Most Influential Women In Technology 2010

Fast Company’s List of the Most Influential Women In Technology 2010 is impressive to say the least. Here is a list of the top women arranged by categories.

The Executives: Susan Lyne, CEO Gilt Group; Julie Lee, SVP Vevo; Sheryl Sanbert ,COO Facebook; Ursula Burns, CEO Xerox, Rebecca Parson, CTO Thoughtworks, Virginia Rometty, SVP IBM; Ann Livermore, VP HP; Carol Bartz, CEO Yahoo, Teresa Carlson, VP of Microsofts US Federal Business, Genevieve Bell, Director User Experience Intel, Marissa Mayer, VP Google, Judy McGrath, CEO MTV.

The Activists: Shela Krumholz, Executive Director Center for Responsive Politics; Ellen Miller, Cofounder Sunlight Foundation; Leslie Harris, CEO Center for Democracy; Lelia Chirayath Janah, Founder Samasource; Jessica Jackley, Founder Kiva; Cheryl Contee, Founder Fission Strategy, Sarah Durham, Founder Big Duck; Gwen Bell, Social Media Guru.

The Media: Allison Lewis, Creative Innovator Switch Craft; Darlene Liebman, Cofounder and Vice President of Production Howcast Studios, Laura Brunow Miner, Founder Pictory, Elizabeth Spiers, Media Consultant The Cut; Pim Techamuanvivit, Food Blogger; Lisa Stone, Cofounder BlogHer, Liza Sabater, Publisher Daily Gotham and Culture Kitchen; Meredith Artley, Managing Editor CNN.com.

The Entrepreneurs: Jen Bekman, Founder 20×200; Clara Shih, Founder Hearsay Labs, Tina Sharkey, President and CEO BabyCenter, Claire Boonstra, Cofounder Layar, Danae Ringelmann, Cofounder IndieGoGo, Sam Reich-Dagnen, Cofounder Braincandy; Tan Le, Founder and President Emotiv; Caterina Fake, Cofounder Hunch

The Evangelists: Shireen Mitchell, Founder Digital Sisters; Shaherose Charania and Angie Chang, Founders Women 2.0; Allyson Kapin, Founder Women Who Tech; Molly Holzschlag, Web Standards Advocate; Debbie Weil, Corporate Blogging Expert; Cindy Padnos, Founder Illuminate Ventures, Addison Berry, Document Team Lead Drupal; Susan Scrupski, Founder and CEO 2.0 Adoption Council; Pamela Jones, Founder Groklaw, Laura Fitton, Founder OneForty; Gina Trapani, Project Director Expert Labs.

The Gamers: Susan Wu, Cofounder and CEO Ohai; Jane McGonigal, Director of Games Research & Development Institute for the Future; Lucy Bradshaw, Electronic Arts, Nicole Lazzaro, Founder XEO Design; Shinyoung Park, Founder Funji, Kate Connally, VP Addicting Games; Annie Chang, Cofounder and Head of Products LoLapps, Trina Schwimmer, Founder GamingAngels, Sara de Freitas, Director of Research Serious Games.

The Braniacs: Elizabeth Stark, Cofounder Open Video Alliance, Sheila Campbell, Head of the General Service Administration’s Web Best Practices Team, GSA’s USA.gov, Melissa Hathway, Cybersecurity Expert; Jayne Poynter, Cofounder Paragon Space Dev Corp; Amber Case, Cyborg Anthropologist; Fernanda Viegas, Cofounder Flowing Media; Robin Murphy, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Texas A&M University; Jill Tarter, Director SETI; Maria Alovert, Biodiesel Advocate; Alexis Ringwald, Cofounder Valence Energy Corp

ASOCIA Group would like to congratulate these amazing women for their great contributions and leadership in technology.

ASOCIA Group is a woman-owned enterprise(WBE) certified by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).www.asociagroup.com/WBENC.

ASOCIA Group is top-tier information technology consulting, staffing and executive search firm.

Full article at Fast Company

U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce Reports Georgia Women-Owned Business’ Market Share Dropped Over Last Decade

America’s leading economic advocate for women begins aggressive Georgia activities to support women’s businesses and fuel revenue growth.

In light of troubling new data which shows Georgia women-owned businesses revenues-based market share dropped over the last decade, the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce announced strong new activities in Georgia to significantly increase women’s business revenues. The kick-off of these activities will begin in Atlanta on Tuesday, August 17th 2010.

