Information Security? Not at the airport!

This week I found out that travel broadens the mind, in multiple ways!

I got a lesson in information security.

On a wet Monday morning, flights were delayed and the lounge was full. The section of the lounge with the work cubes was packed, and around me, people were busy on the phone.

I spend time working on information security to protect confidential data, and after 10 minutes, I has a lesson that information security is a company-wide issue, and not just IT.

Was it the gentleman on the other side of the cube who was on the phone, describing (in detail) the contracts that he was sending for approval? He described the market research services, and the issues with the contracts. Or was it the gent to the left who was chairing a meeting for a financial service company, or perhaps the lady behind me who was discussing issues with remote monitoring facilities.

All confidential information that they were sharing with a group of people they didn’t know.

Do they forget where they are, or just assume the other lounge guests won’t listen?

As I said, this just reinforced to me that Information Security is a 360-degree issue, and the policies must include when and where people talk about their business.

IT Skills Shortage - Update

Following up my posting of a few weeks a go, I just came across the survey from Graduate Careers Australia about Computer Science Graduates.

I know there are “lies, dammed lies and statistics”, but it seems that in this time of an IT Skills drought, a Computer Science is no short-cut to a job.

I would have thought that these graduates would be ahead of their peers in getting jobs, but apparently not.

Of new bachelor degree graduates who were seeking full-time employment, 82.4% had found it within four months of completing their studies, the report said.

For Computer Science, that figure was 78.8%.

Is this an indictment of the courses, or of employers not wanting to take the time, or spend the money to train graduates?

We can't leave the development of our industry professionals to "someone else".

For those, like me, who don’t know them, Graduate Careers Australia are a peak body with representatives from employers, universities and government who work to foster employment and career opportunities for graduates from higher education institutions.

IT Skills Shortage

From memory, the topic of “IT skills shortage” began occupying IT publications in the late 1990s. I suppose this made sense, as Y2K created a surge in demand, so, why, 8+ years later, is the topic still current?

The resources occupied on Y2K projects were released for other activities. Is the demand still that strong, and if so, what are we doing to address it?

Is it hype, poor training, a gap in tertiary education or something else?

Hype –the comments I read that seem designed to fuel this topic come from recruitment companies. Yes, they would have first-hand experience of the shortage, but they also have an interest in promoting the concept of a “candidate-short market”.

Poor Training – are organisations doing enough to develop people? I know of many organisations that want to hire people who are “ready to go”, which means that someone else is expected to make the investment to develop their skills and experience. If we all leave it to someone else, it won’t get done.

Gap in Tertiary Education – are the courses producing graduates who are employable, with the right skill set? The biggest challenge of IT is matching it to the business needs. A researcher from Gartner suggests renaming IT to Business Technology, which seems smart to me. Is this where tertiary courses are going?

Hiring people costs time and money. How many IT Departments or IT Companies have staff development programs that are designed to make the department more effective, the staff-member feel more valued with the result of reduced staff turnover?