New opportunities for America's technology workers

Apprenticeship System (NITAS), an innovative program delivered jointly by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) and the U.S. Department of Labor, is providing workers with the training and education President Bush says is needed to help America become more productive.

In his State of the Union speech Tuesday, Mr. Bush stressed that "as technology transforms the way almost every job is done, America becomes more productive, and workers need new skills... We must respond by helping more Americans gain the skills to find good jobs in our new economy."

The President reinforced his remarks today at Mesa (Arizona) Community College, where he led a discussion on jobs for the 21st century.

Martin Bean, chairman of CompTIA's public policy committee, moderated the panel discussion. Neill Hopkins, vice president, workforce development and training, CompTIA, also participated in the program.

"We are pleased and proud to be working closely with the Administration in offering programs that help US workers get the training and skills necessary to power America's technological prowess," said John Venator, president and chief executive officer, CompTIA. "NITAS is an example of CompTIA's leadership in the training and development of current and future U.S. tech workers. We want to thank President Bush and the Department of Labor for their commitment to this goal, and for the real progress they've already accomplished."

The technology field continues to have some of the country's fastest-growing occupations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects increases of 82 percent in the number of positions for network and computer systems administrators; and a 97 percent rise for computer support specialists, between 2000 and 2010. It also predicts job growth for software engineers of up to 100 percent, depending on area of expertise, for the same time period.

"IT skills are critical to the competitiveness of virtually every U.S. industry, and the development of a skilled, highly-trained IT workforce offers a substantial opportunity to boost American competitiveness," said Bean, chief operating officer, New Horizons Worldwide.

"The IT field supports virtually every business and every industry in the flow of vital information and communications with the potential for bringing continued productivity gains through automation," Bean added. "It does not require a tremendous leap of faith to conclude that productivity and quality gains in the IT workforce can have a substantial economic multiplier. Programs such as NITAS are establishing the framework to help American workers and the companies that employ them become more secure, innovative and profitable."

NITAS provides the tools and infrastructure that benefit new technology workers entering the field; current IT workers in need of retraining; the educational institutions that deliver classroom instruction; and the companies that employ the newly trained and re-trained works.

Through NITAS, new IT workers become productive quickly with minimal start-up periods and with little or no re-work. Existing IT workers learn new jobs and skills, enabling them to adapt to new technology and innovation more quickly and leverage those opportunities to secure competitive advantage for the organization. Employers have the tools to match job requirements with educational content. Educational institutions have the opportunity to extend their mission into the workplace to deliver lifelong learning to keep IT requirements aligned with business goals.

"NITAS strengthens the linkages between workforce investment and the nation's educational systems,"
CompTIA's Hopkins said. "Research conducted by the Department of Labor and by CompTIA indicates that on-the-job training is much more effective when combined with classroom instruction than when either is delivered on its own. The combination of structured on-the-job training delivered under the guidance of an experienced worker, and complementary related classroom instruction ensures a worker's employability and competency."

Currently three apprenticeship tracks are available: IT Generalist, IT Project Management Level 2 and IT Project Management Level 3.

All three concentrations consist of a minimum number of hours of classroom instruction, on-the-job instruction, mentored skills validation and industry certification. The structured, supervised on-the-job learning component involves at least 2,000 hours depending on the occupation. The classroom component consists of a minimum of 144 hours of instruction.

Apprenticeship tracks planned for later this year include information assurance and security, IT enterprise management, database, web e-commerce, and network specialization.