Our Weekly Roundup U.S. Will Close 800 Data Centers: The federal government will close 40 percent of its computer centers over the next four years to reduce its technology budget and modernize the way it manages data and provides services. Vivek Kundra, the outgoing U.S. CIO, said cloud computing could save the country $5 billion of dollars. Tens of thousands of jobs will likely be eliminated. The New York Times A Double Dip Recession Will Hurt IT: After months of gains, there are new worries that the economic recovery is in trouble. The most obvious indicator is the Labor Department report that only 18,000 jobs were added to the economy in June. Since the downturn began, businesses have been inclined to spend on IT assets rather than people, and the mean compensation for IT professions in 73 job categories -- ranging from CIO to data entry operator -- increased 0.35 percent to $77,873. That puts overall compensation back to January 2008 levels. Computerworld Wireless Jobs Are Vanishing: The U.S. wireless industry is booming as more consumers and businesses snap up smartphones, tablet computers and billions of wireless applications. But it's a different story for the industry's workers. In May, on the heels of a record year for industry revenue, employment at U.S. wireless carriers hit a 12-year low of 166,600, according to the Labor Department. That's about 20,000 fewer jobs than June 2009, and 2,000 fewer than a year ago. The Wall Street Journal Mobile Gadgets Are Selling: More customers than ever will buy tablet computers and smartphones this year, driving consumer electronics revenue to a record high of $190 billion in 2011, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. Smartphone sales will increase by 45 percent to $23 billion, the group said. The CE industry will expand by 5.6 percent this year, ahead of U.S. GDP growth of 2.4 percent. Shipment revenues for consumer electronics are also seen climbing, to an all-time high of $197 billion in 2012. TVs connected to the Internet are likely to be a strong area, with more than 10.4 million units shipping to stores this year. The Chicago Tribune Silicon Valley Employers See a 15 Percent Surge in Tech Jobs: Silicon Valley companies expect a 15 percent rise IT employment over the next two years, but the hiring binge is threatened by shortages of people with high-demand skills. A talent gap looms in key fields such as mobile technology, social networking and cloud computing, concludes a study by four nonprofit training groups, headed by NOVA in Sunnyvale. Even as the study predicts robust hiring, it highlights the challenges facing the Valley's tech professionals: Mid-level jobs are being eliminated while new jobs require advanced training and high-level skills. There will be a nearly 11 percent increase in software engineering and project management jobs; 20 percent growth in applications engineering, and 12 percent growth in quality assurance engineering over the next year. The San Jose Mercury News Upcoming Tech Events Campus Technology 2011 July 25-28—Boston Searching for actionable information to help address your IT and institutional challenges? This conference, led by pioneering campus technology experts, will provide in-depth information and practical advice. Explore the future of technology in education with leaders in campus technology. Acquire the skills you need to master and implement today’s most compelling and revolutionary technologies—cloud computing, virtual reality, and more. Meet face-to-face with hundreds of top technology solution providers in the tech-specific Exhibit Hall. NoSQL Conference: CouchConf July 29—San Francisco CouchConf is a one-day conference dedicated to Couchbase technology for Web and mobile applications. Conference highlights include technology updates and a look ahead from Couchbase technologists, including Apache CouchDB inventor Damien Katz . CompTIA Breakaway August 1-4—Washington, D.C. From cloud computing, green IT, healthcare IT, security, storage, and much more, learn what leading channel chiefs think is hot, happening and coming down the pike. Gain insights from channel chiefs with leading vendors in the IT hardware, software, mobility, and networking spaces. U.S. Will Close 800 Data Centers to Save Costs
Our Weekly Roundup U.S. Will Close 800 Data Centers: The federal government will close 40 percent of its computer centers over the next four years to reduce its technology budget and modernize the way it manages data and provides services. Vivek Kundra, the outgoing U.S. CIO, said cloud computing could save the country $5 billion of dollars. Tens of thousands of jobs will likely be eliminated. The New York Times A Double Dip Recession Will Hurt IT: After months of gains, there are new worries that the economic recovery is in trouble. The most obvious indicator is the Labor Department report that only 18,000 jobs were added to the economy in June. Since the downturn began, businesses have been inclined to spend on IT assets rather than people, and the mean compensation for IT professions in 73 job categories -- ranging from CIO to data entry operator -- increased 0.35 percent to $77,873. That puts overall compensation back to January 2008 levels. Computerworld Wireless Jobs Are Vanishing: The U.S. wireless industry is booming as more consumers and businesses snap up smartphones, tablet computers and billions of wireless applications. But it's a different story for the industry's workers. In May, on the heels of a record year for industry revenue, employment at U.S. wireless carriers hit a 12-year low of 166,600, according to the Labor Department. That's about 20,000 fewer jobs than June 2009, and 2,000 fewer than a year ago. The Wall Street Journal Mobile Gadgets Are Selling: More customers than ever will buy tablet computers and smartphones this year, driving consumer electronics revenue to a record high of $190 billion in 2011, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. Smartphone sales will increase by 45 percent to $23 billion, the group said. The CE industry will expand by 5.6 percent this year, ahead of U.S. GDP growth of 2.4 percent. Shipment revenues for consumer electronics are also seen climbing, to an all-time high of $197 billion in 2012. TVs connected to the Internet are likely to be a strong area, with more than 10.4 million units shipping to stores this year. The Chicago Tribune Silicon Valley Employers See a 15 Percent Surge in Tech Jobs: Silicon Valley companies expect a 15 percent rise IT employment over the next two years, but the hiring binge is threatened by shortages of people with high-demand skills. A talent gap looms in key fields such as mobile technology, social networking and cloud computing, concludes a study by four nonprofit training groups, headed by NOVA in Sunnyvale. Even as the study predicts robust hiring, it highlights the challenges facing the Valley's tech professionals: Mid-level jobs are being eliminated while new jobs require advanced training and high-level skills. There will be a nearly 11 percent increase in software engineering and project management jobs; 20 percent growth in applications engineering, and 12 percent growth in quality assurance engineering over the next year. The San Jose Mercury News Upcoming Tech Events Campus Technology 2011 July 25-28—Boston Searching for actionable information to help address your IT and institutional challenges? This conference, led by pioneering campus technology experts, will provide in-depth information and practical advice. Explore the future of technology in education with leaders in campus technology. Acquire the skills you need to master and implement today’s most compelling and revolutionary technologies—cloud computing, virtual reality, and more. Meet face-to-face with hundreds of top technology solution providers in the tech-specific Exhibit Hall. NoSQL Conference: CouchConf July 29—San Francisco CouchConf is a one-day conference dedicated to Couchbase technology for Web and mobile applications. Conference highlights include technology updates and a look ahead from Couchbase technologists, including Apache CouchDB inventor Damien Katz . CompTIA Breakaway August 1-4—Washington, D.C. From cloud computing, green IT, healthcare IT, security, storage, and much more, learn what leading channel chiefs think is hot, happening and coming down the pike. Gain insights from channel chiefs with leading vendors in the IT hardware, software, mobility, and networking spaces. 
