More than 75 educators and industry partners from the Inland Empire joined together on March 1, 2018 for an informative and inspiring event at the Ontario Double Tree. ConvergeOne, a leading ICT service provider located in Ontario, co-sponsored the Information, Communication Technologies (ICT) Regional Advisory and Industry Skills Panel along with the Inland Empire Desert Region. ConvergeOne IT Education Manager, Claire Jefferson-Glipa gave the keynote address.
Susanne Mata, the region’s ICT Digital-Media Deputy Sector Navigator noted that an important part of the Inland Empire advisory model is the industry skills panel.
“We had an exceptional panel of nine industry experts who shared their insights related to desired skills and certification, hiring practices, cyber-security and new trends,” she said.
Panelists included:
- Robert Redd, ConvergeOne
- Joseph Erian, Raytheon
- Charles Deranleau, Network Security Consultant Services
- Karen Stanton, Western Academy Support & Training Center
- Steve Vu, Esri
- David Thurston, San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools
- Stephen Monteros, ConvergeOne
- Ryan Burgess, San Bernardino County
After the industry panel’s remarks, there were five sub-sector break-out sessions covering Business Software Applications, IT Networking, Cybersecurity, Computer Science and Software Development.
“These break-out sessions provided a platform for continued conversations, time for building partnerships, curriculum and program updates.” said Mata.
A comprehensive ICT labor market presentation was provided by the Inland Empire Centers of Excellence Project Director. Then Donna Woods, California Cyber Hub Educator and Community Manager gave an update on regional and statewide cybersecurity activities and events. Woods updated the group on recent CyberPatriot competitions and invited educators to get involved.
A LinkedIn group was created to allow attendees to stay connected after the March 1st meeting. Anyone interested in connecting is welcome to join the Inland Empire Information Communications Technologies (ICT) Advisory Community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13582581
In addition, all documents related to the meeting have been posted in the group including minutes, sign-in sheet and presentations. We encourage members to post event announcements, job announcements or other relevant information for the benefit of the group.