The U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce™ report titled; “Women’s Businesses Struggle for Market Share,” finds, during a decade of strong growth in the number of women-owned firms, U.S. women’s revenue-based market share shrank ten percent.

USWCC | Two Reports from USWCC | 360 on Vimeo.

Newly released data from the Preliminary Estimates of Business Ownership by Gender, Ethnicity, Race and Veteran Status: 2007, from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2007 Survey of Business Owners alarmingly finds, even though the number of U.S. women’s business grew 44% between 1997 and 2007, our already small revenues-based market share declined over 10% – dropping from 4.41% in 1997 to 3.95% in 2007. And, even though the number of Georgia women-owned firms nearly doubled between 1997 and 2007, and even though women owned over 30% of all firms in Georgia, the revenues-based market share for Georgia women-owned firms declined from 4.35% to 4.28%.

“Georgia women own over two hundred seventy-eight thousand firms (30.86% of all Georgia firms), but secure only 4.38% of all revenues. Across the United States, women own over 7.8M firms, (28.75% of all firms in the U.S.) but secure only 3.95% of all revenues. The opportunity loss and unrewarded risk, loss of job creation, market demand, tax revenues, and potential retirement assets greatly impacts America’s financial future,” says U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce CEO, Margot Dorfman.

“The media hype about the growth of women’s businesses continues to emphasize the number of women-owned firms, rather than our grossly stunted financial success,” continues Dorfman. “This report highlights the growth challenges women business owners face and the opportunity loss our country experiences as we fail to support women as entrepreneurs and business leaders. One third of all businesses – a huge segment of our total business base – are declining instead of growing. We cannot afford to not help women business owners.”

The U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce | Georgia Economic Council is beginning aggressive activities to bring improvement to the revenue growth of Georgia women-owned firms. “We’re taking Georgia women to the heart of economic development, to the sources of business funding, and to the mainstream business marketplace to turn the tide and bring new revenue and market share growth,” says Dorfman.
The U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce finds failure to access affordable capital, failure to access markets, and segregation from mainstream business development and leadership have contributed to the failure of women’s businesses to achieve acceptable market share growth and has contributed to America’s economic decline.

The USWCC has provided a full report to Congress with a detailed list of recommendations and is initiating aggressive regional activities to support women’s businesses and fuel revenue growth.

MEETINGS: Atlanta - August 17, 2010 from 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm at Centergy Building 75 – 5th St., NW, 3rd floor Hodges Room Atlanta, GA 30308. Virtual Meeting/Webinar (for those unable to attend in person) – August 18th 2010 from 1 - 2:30 pm. Registration is complimentary; details available at http://www.uswcc.org or by calling 888-418-7922.

Georgia women and community leaders interested in supporting women’s business revenue growth are encouraged to contact the chamber through the USWCC web portal (http://www.uswcc.org) or by calling 888-418-7922.

Asocia Group, a leading information technology and staffing services provider, is a woman-owned enterprise(WBE) certified by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council(WBENC) since 2007. www.asociagroup.com/WBENC. Asocia Group’s headquarters are in Atlanta, GA.
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ASOCIA Executives Services Highlight – CIO Placement Specialists

Since our inception, the ASOCIA Executive Services Search division has been recognized has a national leader in mid- to senior-level executive placement. Our areas of expertise range from Fortune 500 to start-up organizations spanning all industries including information technology, finance and accounting, human resources, sales and marketing, and healthcare(biomedical, medical devices, pharmaceuticals).

We have further established ourselves as a industry leader in C-level placements, with a specialization in CIO placement due to our strong expertise in the information technology sector. Asocia Group’s core competency is providing information technology services to clients nationwide. Our strong background in information technology, coupled with executive recruitment expertise, has enabled us to become a market leader, as we have a thorough understanding our clients’ industry and needs.

Our seasoned technology executives have a reputation for producing in-depth, accurate assessments of our clients’ strengths and solving complex challenges. Whether you need restructuring leadership, program implementation or turnaround support.

We provide full-time and interim executive placement services. Our services are available on a retainer or contingency basis.

- ASOCIA Executive Services- CIO, CTO, VP of IT - CIO Executive Search

As a premier provider of human capital solutions, the Asocia Executive Services division is dedicated to helping our clients secure the most talented people in the market.

ASOCIA Group is a woman-owned organization (WBE), certified by the Women’s Business Enteprise National Council (WBENC) since 2007. www.asociagroup.com/WBENC

For more information on our executive placement services, please contact us:
Info@asociagroup.com
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Senior Technical Women: A Profile Of Success

New Report Outlines the Attributes of Success for Senior Technical Women; Offers Recommendations for Companies to Advance Women in Technology and Facilitate Diversity.

