Stu Mackay, Yukon College--Major Events Shaping ICT Education; Societal Issues

This is the next interview in the continuing series of Computing Canada’s (CC)Blogged Down (BD) which is featured here “first” in the Canadian IT Managers (CIM) forum.

In this blog series, we continue our talk with Stu Mackay, Dean at Yukon College—a leader in innovative educational programs and advanced delivery of these programs.

Thank you and Enjoy!
Stephen Ibaraki, FCIPS, I.S.P., MVP
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Stephen: In surveying the past three years, profile the major events that shaped the ICT educational community?

Stu : I feel most comfortable answering this question from the "rural and remote" educational community perspective. Over the past 3 years, I believe the following events have shaped our community:

The access to bandwidth is slowly being resolved. Broadband capability is increasing and new technologies, such as the KA-Band, give promise to affordable access to all areas of Canada. The challenge is, what are we going to do with it?

In the Yukon, education technologies have proven their worth. Learner access rates continue to increase and, as mentioned earlier, our systems are reaching the saturation point.

The complexity of the ICT industry has stressed the educational community as the definition and skill sets for entry-level workers has expanded. Three years ago, there were 4 IT occupations described in the National Occupation Codes. Now, there are almost 30.

Stephen: Do you see any societal issues that need to receive our attention and focus in 2007 and beyond?

Stu: As the skills shortage deepens, there will be pressure to increase immigration to resolve the issue. This may be inevitable and desirable. However, there are many underrepresented groups in our society that must be given the opportunity to engage more fully. First Nations, people with disabilities and women have traditionally not been able to gain an equal share of the benefits of our economy. Finding the right mechanisms and supports for this to occur will require our immediate attention.

Stephen: Stu, thank you for taking the time to share your accumulated wisdom and deep insights with the audience. We will follow Yukon College as you continue to be an educational leader, not just in the North, but also worldwide.

Stu: You are most welcome.
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I encourage you to share your thoughts here on these interviews or send me an e-mail at sibaraki@cips.ca.
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