novell NTT Data Odyssey
Development Optical Laser Optika Imaging
Systems PaperClip Software ProsoftTraining.com
RSA Security Ricoh Corp. SmartForce Sun
Microsystems Sybex, Inc. TAC Tandy/Radio Shack
TechData Corp. Technology Service Toshiba
America US West Wave Technologies Wurts
Associates Xerox Corporation
_at_doc 3Com Access Graphics Adaptec Course
Technology Apple Computer Association of
Internet Autodesk ATT Internet Services Bell
Howell Bluebird Systems Canon, USA
Cisco Comark CompuCom Systems Inc. CompUSA
ComputerWorld Cornerstone Imaging
Cprod CSK Data Train Institute Diamond Head
Software Document Technologies
Sun Microsystems
HP
Microsoft
Toshiba
Fujitsu
Motorola
Intel
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Ottawa
Brussels
Hong Kong
Washington DC
Chicago, HQ
International
Offices
Sao Paulo
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(No Transcript)
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Your Most Valuable Asset

• The most valuable assets of a 20th century
  company was its production equipment. The most
  valuable asset of a 21st century institution,
  whether business or non-business, will be its
  knowledge workers and their productivity.
• -- Peter Drucker
• 
  Management Guru
• The same
  is true of Economies
• --
  Mike Mudd
• Realist

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Information Technology - The Driving Force
Behind the Worlds Economy

• More than 90 of all workers in the IT field do
  not work for IT industry companies. Rather, they
  fulfill IT functions in other industries.
• Backbone of Biotech and Space
• IT provides the backbone that powers the global
  economy in financial services, government,
  agriculture, healthcare, transportation,
  manufacturing, education,
  and scores of other industries.

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IT Worker Valuation Timeline
IT advantage in organizations has become one of
THE critical success factors in business
Nice to Have
Must Have
Need To Have To Survive
NEED
1990s
2000s
2010s
VALUE
From the Basement
To the Cubicle
To the Boardroom
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2010
A Model for Developing 21st Century IT Workers
The Three Legged Stool of Knowledge Worker
Development
Links job to education requirements Creates
lifelong education process Ties employment to the
education process
Delivers foundational knowledge and concepts
EDUCATION
Validates content knowledge
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What Knowledge Workers Need

• A permanent, validated, record of
  accomplishment.
• An lifelong career guide of employee development
  based upon employers need.
• A convergence of book smarts with street
  smarts to create a 21st century knowledge
  worker.
• A structure for IT skill development, internship
  management, making the most of training
  initiatives.

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Essential Components of a Public/Private IT
training/skilling Initiative

• Industry skills based on vendor neutral
  standards
• Classroom instruction
• Structured on-the-job learning
• Competency validation on the job
• Documented experience
• Industry certification
• Appropriate Government Incentives

- NITAS National IT Apprentice System
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Organizational Performance
Organizational Performance
Worker Productivity
Work Group Performance
Work Group Performance
The Employer
Individual
Task Performance
Individual
Task Performance
Training
Selection
Student Graduation Readiness
Employer Steps
Diploma
Labs
The School
Classroom
Steps in the educational process
Admin Operations
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Skills Development Validation an example
Training, practice of skill, and coaching occurs
within education environment
Based on NITAS industry standard and expectations
Reduces skills gap training cost burden to
Employer and links education process to employer
requirements
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The CompTIA Skills Management System
Permanent, Validated résumé
Skills Concentrations In Progress
Validated Certifications Achieved
Continuing Education Requirements
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Employee Benefits

• Preparation aligned to industry technology
  standards
• Emphasizes knowledge and experience
• Validation of competencies
• Institutionalizes lifelong learning
• Adapts to changing technical standards

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Employer Benefits

• Early access to the next generation of IT
  professional
• Try before you Buy approach to employee
  development
• Confidence that employee education meets employer
  needs and can be validated
• All stakeholders playing with the same game book
• Government assistance e.g. tax benefits

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Economy Benefits

• Ability to move up the value chain
• Increase productivity per person
• Resulting in a higher GDP
• Increasing the tax base
• With lower environmental costs
• Ability to leapfrog ahead
• Examples Ireland India

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Where Technology Neutrality (TN) fits in

• Not aligned to a country
• Not aligned to a company
• Not aligned to an ideology
• Adaptable to various business models
• Benefits the SMEs most
• Key to TN is Interoperability
• Interoperability encompasses Open Standards

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A Practical Definition of
Interoperability (plural)

• The integrating catalyst of a networked society
• Expands functional connectivity between entities
  (governmentltgtbusinessltgtcitizens/customers)
• Increases systems flexibility and agility,
  reduces transaction costs, increases
  productivity, promotes efficiencies throughout
  the supply/service chain, and
• Speeds the dissemination of innovation through
  practical application and commercialization.
• At the social level more is better at the firm
  (and government agency) level, interoperability
  is one feature among others.
• On an IT level the most critical component is
  software

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Alternative Models to Promote
Interoperability

• Open Standards
• Voluntary private sector initiatives, e.g. WS-I,
  W3C, OASIS
• Government specification, e.g. European
  Interoperability Framework
• Private-Public Partnerships
• Organic (market driven) Standards
• the emergence of a dominant software
  specification can often induce widespread
  compatibility more forcefully than standards
  developed through cooperative processes, e.g.
  PDF.

