New IT Training Options for Workers in Central Upstate New York, CompTIA Announces.

UTICA, N.Y. -- SUNY Institute of Technology, Workforce Investment Board Join NITAS Initiative to Prepare Region's Tech Workers for 21st Century Jobs

An innovative training program that prepares students and workers for the information technology (IT) jobs most in demand by employers is now available at five local colleges in central upstate New York, CompTIA, the Computing Technology Industry Association, announced today.

The State University of New York Institute of Technology (SUNYIT) and the Herkimer-Madison-Oneida Workforce Investment Board (WIB) in central upstate New York have joined the National IT Apprenticeship System (NITAS). Administered by CompTIA and endorsed by the U.S. Department of Labor, NITAS provides students and workers with the right classroom instruction and the on-the-job training to meet employers' demands for IT workers with specific skills relevant to their business.

"Implementing NITAS through our college consortium gives our region's students a tremendous competitive advantage," said Robin O'Brien, chair of the Workforce Investment Board for Herkimer, Madison, and Oneida counties. "By enrolling students, dislocated workers and employed workers as NITAS apprentices, the region can develop a pool of workers whose skills are verified by standardized competency-based certifications, increasing the region's potential to attract and retain jobs and provide opportunity for its people."

Colleges participating in the program include Mohawk Valley Community College, Herkimer County Community College, Morrisville College, the Utica School of Commerce, and Utica College. SUNYIT will manage apprentices at employer sites during the skills validation period. The Herkimer-Madison-Oneida WIB is the liaison between the educational institutions and local employers, matching employers' needs for IT workers with NITAS program participants.

"This project helps fill the labor market needs of the present while creating a collaborative structure for meeting the educational needs of tomorrow," said Deborah J. Tyksinski, director, continuing professional education and sponsored research, SUNY Institute of Technology at Utica-Rome.

IT Workforce Powers Many Industries

More than 90 percent of all workers in the IT field do not work in the IT industry, according to Neill Hopkins, vice president, workforce development, CompTIA.

"IT workers provide the technology backbone that powers financial services, government, healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, education, and scores of other industries," said Hopkins. "The need for better management of the huge volumes of data being created by organizations, as well as large-scale initiatives in areas such as customer relationship management and enterprise resource planning, are driving their need for skilled IT workers."

Among the IT careers most in demand today are networking specialists and applications development professionals.

"Businesses are also investing heavily in network security and are in need of skilled IT professionals to assess system vulnerabilities and develop strategies for overcoming them," Hopkins added.

The NITAS program is relevant to:

--students in IT educational/training programs who are preparing to enter the IT workforce;

--new IT workers entering an organization who quickly become more productive with a minimal start-up period and little or no re-work; and

--experienced IT workers learning to adapt to new technologies, roles and responsibilities more quickly and leverage those opportunities in their jobs more rapidly.

A key component of the NITAS program is a web-enabled database that stores career transcripts and performance records of validated competencies for each participating worker, including training records, coaching records, hours of experience, and certifications achieved. This information - safeguarded for confidentiality and privacy - is used as credentialing criteria on key performance dimensions that enable the worker and employer to track competencies and to plan for future training needs.

About NITAS

The National Information Technology Apprenticeship System (NITAS) is developing the U.S. IT workforce for the 21st Century through a combination of structured on-the-job training and classroom instruction. Through NITAS, IT workers develop the right skills and work experience to make a lasting, positive impact with their employers; and organizations secure a workforce with a high level of competency across a range of IT skills. NITAS is administered by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) and is endorsed by the U.S. Department of Labor. For more information on NITAS, please visit www.nitas.us.

About CompTIA

CompTIA is a global trade association representing the business interests of the information technology industry. For more than 22 years CompTIA has provided research, networking and partnering opportunities to its 20,000 members in 102 countries. The association is involved in developing standards and best practices, and influencing the political, economic and educational arenas that impact IT worldwide. More information is at www.comptia.org.