Tuesday

2013: The Year Tech as We Know It Changes

The market is in a planning cycle, and analysts are being asked to take a look in their crystal balls and describe what 2013 will look like. Clearly, we will have more bandwidth, 3-D TV will be ramping, and most of us will either be using tablet devices for something or moving to the next big thing.

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Sunday

IT Jobs Claw Back From Crushing Recession

By Chris Murphy
Courtesy of InformationWeek
U.S. market shows glimpse of growth in the first quarter, but also a huge number of unemployed IT pros.
U.S. companies added information technology jobs--26,000--in the first quarter of this year, giving some hope that the IT job destruction from the recession is over. This marks the first time in almost two years that the U.S. economy has added IT jobs for two straight quarters.
The snapshot today is this: U.S. IT jobs have stabilized, and show glimmers of growth. The market will need much more than glimmers, though, to rebuild the almost 300,000 U.S. IT jobs still lost from the recession. A huge number of IT pros remain unemployed out there.
The data comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which conducts a monthly Current Population Survey and issues quarterly reports estimating the number of people employed and unemployed, broken down by job categories. InformationWeek pulls out the eight IT jobs categories for analysis.
Here are the first quarter numbers: IT employment rose to 3.84 million, up from 3.81 million in Q4 2009 and 3.77 million in Q3 2009. These are estimates based on surveys, and a 26,000 jobs addition is a very small move. But looking at trend line, the IT jobs market is better than it has been since middle of 2008, though there remains a huge number of unemployed IT pros. Three of the last four quarters have shown IT job growth.
The U.S. IT job market shattered in late 2008. After an all-time peak of 4.13 million IT pros employed in 2Q 2008, employment plunged for three straight quarters, destroying around 387,000 IT jobs. After bottoming out in Q1 of 2009, the U.S. economy has added about 98,000 IT jobs, according to BLS data.
The number of unemployed IT pros is also on the rise. The past four quarters, on average more than 200,000 people describe themselves as IT pros looking for work. This quarter, it's 250,000. At the IT jobs peak back in mid-2008, that was less than 100,000. That puts IT unemployment at 6.2%, compared with 4.9% for management, professional, and related occupations overall.
So, what does all this means for what lies ahead for IT jobs? We of course don't know, but we can do some informed speculation. A hiring surge is unlikely. Our just-published 2010 U.S. IT Salary Survey shows stagnant wages--the median raise for IT pros is 0%. (Median salary is $81,000 for staff and $103,000 for manager. See more details here, or download full report free here.) Forty percent of the more than 20,000 IT pros we surveyed say their company has a hiring freeze, and 29% say there's been a pay cut. As our story notes, CIOs are worried about having the right skills and enough staff in place if growth picks up and leads to new IT projects. But companies are very wary of hiring, as the stagnant pay suggests.
A cautious view is also voiced by David Foote of Foote Research, which specializes in analyzing IT job, skill, and salary trends. Foote observes this from his research, which the firm does with input from 2,000 employers (Foote press release here):
My sense ... is that we're in a 'three steps forward, one step back' pattern. Jobs are also a lagging indicator in any economic recovery, and we're not seeing a strong job recovery yet. But it's clear that the bleeding stopped in October and many employers are once again acquiring needed skills and making selective IT hires. They are doing so very deliberately, and purchasing services where they once might have added full time staff. An the IT services sector is one showing the greatest gains in new jobs over the past several months, which bears this out.

Foote says a freeze in spending for specialized skills "has thawed" and predicts that by this time next year the market will be less reliant on contractors and willing to bring IT staff back. Yet, in an e-mail exchange with David Foote, he predicts the IT market will remain quite volatile, in part because there's an IT workforce transformation happening along with the recession. Employers are increasingly focused on the skills they need to have and not the jobs they need to fill, Foote says, and are willing to look at new models that blend contractors, cloud-based software or infrastructure services, and new hires--whatever can deliver the needed skills most quickly and efficiently. Says Foote, "Resistance to this level of org change is natural. The recession has been successful in breaking down a certain amount of this resistance, and this volatility we're seeing is being driven by employers taking advantage of the window of opportunity to think through it and move things along to new models."
So, are IT jobs surging back? No. see full article at http://bmighty.informationweek.com/printableArticle.jhtml?articleID=224202304

