IT Summit to Address Worker Shortage

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Information Technology Research Center at the University of Arkansas’ Sam M. Walton College of Business Administration and the Arkansas Department of Information Systems are sponsoring a day-long "IT Summit II: A Focus on Solutions," Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2000, at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock

Tim W. Kizer, managing director of the Information Technology Research Center (ITRC), said, "We put together this conference to help address one of today’s major information technology (IT) issues: finding qualified IT workers. This is a concern for not only business and industry, but also for higher education and state organizations."

The program will feature what Arkansas institutions of higher education are doing to meet the demand for IT workers as well as information on government IT initiatives, benchmarking of other state IT and education practices, and a presentation by Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Members of the state legislature, IT leaders in K-12 and higher education, business and industry, and state government have been invited to attend.

The ITRC and the Arkansas Department of Information Systems will unveil a web-based database of all higher education IT programs in the state. The database will cover the many different disciplines offering IT programs, such as computer information systems, computer science, electrical engineering, information science and others.

The "IT Summit II: A Focus on Solutions" is being held from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The cost for the day is $50, which includes snacks and a luncheon featuring a presentation by Governor Huckabee.

To register or for more information, go to http://itrc.uark.edu/itsummitII.html or contact Debbie Wilson at (479) 575-4261 or dwilson@walton.uark.edu.

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