Academic IT

Time for IT to step up to the plate

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 08:00:00 -0400

It is a travesty that the latest government statistics show a drop in the number of African-American IT workers, a group that has long been underrepresented in the IT workforce. At a time when the industry is growing, the employment numbers should be increasing, not decreasing. In our ever-changing and diverse society, a declining number of African Americans in the field is unacceptable. It is time for IT leaders to step up to the plate, reach out, and engage in on the job training programs and better recruitment policies to reverse the current trend. Universities should also be encouraged by the IT sector to offer more scholarships to attract African-Americans interested in information technology. For a such an innovative industry, these statistics are certainly disturbing. -Judi

P.S. Don't miss our exclusive interview with Microsoft's Exchange Group on the topic of the iPhone in the enterprise!

ALSO NOTED: Business-focused IT degrees; Is resistance to outsourcing futile?;

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 20:01:38 -0400

> Universities and employers back new business-focused IT degrees. Article

> Longhorn enters public beta. Article

> Outsourcing: Is resistance futile? Article

> Experts warn of .doc attacks. Article

> Is the mainstream ready for Software as a Service (SaaS)? Article

> Hard drive failures are surprisingly frequent. Article

> NASCIO discusses government transformation through change management. Article

> Resource center: Managed services. Article

And Finally… Beware geeks seeking jobs. Article

Colleges top data security incident list

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 19:01:38 -0500

While it may seem that federal agencies are bearing the brunt of confidential data losses, U.S. universities aren't too far behind on the list. In fact, according to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, of the 300 data incidents tracked, 50 of them affected educational systems. Universities have become primary targets for several reasons, including traditional, decentralized security and open networks.

For more on who's dealing with the most data breaches:
- read the news at CIO Today

A collaborative effort to share cyber security data

Thu, 06 Jul 2006 20:01:36 -0400

A federal effort aimed at helping researchers and agencies get a better grip on external threats is grabbing more traction and involvement. The Federated Model is an information-sharing project among government agencies, universities and the research community focused on preventing cyber attacks via the IP network route. Members of the group say the best insight on stopping security attacks comes from analyzing what happened and how entities responded and that's just exactly the information group participants are gleaning from each other.

For more on the federal cyber security effort:
- read this article at NetworkWorld