The Skilled Worker Shortage: University Partnerships October 30, 2000 Networks for People Conference Randal D. Pinkett, Ph.D. Candidate MIT Media Laboratory Inner City Consulting Group

Agenda I.The Skilled Worker Shortage II.Why Partner with a College/University? III.Three Examples at MIT IV.Challenges and Recommendations

The Skilled Worker Shortage Between 1996 and 2006, "the United States will require more than 1.3 million new highly skilled workers in [IT] occupations...” Office of Technology Policy The Digital Work Force: Building Infotech Skills at the Speed of Innovation

The Skilled Worker Shortage “… [the US will need] an average of about 137,800 per year to fill newly created jobs (1,134,000) and to replace workers who are leaving these fields (244,000).” Office of Technology Policy The Digital Work Force: Building Infotech Skills at the Speed of Innovation

The Skilled Worker Dilemma n Technical assistance is either ongoing and cost-prohibitive, or sporadic and cost-ineffective

Why Partner with a University? n Students can offer technical assistance and consultation n Colleges and universities can provide resources (e.g., computers, monitors, printers, etc.) n Departments may support related research (e.g., evaluation) n Grants and fundraising

Potential Partners n Electrical and Computer Engineering n Computer Science n Library Science or Information Science n Education or Educational Technology n Information Technology or Services n Urban Studies and Planning n Office of Community Service

Three Examples at MIT n Computer Clubhouse n 6.916: Software Engineering of Innovative Web Services n Camfield Estates-MIT Creating Community Connections Project

Computer Clubhouse n An after-school learning center where youth become fluent with new technological tools –UNIVERSITY SUPPORT: Volunteers, Meeting Space, Food, Consultation, Training, New Technologies

6.916: Software Engineering n A semester-long course (Fall and Spring) where undergraduate and graduate students build cutting-edge websites –UNIVERSITY SUPPORT: Assessment, Website Design and Implementation, and Ongoing Technical Support 6.916

Camfield Estates-MIT n A university-community partnership to investigate the role of community technology for the purpose of community building in a low-income housing development –UNIVERSITY SUPPORT: Infrastructure, Consultation, Training, Research and Evaluation Camfield Estates.net

Challenges with University Support n Student involvement can be intermittent –Exam-to-exam –Season-to-season –Year-to-year n Knowledge becomes decentralized

Recommendations n Identify your needs first n Seek an appropriate academic partner –Do your research! n Identify an internal advocate –Class Professor –Department –Research Group –Community Service/Volunteer Office

Recommendations n Understand that universities are often huge bureaucracies n Continue recruiting efforts on an ongoing basis

The Skilled Worker Shortage: University Partnerships Randal D. Pinkett, Ph.D. Candidate MIT Media Laboratory Inner City Consulting Group