Tuesday

The EV Project Continues to Roll Out

eTec's Don Karner to Discuss Future of Transportation at EDTA Capitol Hill Panel
Phoenix – Tuesday, April 20, 2010 – ECOtality, Inc. (OTCBB: ETLE ), a leader in clean electric transportation and storage technologies, announced today that Don Karner, President and CEO of its wholly-owned subsidiary, eTec (Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation) will participate in a panel discussion of electric vehicles and advanced transportation in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, April 21, 2010 at 1:30 p.m. The panel is part of the Electric Drive Transportation Association’s (EDTA) Capitol Hill Briefing entitled, “Electric Drive Turning Points: Changing a Century of Transportation in 10 Years.”
Karner will present the latest information regarding The EV Project , the largest-ever rollout of electric vehicle infrastructure. In August 2009, ECOtality’s eTec was awarded a federal stimulus grant of nearly $100 million from the U.S. Department of Energy. The grant is funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) with the goal of creating thousands of new jobs, preserving existing jobs, and jump-starting the economy. With a match from partners, The EV Project has a total value of more than $200 million, and will support electric vehicles with residential, commercial and public chargers in major markets in five states: Arizona (Phoenix & Tucson metropolitan areas), Washington (Seattle area), Oregon (Portland, Salem, Corvallis and Eugene), California (San Diego) and Tennessee (Knoxville, Chattanooga and Memphis).
The EV Project has made significant progress since its debut; Karner’s presentation will give an overview as well as provide a roadmap for how this groundbreaking project will deploy over the next six months.
The details are as follows:
WHAT: Electric Drive Turning Points: Changing a Century of Transportation

DATE: Wednesday, April 21, 2010

TIME: 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. Eastern

LOCATION: Senate Dirksen Office Building
Constitution Avenue and 1st Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002


About ECOtality, Inc.
ECOtality, Inc. (OTCBB:ETLE), headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, is a leader in clean electric transportation and storage technologies. Through innovation, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships, ECOtality accelerates the market applicability of advanced electric technologies to replace carbon-based fuels. For more information about ECOtality, Inc., please visit www.ecotality.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain as they are based on current expectations and assumptions concerning future events or future performance of the company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are only predictions and speak only as of the date hereof. In evaluating such statements, prospective investors should review carefully various risks and uncertainties identified in this release and matters set in the company's SEC filings. These risks and uncertainties could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.
Media:
ECOtality, Inc.
Jeanine L’Ecuyer
jlecuyer@ecotality.com
(480) 776-2176
Investor Relations:
Alliance Advisors for ECOtality
Thomas Walsh
twalsh@allianceadvisors.net
(212) 398-3486