A new research report released by the Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology (ABI) outlines the attributes of success for Senior Technical Women who, at only four percent of the 1,795 technical men and women surveyed for the report, represent a rarity in the technology industry.

The report, titled Senior Technical Women: A Profile of Success, examines the characteristics of high-ranking women in technology, how they perceive themselves and their top attributes for success, and what organizational practices they most care about. The ABI report is publicly available at www.anitaborg.org.

Senior Technical Women: A Profile of Success explores the demographics and attributes shared among women who defy the odds and achieve senior level positions on the technical track. It also makes recommendations for companies looking to retain senior technical women and for women seeking to advance to senior level positions.

A growing body of research has documented the underrepresentation of women in technical
positions in US companies. Women hold 24 percent of technology jobs, yet represent half the total workforce. This underrepresentation persists even though the demand for technical talent remains high: computer occupations are expected to grow by 32 percent between 2008 and 2018.

Companies are increasingly aware of the benefits of diversity for innovation, and are looking for solutions to recruit, retain,and advance women.

A combination of factors helps to explain the dearth of women in technical positions:

• A shortage of women graduating with degrees in technical fields. Women earned 18.6 percent of Computer Science bachelor’s degrees in the US in 2007, and 18.5 percent of engineering degrees. For computer science, this represents a sharp decline from the 37 percent of women graduating with a bachelor’sdegree in 1985.
• For women who do enter technical careers in industry, persistent barriers to retention and advancement have been documented, including: isolation and lack of access to influential social networks and mentors;unwelcoming cultures; work-family conflict and family configurations that differ from male colleagues;organizational cultures that do not reward mentoring and employee development; and hidden bias andstereotyping that become embedded in organizational processes.
• The mid-career level has been identified by researchers as an especially difficult juncture when 56 percentof technical women leave their companies, representing twice the turnover rate of their male colleagues.Furthermore, half of those women leaving their companies end up leaving technical fields entirely.

What about the women who persist and advance past the mid level? Little is known about the women who defy these trends and achieve senior level positions on the technical track.

ASOCIA Group is a leading information technology consulting and staffing firm and is 100% woman-owned and certified(WBE) by the Women’s Business Enteprise National Council(WBENC).
www.asociagroup.com/WBENC

EHR: CIO’s Worried About Meeting “Meaningful Use” Requirements

Eighty percent of chief information officers surveyed by PricewaterhouseCoopers say they’re worried their hospitals won’t be able to meet whatever meaningful use criteria the government sets for electronic medical records systems.

Chief information officers at healthcare providers and insurance firms are worried that their organizations won’t be able to win so-called “meaningful use“ designation for electronic health records systems in time to take advantage of government subsidies, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In a survey of 120 CIOs, the consulting firm found that 80 percent are “concerned with the ability to meet MU requirements within the specified time frame.”

“Without a set of final rules in place, lack of clarity around certain criteria and reporting requirements has left some CIOs at an impasse,” according to the report. “Fueling the concern are availability of skilled IT resources, infrastructure requirements, vendor readiness, and effecting behavioral change across the organization.”

The federal government is promising about $40,000 out of a $20 billion kitty to each physician practice, hospital or other healthcare provider that can prove “meaningful use” of an EMR system, but has yet to establish exactly what it means by meaningful use. More than a third of the CIOs surveyed said they’re also worried about software vendors’ ability to deliver systems that will meet the criteria, with 44 percent saying their HIT vendors aren’t ready.

“I think we all wonder if we’re going to be ready,” John McInally, CIO for MetroHealth System in Cleveland, told MedCity News. “I don’t know any of my colleagues anywhere that feel they’re completely ready for meaningful use.”

In order to be eligible for the federal handout, healthcare providers must use a certified EMR product and be able to demonstrate the ability to meet reporting requirements.

“The real test, though, will be the new quality reporting requirements that come with this meaningful use,” McInally said. “So it’s not enough to just have the information systems installed from certified vendors, but you also have to be able to produce reporting that demonstrates you’re using those systems to assure high-quality patient care.”

The PWC survey showed that healthcare providers that pull doctors, patients and insurers into the loop are more likely to be ready to apply for stimulus cash next year. But less than 20 percent of the CIOs surveyed said their employers are including patient input into their meaningful use initiatives. By contrast, 63 percent said their organizations are already working with physicians or will in the next six months.

