NU-Seattle Faculty participate in FullConTech
On September 15, 2015 The Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) hosted FullConTech, a conference aimed at crafting a playbook addressing the region’s rapid growth in the tech sector.
“Washington’s tech industry is creating jobs 10 times faster than we are training people to fill them. Our cities are struggling to keep pace with rapid growth and adapt to the cultural changes the influx of people brings.” – WTIA
Northeastern University-Seattle’s Dean Tayloe Washburn, Associate Dean Dr. Paula Boyum and Director of Computer Science Dr. Ian Gorton were all active participants in the conference programming.
The conference followed two tracks that served to answer the following questions: Talent: How can we attract and develop the tech talent our region’s economy needs? Ecosystem: How can we best adapt to and prepare for the pressures of our tech sector’s unprecedented growth? Dr. Gorton served as a panelist for the Talent discussion: Developing the Local Pipeline and emphasized the importance of embracing ‘diversity of thought’ when transitioning talent with diverse backgrounds to STEM fields. He cited Northeastern’s ALIGN program as a leading method for accomplishing this.
Dr. Boyum continued the conversation by co-facilitating a Higher Education breakout session with Washington State University’s Anson Fatland. Higher Ed stakeholders identified a list of areas for improvement, including career opportunities and pathways, diversity and access, and collaboration between industry & higher education/K-12 and higher education.
Dean Washburn participated in the Ecosystem track as a panelist for Managing Cultural Changes, which discussed how we can adapt to the rapid changes to our region’s culture and demographics in ways that serve the tech sector as well as the broader community.