The folowing is a message from IT-oLogy president, Lonnie Emard.
Over the last several years, I have personally used the term collaboration nearly every day to describe how a non-profit consortium like IT-oLogy will achieve its desired results. Our mission to advance IT talent really means that each partner understands how their company’s role fits as part of the ecosystem that enables more individuals to have the IT and digital skills to meet the needs of employers in a community.
While the components and audiences of people that make up the four distinct collaboration areas listed below are numerous, it is vital to the success of collaboration to recognize which partners are in the best position to lead certain projects, because they possess the domain knowledge and the expertise to respond to new requirements and implement change. The four areas that come together in the IT-oLogy model are:
1) Academia
2) Business (industry, government)
3) Economic Development
4) Media
The collaborative relationship of these areas has unfolded these past four years. Academia is responding to the collective voice of all industry partners in changing curriculum, delivering more applied learning, and aligning to business needs while employers are investing in the process from both a short term and a long term ROI and allowing professionals to give back by getting involved in workforce preparation, as well as collaborating on professional development. The media has helped us change the conversation sharing the results of studies that show how big the gap is, that IT is in every industry and that digital skills are in every job. The final piece is where collaboration truly reveals itself, when those in economic development and commerce within a community fully engage and support the talent programs that yield strategic competitive advantage, which in this case is the demand for Information technology and digital skill related talent.
Each partner has a chance to see the ROI of their investment in IT-oLogy because the ecosystem of partners across each of these areas give each of us a lever that we otherwise would not have had. There is clearly efficiency, effectiveness and financial stewardship embedded in the decision to be a part of something impactful like IT-oLogy.
Having experienced this collaboration with all of the current partners of IT-oLogy, let me close by saying “THANK YOU” and we expect that investments will continue. For those that are not yet partners, we look forward to locking arm in arm with you and collaborating on this very important mission.
People always ask me about the “best tools” for collaboration, and I tell them it really doesn’t matter much. If a group wants to work together, they will. But only because they have a shared goal, and because each member believes that they will benefit from the time and effort that they put in.
That benefit may be economic, it may be spiritual, or it may be karma — but the best community or social media tools in the world won’t be effective unless the people involved see that they’re getting something back out. I think you’ve managed to build a place where we can all come to help young people gain the skills they need to be successful, and that’s something I can support!