CompTIA Blog

The House Small Business Committee passed a series of small business contracting bills this morning, all by voice vote.  This legislation now will go to the full House of Representatives for action.  CompTIA supports this legislation, as well as six other contracting bills passed by the Committee on March 7, and will call on the full House to act on this legislation quickly.  Here is a brief summary: HR 3985- “Building Better Business Partnerships Act of 2012” – This bill would authorize the SBA ...

A look at the week of March 19 in public advocacy for the IT channel:  This week, the Senate is reviewing the House’s JOBS bill which aims to increase means of raising capital for businesses.  The Office of Management and Budget has released a report that federal cyberattacks have decreased in the past year.  The Huffington Post examines the current landscape of cybersecurity legislation and the possible future outcomes.Senate Debates Small-Business Bill — The Senate has taken up the House’s JOB ...

This is the second of a two-part article commemorating the latest members of the IT Hall of Fame, who will be inducted April 11th at the CompTIA Annual Member Meeting in Chicago. The first honorees were the solution providers who helped found Ingram Micro’s Venture Tech Network (VTN), represented by Jane Cage, Steve Harper and Ted Warner. Today, we celebrate the work of the late Jacob “Jack” Goldman, a scientist with the vision to start one of the world’s most innovative research facilities.     ...

The big smile on her face stopped him in a hall of the Chicago Tech Academy High School (ChiTech).  After some small talk, ChiTech Head Recruiter Walid Johnson finally learned why one of his high school students was smiling so wide. She told him, “For the first time in my life, I feel like it’s actually OK to be smart.” That was the biggest compliment Johnson ever heard a student give the school, and it came from a young woman, whose gender currently make up 49 percent of ChiTech’s student ...

The big smile on her face stopped him in a hall of the Chicago Tech Academy High School (ChiTech).  After some small talk, ChiTech Head Recruiter Walid Johnson finally learned why one of his high school students was smiling so wide. She told him, “For the first time in my life, I feel like it’s actually OK to be smart.”That was the biggest compliment Johnson ever heard a student give the school, and it came from a young woman, whose gender currently make up 49 percent of ChiTech’s student body.C ...

This week, the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations issued an alarming report, U.S. Education Reform and National Security, on the connection between our comparatively weak schools and how they put America at a national security risk. The report notes that while the United States invests more in K-12 public education than many other developed countries, its students are ill-prepared to compete with their global peers. U.S. students rank 14th in reading, 25th in math, and 17th in science compared to ...

The use of social technologies and techniques for business processes is an area of debate. Some believe that social communications and analysis of the resulting data will be a revolutionary step for companies, and others are still not convinced that this consumer-oriented technology will be applicable in the business world. CompTIA’s recent study exploring this trend affirms that there is some hesitation in adopting social trends for business use, but also finds that the benefits companies are e ...

My county government conducts a full property assessment every 10 years and, thanks to errors in the contractor’s computer systems, I have had the pleasure of contesting their suggested value for our house two consecutive times. On paper, our house and the adjoining lot appear to be worth more than the ‘fair market value,” with several offsetting structural and neighborhood factors throwing off the numbers.Our house is old, and not in the historical way. We are upgrading the structure, but it’s ...

Takeaway of the week is it’s still a good thing to a talented, well-versed and highly trained IT job seeker, even though it might not feel that way to those deep in their search. Another batch of glowing indicators show those savvy with cloud computing skills, a keen eye for business paired with a smart head for technology and a willingness to explore other geographic locations might just have the world at their feet. Relevance in the New IT World OK, we all know that cloud computing, mobile a ...

We read stories of collaboration, social learning and communications evolving but how about the products that we use to facilitate these activities? They are fading into the background, and before long, I can see (or not, as the case may be) a time when the device becomes invisible.We saw the introduction of the infrared keyboard a year or so ago and I read forward-looking articles where the tables we dine in at restaurants will be embedded with the technology that allows you to order your bill, ...

This year, I anticipate we will see a reduction in external sales positions of around 20%: 10% will be lost for good, and the other 10% will move inside. I believe that this pattern will continue for the next three years, until we are left with less than 10% of the total sales population working externally. The reasons for this are obvious: Advances in technology mean that we can communicate just as easily from our desks, using video conferencing etc.Jonathan FarringtonIf Jonathan is right, IT s ...

Some may fret about the shortage of women in technical and scientific career tracks, but the young women of Chicago Tech Academy High School (ChiTech) have no time for that. They are too busy—working to learn all they can about technology, science, math and entrepreneurship while pursuing their individual goals. And they are thriving. In 2011-2012, ChiTech’s third school year of operation, 49 percent of the student body is female. Chosen by lottery, ChiTech students’ love and aptitude for techn ...

Last week, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly (390-23) to pass H.R. 3606 "Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act.”  This legislation included six existing bills, four of which had passed the House already, and which have been supported by CompTIA as a means of infusing capital into small businesses.  Among the bills included in this package was crowdfunding, H.R. 2930, which had initially passed the House in November by an even larger margin of 407-17.  So at this point, the H ...

Virginia student Nicholas Anderson took an immense amount of pride in the knowledge he was the 200,000th person to earn CompTIA Security+ certification. For the 24-year-old, it’s the veritable ‘cherry on top,’ upon earning his first accreditation in the sector and the industry where he has always wanted to work. Now, Anderson just hopes to pair it with post-college employment. “It’s definitely something I value along with focusing on my own career path,” he said. Anderson, who is studying info ...

As we look to continue to find ways to keep members informed about and engaged in the advocacy process, we recently formed a member-based group called the CompTIA Public Advocacy Liaisons (PALS).  CompTIA members who serve as liaisons will act as a bridge between the CompTIA staff in Washington, D.C., and CompTIA members across the country. The goal is to keep the channels of communication open as we all advocate on behalf of the industry.In their first conference call of the year, PALS discusse ...