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Types of
Interoperability

• 3 interoperability aspects
• Technical linking up computer systems by
  agreeing on standards for presenting, collecting,
  exchanging, processing, and transporting data.
• Semantic ensuring that transported data shares
  the same meaning for link-up systems
• Organizational organising business processes
  and internal organization structures for better
  exchange of data.
• Technical interoperability
• Standards developed through private sector open
  processes, e.g. USB interconnections, Ethernet,
  TCP/IP, XML, Wireless LAN technology, Web
  services, etc.
• Adoption driven by customers requirements (B2B,
  B2C)
• Standards and interoperability best when
  processes loosely coupled not by tight
  categorical preference (allows for innovation)
• Semantic and organizational interoperability -
  more difficult
• Dependent on agreement among business-government-c
  ustomers/citizens
• Ultimately requires integrated political-commercia
  l solutions
• Loose coupling even more important

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Open standards and Open Source are
not synonymous

• Open Standards
• Specifications describing programme or device
  characteristics, available to the technical
  community, and vetted through open process, e.g.
• W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)
• OASIS (Organisation for the Advancement of
  Structured Information Standards)
• WS-I (Web Services-Interoperability Organisation)
• Open Source Software (OSS)
• Source code is available to the general public
  for use and/or modification from original design
  without fees, some licenses restrict
  commercialization of modifications, with over 60
  different possible licenses currently available.

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Interoperability through open
standards

• Open Source Software may, or may not,
  interoperate
• OSS should interoperate with other OSS if the two
  end point apps adhere to the same open
  standard/version
• The fact that software is open source does not
  mean that it necessarily implements the same open
  standards as other Open Source Software
  applications, this is a choice of the developer
  and the licence they choose.
• Proprietary or Commercial software may also
  implement open standards and may, or may not,
  interoperate
• Open standards specify the characteristics of the
  wire (the external interfaces) and both OSS as
  well as proprietary software may adhere to open
  standards

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Adoption of standards

• A major contributor to interoperability is
  voluntary open standards development plus
  voluntary open standards adoption.
• Open standards development, without significant
  adoption of the resultant standards, does nothing
  in the effort to achieve interoperability.
• Standards, like software, must evolve to take
  advantage of technology advances.
• The proprietary software industry (large and
  small companies) continues to generate the
  largest number of patents of any industry
  globally,
• If the industry is not fully engaged in the
  standards setting process, standards will suffer,
  as technology advances are not integrated into
  the process.
• This is a global challenge as software being
  digital, knows no borders
• 
  
  Technology
  Review Patent Scorecard 2004

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The need for investment

• A CompTIA-sponsored Nathan and Associates
  analysis of 57 countries found that countries
  that are under invested in IT capital have
  relatively larger percentages of total IT capital
  investment in IT hardware (62.2) and less in
  software (13.3).
• In other countries (with adequate IT investment),
  the hardware share of total IT investment is 36.3
  percent and the commercial software share is
  21.5 percent of total IT investment.
• Certification of IT Professionals levels the
  playing field, ensures a recognized quality level
  for overseas customers, thus increasing inflows
  on investment.
• Growth in software sustainable growth in IT and
  related supporting employment

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How to promote an indigenous software industry/1

• Governments can assist this through
• Promoting diverse ICT training options
• Ensuring IP laws are enforced
• Recognizing and promoting international
  Certification
• Promoting growth in gross investment in software
  to promote faster development the countrys ICT
  infrastructure

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How to promote an indigenous software industry/2

• Industry
• Can work more productively with customers that
  already have software standards in place
• Can ensure customers are satisfied with your
  systems and processes by proving the competency
  by certification of their software and hardware
  engineers
• Can work with customers that recognize that their
  core competences go beyond just price
• Can transmit the soft advantages of their
  company, your flexibility, your respect for their
  IP and they in turn, yours

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CompTIA Partnerships
International
Organizations