Saturday

Three Ways to Win the Talent Market

Three Ways to Win the Global Talent Market
"The world is your talent pool. We've been hearing that message ever since corporations started chattering about globalization. The real issue is, how well do you fish in that pool?
The difference between strategically fishing and merely flailing the waters of an increasingly diverse talent pool was the top issue at the recent Hidden Brain Drain Summit. Held in New York, the fourth annual colloquium brought together representatives from more than 50 organizations employing more than four million people in 152 countries around the world. Members range from American Express, Ernst & Young, General Electric, Google, Intel, and Pfizer to theInternational Monetary Fund, the Cleveland Clinic, and the CIA. Working as a community of peers, the Hidden Brain Drain Task Force spearheads private-sector initiatives that nurture female and multicultural talent. Its research and collaborative action have developed more than 70 models of best practices.
Diversity was on everyone's mind for a very simple reason: A major demographic shift is metamorphosing every marketplace into a global microcosm. In the United States, Hispanic, African-American and Asian communities now comprise one-third of the population and account for 85 percent of the population growth. In the United Kingdom, ethnic minorities comprise 10 percent of the population and account for 50 percent of the overall population growth. And developing countries represent more than half of the global GDP and are projected to grow at nearly twice the rate of the United States and the European Union. As jobs continue to hemorrhage in developed nations, they're being picked up inBRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries and frontier economies. Not only that, more and more often they're being picked up by women.
These findings have profound implications for attracting, developing, and retaining high-performers. Task Force members universally agree that "one size fits all" talent management not only is outmoded but risks putting employers permanently behind the curve. Diversity and inclusion (D&I) agendas, customized for different groups of employees, are no longer a "nice to have" act of altruism but a business-driven prerequisite for market success.
What will it take to lure the right fish into your net? Here's what three smart companies are doing:
• Focus on women. Faced with an exodus of mid-level female technologists, Intel responded with a series of career development workshops aimed at helping women better identify, request and secure more fulfilling work assignments. Why the female focus? "As a global company selling product around the world, minimally put, we can't remain successful if we don't leverage the full talent pool that is available," says Rosalind L. Hudnell, corporate director of diversity. "We're doing these workshops for all our employees but we're making especially sure they meet the needs of our women."
• Nurture global networks. Mentoring and coaching only go so far in exposing senior leaders to the diverse talent pipeline within a global enterprise and vice versa. Cisco's Inclusive Advocacy Program paired 30 of the company's highest-potential talent from six different functions scattered among 16 locations around the world with an executive advocate in different geographies and functions and, often, of a different ethnicity and gender. The result: Meaningful global connections that never existed before.
• Spread the flex. Flexible work options are no longer an issue limited to working mothers. Research shows that nearly 90 percent of both Baby Boomers and Gen Y workers put a premium on flexible work arrangements, even choosing employees based on their flex offerings. Citi's Alternative Workplace Strategy allows employees to rotate the days in which they come to the office. It's a plus for time-stressed workers and enables Citi to save money by paring its office space. Launched in New York, London and Miami, AWS will roll out globally this year."
-Sylvia Ann Hewlett is an economist and the founding president of the Center for Work-Life Policy. She is the author of eight books, including Top Talent.

Monday

The Business of Renewable Energy & Efficiency in the Northwest


Future Energy Conference
The Business of Renewable Energy & Efficiency in the Northwest
April 21-22, 2010
Oregon Convention Center, Portland, OR
Full information & Registration at: www.futureenergyconference.com
An Unmatched Forum for Learning, Networking, and Business Development. This business-to-business conference brings together project developers, service and equipment providers, energy end users, utilities, government, and others involved in building the new energy economy.
Expanded Content and Format. Returning for its fourth year, this conference is the Northwest event addressing the business side of energy. For 2010, the conference is being extended to two days with an expanded trade show. Educational tracks include developing electricity and bioenergy projects, implementing energy efficiency in industry and buildings, and developing the regional energy industry supply chain.
- Renewable energy development - Bioenergy opportunities
- Efficiency in buildings and industry - Supplying the energy industry
Plus Featured Speakers
Opening Address by Ore. Governor Ted Kulongoski
The “Governor’s Sustainability Awards”- with Ore. Secretary of State Kate Brown
Gil Sperling, Senior Policy Advisor, US Department of Energy
Marty Sedler, Director of Global Utilities & Infrastructure, Intel Corporation
Margie Harris, Executive Director, Energy Trust of Oregon


Why Attend
- Learn the keys to successfully design, finance, and build renewable energy projects.
- Learn how energy efficiency can enhance business profitability – and how to implement & pay for it.
- Explore whether your business or community can be a host for energy generation projects.
- Explore opportunities for your business in supplying the energy industry.
- Gain an up-to-date perspective on the state of the industry and emerging technologies.
- Learn about supportive programs and incentives.
- Explore how to do business in the Northwest – and with whom.
- Meet and network with colleagues, partners, and customers.

Who Should Attend
- Project developers & potential project owners
- Industrial and commercial facility & operations managers
- Building designers, architects & owners
- Equipment & technology providers
- Engineers, consultants, attorneys & other service providers
- Energy investors & financiers
- Utility managers
- Economic development professionals
- Government agency representatives
- Those interested in becoming part of this industry
- Others promoting a strong regional economy

Friday

VC in Clean Tech


Venture capital investment in clean technology shot up an impressive 83% from last year's first quarter, according to a recent report. North American startups enjoyed the biggest slice of the $1.9 billion global cleantech VC investment pie - a striking 81%.

Which leads me to the following question: Why is there such a focus on the US market, and what are stakeholders in other countries doing to stimulate new business creation? Is it that investors are being crowded out by government funding, is there no VC culture, or are entrepreneurs having a hard time seeing markets for their ideas? I invite you to share your thoughts.
Share your thoughts with Ceylan Thomas of Clean Techies