ASOCIA Healthcare is a healthcare consulting, staffing and medical products distributor. With extensive experience in EHR consulting, our expertise can help ensure your success in deploying successful EHR systems.

For more information visit: www.asociahealthcare.com

ASOCIA Healthcare is a subsidiary of ASOCIA Group, a top-tier provider of information technology consulting, staffing and executive search services.

ASOCIA Group is a woman-owned organization (WBE), certified by the Women’s Business Enteprise National Council (WBENC) since 2007. www.asociagroup.com/WBENC

8 Trends Driving IT Job Growth, Salaries

1. Expect more churn in IT staff as CIOs accelerate their move to more flexibile staffing models, says Foote Partners. CIOs are outsourcing more technical work, including managed IP services such as VoIP and VPNs. They’re hiring more contractors for desktop and security services, and they’re putting more applications such as remote backup in the cloud. At the same time, they’re looking to hire IT people with business and analytical skills, such as risk management and project management. Indeed, CIOs report that they’re having trouble hiring IT people because either they can’t find IT professionals with the right business skills or they can’t afford them. All of this means more turnover in IT departments.

2. IT hiring will grow in the second half of 2010, according to Dice.com. The Dice.com Web site, which lists tech job openings, conducted a survey of IT hiring managers and recruiters, and nearly half of them said they plan to add 10% more employees in the next six months than they did in the first half of the year. Another 28% of respondents plan to increase hiring by 11% to 20%. Survey respondents are getting more optimistic about salaries, too. A quarter of survey respondents predicted that IT salaries will rise in 2010, compared to 10% of survey respondents making this prediction six months ago. Another good sign: 69% of survey respondents said layoffs are not likely at their companies during the next six months.

3. Banks are starting to hire IT staff, but they are in no hurry to fill open jobs, says Dice.com. Dice says banks are looking for IT professionals who can manage new technology or integration projects, but that they are taking from six to eight months to fill open jobs. This compares to three or four months to fill jobs prior to the recession. Dice said banks are being “really selective” and are looking for “exact matches” for their detailed job descriptions.

4. IT pros are getting paid slightly more than last year, says Janco Associates’ mid-year IT salary survey. Total mean compensation for IT pros has increased to $78,210 from $77,690 a year ago – a rise of less than 1%. However, most of the additional money is going to CIOs, and not their staffs. Compensation of CIOs in large enterprises rose 7.5% to $181,533, and in midsized enterprises it rose 3.7% to $169,303, Janco found. Lower-level IT pros, on the other hand, are experiencing reduced bonuses, frozen salaries and in some cases they are being asked to pay a greater portion of their healthcare costs, Janco said. One positive sign: companies are more willing to consider flexible hours and work schedules as a low-cost benefit for IT workers.

5. CIO confidence is up, according to a survey released in June by Robert Half Technology. The survey found that 10% of CIOs plan to expand their IT departments in the third quarter of 2010, while 4% plan to reduce staffing. The states with the most active IT hiring are expected to include New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas. Overall, 81% of CIOs said they are confident in their companies’ growth prospects in the third quarter, while 40% said their firms are likely to invest in new IT projects in the next three months.

6. Job hopping is on the rise, prompting CIOs to worry more about IT staff retention. A recent report found that more Americans quit their jobs in the last three months than were fired. The rise in voluntary departures is prompting CIOs to worry about retaining their best IT staff. The Robert Half Technology survey found that 34% of technology executives are concerned about losing top IT performers in the next year, up three percentage points from last month. Similarly, 43% of CIOs say it is “challenging” to find skilled IT professionals today.

7. CIOs say networking and security top their list of hot IT skills. CIOs surveyed by Robert Half Technology said they had the hardest time filling jobs in networking, applications development and security. Other hot skills include software development, database management and help desk/technical support. Similarly, a recent survey of 400 U.K. recruitment consultants found that IT security skills were most in demand for permanent hires. The Report on Jobs, by KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, also found that full-time staff with enterprise software and developer skills were in short supply.

8. Government, usually the safest sector of the economy in a downturn, has announced more job cuts this year than any other employer. Challenger, Gray & Christmas said government agencies and nonprofits announced more job cuts than any other industry segment in May. The sector shed 16,697 jobs in May, 12% more than the job cuts announced in April. All total, the sector has shed 93,470 jobs in 2010. What’s driving the cuts are state and municipality budget problems, which are likely to continue due to lower tax revenues and stagnant housing values.

