Future Potential in IT (FPIT) – A History and Transformation

In 2005, the Society for Information Management (SIM) published a paper entitled "Trends and Implications for the IT Workforce."  Academics engaged in teaching IT/IS courses all over the country were interviewed to gauge the current and future state of IT workforce development.  One of the most startling conclusions, borne out by enrollment statistics at that time which have yet to improve markedly, was that enrollment in Technology programs in U.S. colleges and universities was falling at alarming rates.  In some cases enrollment had declined as much as 75%.  Some programs then and now have ceased to exist.  The implication was that the U.S. was falling behind the rest of the world in developing a Technology workforce and would continue to do so unless something was done to reverse that trend. 

Thus, the Future Potential in IT (FPIT) program was developed within SIM to educate college level students on the value of pursuing a career in Information Technology.  For the last several years, with the encouragement of SIM International, the program has been conducted on a regional basis by SIM chapters at area colleges and universities.  As originally envisioned FPIT is a half-day program geared toward college students and conducted on college campuses. Chapters have had the freedom to design their local efforts according to an individual situation. A typical program would consist of lunch (e.g. a pizza party), the opportunity to network with current IT professionals, and a keynote speaker. The speaker is usually the CIO of a company that would be recognized by students (e.g. Dunkin Brands).  The program might include a panel consisting of graduates of that institution who have successful careers in technology, complete with a "question and answer" period allowing the students to quiz the panelists and other senior IT professionals in attendance about their career choices.  Where such a program has been conducted it has been well received with students enthusiastically getting involved.  At a recent event held at Northeastern University, all the seats were filled so many students resorted to the windowsills.  Post-program, at every institution where an FPIT event has been held, enrollments have increased.

 need to engage students much earlier in their education. Our group has begun to participate and sponsor STEM initiatives across the K – College level spectrum.  This has included multiple Chapter partnerships with YearUp, hundreds of thousands of dollars in colleg

The 2012 Chapter Leadership Summit, held in St. Louis, was attended by the top leaders from SIM Che scholarships, and programs such as "IT for Girls," "cStars," "NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing," "CyberGirlz Technology Camp," and various other Teen Tech/Boot Camps. These camps are designed to attract young people to the IT profession.  The objectives of these programs are to dispel the myths about jobs in IT.  In fact, our programs strive to prove that all technology jobs have not been outsourced, there are viable careers in IT, tech is not always for "geeks” or "nerds” and technology is something you can use in "real life." The message here is that you can actually have a great career and make substantial earnings in IT. 

While a recent analysis of existing SIM Chapter programs clearly shows that involvement in this effort is central to most Chapter Community Outreach programs, those programs will likely continue to support other philanthropic efforts, but support of STEM initiatives is expected to grow.  This "transformed” Future Potential in IT program will help SIM to fulfill a key part of our mission, promoting careers in IT, and will be in the best interests of our Association, our members and the companies that employ them.  For that reason, discussions of STEM initiatives was featured at SIMposium in Dallas this year and will be at SIMposium 2013 in Boston and beyond, as well as at regional CIO forums.apters across the country. At that Summit, a proposal was approved to expand the boundaries of the FPIT program to encompass all present STEM related initiatives and to serve as a vehicle to encourage the identification and exploration of such programs at the Chapter level.  The goal is that collaboration on STEM initiatives will lead to the identification and adoption of STEM initiatives on a national level.  Beyond that goal, SIM and its Chapters will be involved in both helping teachers to introduce Technology and IT as career choices and to influence the curriculum employed to prepare the next generations of IT workers for employment by SIM members.