InSys Views - July 2007

Volume 2, Issue 7 - July 2007

I've noticed that over the past six months, there's been a good deal of coverage about the role of women in technology, and the fact that the number of women in technical jobs is trending downward. A lot of people have a lot of theories, but no one is really sure why. I think it's unfortunate. That's why I like to see that some people are doing something about it.

None other than IBM, in fact. They have a program called EX.I.T.E., which stands for EXploring Interests in Technology and Engineering. It's designed to inspire middle-school girls to "make a difference," through math, science and technology, and it's built around a series of week-long summer camp sessions in the US, Canada, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific. They've been doing it for eight years, and last summer the program involved 1,700 girls, ages 11-13. You can read more about it here.

It's important for teen-agers to get good information about their options, and I think it's great when any organization steps up to the gender equity plate. Good for IBM!

Regards,

Linda Magnusson-Rosario, CEO

Solutions to Email Overload

The average corporate email account receives 18 MB of mail and attachments each business day; the figure is expected to grow to 28 MB a day by 2011. Fast Company's latest issue offers a peak at how three organizations implemented solutions to the meet the challenge. Read the article.

An Equal Opportunity Information Trap

While employers might consider online sleuthing thorough or clever or both, the reality is that if information concerning protected characteristics (e.g., race, gender or age) is disclosed and the sleuth-ees are not hired, employers may find themselves on the wrong end of discrimination claims. Read the article.

Study Ranks IT Competitiveness By Country

The Economist magazine and the Business Software Alliance conducted a study to gauge the competitiveness of the IT industry on a geographical basis. The goal of the study is to figure out which countries and regions around the globe have the best business, social and skills factors to foster a productive and indigenous IT sector. Read the report.

And now, time for a little humor...

It's summer time, and people are taking time off and the pace of things is slowing down, thank goodness. So maybe you have time for a short, funny video. Check out this one at YouTube. It shows you that working the Help Desk was a challenging job, even in the middle ages.

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