Full Article: www.networkworld.com

Cultivating Needed Tech Talent Among the Youth

If we keep going the way we are now, this year we will outsource one in four IT jobs to India, Russia and other countries that supply low-cost labor, according to the Hackett Group (HCKT), a trend that sends a message to young people contemplating technology careers: IT work is unstable. You can’t count on climbing any career ladder.

College freshman get it. In 2000, 5.2 percent of incoming students intended to major in computer science. By 2008, according to the latest data from the National Science Foundation, that number had plummeted to 1.5 percent.

The need for technology staff who work locally hasn’t gone away, however. Although some economists now warn of a near-jobless recovery, the number of U.S. professional and business services jobs, including those in IT, will grow 1 percent to 2 percent per year, according to Moody’s (MCO) Economy.com.

Yet CIOs are faced with a dry pipeline of entry-level staff. At the same time, tens of thousands of young people between the ages of 18 and 25 live in poverty in the major cities that are home to most of the available IT jobs. They’re too old for government social services programs that may have provided food and financial support when they were children. Now they seek work, but lack the training to land most jobs beyond serving food or cleaning offices. A college education usually isn’t an option because they haven’t taken the right high school classes or have dropped out. And, of course, they don’t have the money.

Matching the most promising of these young people with an IT opportunity solves two problems: It meets the urgent need for new technology workers and the crying need for pathways out of poverty. And so CIOs have been working with a handful of nonprofits to recruit candidates from the toughest neighborhoods in the nation to train for technology careers. Graduates of these youth training programs—the most notable of which are Year Up and NPower—get internships and often jobs at top firms. For the CIOs involved with these groups, it’s not just a feel-good way to give back. They’re tapping what had been an invisible talent pool and diversifying their staffs. They also like the ROI they get from investing in recruits who are hungry to learn by doing.

Give Back, Get Back
Two national nonprofits train urban students for IT careers, with help from CIOs

CIOs who want to give back to their communities while diversifying their staffs can volunteer to teach or mentor students through these nonprofits, which train urban young people for careers in IT. Companies can also donate funds or equipment, as well as sponsor events or internships.

Year Up
Founded in 2000, Year Up’s annual operating budget of $30 million goes to offering technical and professional training, college credits, educational stipends and corporate internships. More than 1,000 students are expected to participate in the group’s programs this year.
Where: Atlanta; Boston; New York; Providence, R.I.; San Francisco; and Washington, D.C.
Website: www.yearup.org/getinvolved

NPower
Formed in 1999 to provide low-cost IT services to other nonprofits, the group operates in 12 cities and provides training programs in six of them. NPower’s CIO Council helps guide the curriculum and provides feedback about corporate technology.

Technology Service Corps
Where: New York
Website: www.npower.org/training/ technology-service-corps

ITWorks
Where: Philadelphia
Website: www.npowerpa.org

Courtesy of CIO.com: Taking IT to the Streets

IT Hiring Jumps in January!

U.S. IT employment increased by 12,900 jobs, or 0.3%, in January, one of the best month-to-month gains since the recession hit in late 2008, per Computerworld.The positive news comes after the prolonged recession had reduced overall IT employment by some 200,000 jobs.

Tech employment peaked in November, 2008, with some 4 million jobs. But in the first half of last year, IT employment fell off the cliff. The employment picture began stabilizing last summer. The January report noted by Computerworld lists a total of 3.823 million IT jobs.

The report described the latest monthly growth figures as “better than incremental.” It added that “signs are encouraging that businesses demand for IT professionals and services is growing.”

Even so, the tech job market has a lot of ground to cover to make up for last year’s job losses.
The IEEE-USA, which is part of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., said Friday that the number of working computer professionals in the U.S. dropped by 198,000 during 2009, according to its analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

The IEEE-USA recently said the unemployment rate for software engineers fell from 4.7% to 4.1% from the third to the fourth 2009 quarter, while the total pool of employed software engineers fell from 970,000 to 952,000, a nearly 2% decline. It attributed the decline to decisions by engineers to leave the field because of retirement, or to switch professions.

The IEEE said 82,000 software engineering jobs and 78,000 positions for computer scientists and systems analysts disappeared between 2008 and 2009.

“Putting engineers and computer professionals back to work will help power the U.S. economy,” said Evelyn H. Hirt, who became the IEEE-USA’s president in January. “They will foster technological breakthroughs and engineering solutions to meet the great challenges facing our country and help create opportunities throughout the workforce,” she said in a statement.

Another barometer of tech demand are the number of jobs posted on Dice, a technology jobs board. There were nearly 58,000 jobs posted today; as of Jan. 4, it had nearly 49,000 jobs posted.