• Austria
• The Austrian Chamber of Commerce's Institute of
  Business Promotion (WIFI)
• Very active member of CompTIA and include CompTIA
  certifications in the 26,000 courses taught each
  year.
• Germany
• Arbeitsamt Düsseldorf (Job Office Düsseldorf)
• Requires A, Network and Security for all
  funded IT Training activities

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CompTIA
Partnerships International Organizations

• Germany
• SRH Business Academy of Heidelberg 
• Joined CompTIA and actively supports CompTIA
  Certification within their state certified
  business degrees
• Netherlands
• ECABO (rewarding body of IT education)
• Includes CompTIA A and Network
• EXIN exam body
• Students receive exemptions in EXIN certification
  programs for obtaining CompTIA A, Security,
  Linux and/or Server

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CompTIA Partnerships International Organizations

• UK
• City Guilds, Edexcel and OCR (Oxford, Cambridge
  and Royal Society of Arts Examination Board)
• All major exam awarding bodies map and embed
  CompTIA certifications into their academic
  qualifications.
• Egypt
• United States AID funded program to train and
  certify 342 people in CompTIA A
• IBM Egypt trains in special programs students in
  A and Network via the Ministry of
  Communications and IT
•  Jordan
• Special project for the government to certify 100
  people in A and Network

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CompTIA Partnerships International Organizations

• Japan
• Ministry of Labor
• Retraining Fund available for unemployed.
• Fukushima Prefecture, Okinawa Prefecture,
  Wakayama Prefecture and Aichi Prefecture
• Public funds are available through employers and
  training providers under each prefecture's IT
  human resources development project.
• Korea
• Ministry of Information and Communication and
  Ministry of Labor
• Both have made training funds available for
  CompTIA training.
• KITA (Korean International Trade Association)
• Delivers e-Biz, A and Network training under
  government fund in its training arm.
• Malaysia
• National Vocational Training Council (MLVK)
• Working with federal and local governments to map
  A to Malaysian National Competency Skill
  Standards.
• A training now funded by government for
  vocational training.

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CompTIA Partnerships International Organizations

• Singapore
• Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore
  (IDA), National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) and
  National Infocomm Competency Center (NICC)
• National Infocomm Competency Program (IPC)
• Have accredited and incorporated A, Network,
  i-Net, Security and CTT
• Taiwan
• Lunghwa University will start delivering CompTIA
  A, Network and Linux programs in 2004
• Hong Kong
• Working with Information Technology Training
  Development Center and Hong Kong Computer Society
  on potential collaborations
• Working with Hong Kong University-SPACE and
  Employee Retraining Board for engagement of
  CompTIA programs
• Vietnam
• Discussions with MOST on Certification programs
  LINUX

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CompTIA Partnerships
US Government

• US State Departmentrequires A
• Federal Aviation Administrationrequires A
• US Department of Laborcollaborating Identified
  areas that academia, industry and government can
  work together
• US Navyprovides advisory leadership for the A
  certification program
• US Department of Defense the Department of
  Homeland Securityhelping to establish standards
  to drive enhanced cyber security within the
  Federal government
• US State Departmentbuys CompTIA vouchers for
  support of IT certification, training and
  security
• FBI Treasury Departmentactively led
  development of CompTIA Security
• National Skills Standard Boardendorses A
• The Veterans Administrationendorses A

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Some of our initiatives to drive IT
growth

• Coalition Building and Management
• The eSkills Certification Consortium - EU
  (www.comptia.org/test/eupublicpolicy/htw.htm)
  coalition supporting training tax and workforce
  development incentives
• Technology Workforce Coalition - US
  (www.techcoalition.org) coalition supporting
  training tax and workforce development incentives
  at state and federal levels
• The Alliance for Small Business Investment in
  Technology US (www.asbit.org) promotes IT
  equipment tax incentives for small businesses
• The Initiative for Software Choice - Global
  (www.softwarechoice.org) initiative supporting
  neutral software procurement policies 300 members
  and 12 associations
• The eSkills forum - Associative economics of
  multi-stakeholder partnerships, for e-skills
  development and certifications (www.e-scc.org )

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In Conclusion

• To move from an industrial society to a knowledge
  society, Technology Neutral Standards are vital
• Standards lead to Interoperability, for software
  - the Esperanto of the digital age.
• Technology Neutral educational processes prepare
  the knowledge worker for a flexible career, no
  matter what the business model of the vendor
• The process, like evolution, is always changing
  only faster
• In short the DNA of the IT industry globally .

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Thank You !

• For further information please contact
• Michael Mudd
• Director, Public Policy Office Asia Pacific
• CompTIA Hong Kong Limited
• 2f. Shui On Centre
• 6-8Harbour Road,
• Hong Kong
• Tel [phone]
• Email mmudd_at_comptia.org
• www.comptia.org
• www.softwarechoice.org