IT Workforce Development

Growing a Qualified Workforce to Boost Economic Development

participants in 1 Billion Bits

hours of educational video content

Opportunity

We do not currently have a large enough pool of skilled workers to meet local IT workforce demands. The problem is expected to grow significantly as our IT economy expands with the advent of the ultra-high-speed fiber network.

MARC is currently coordinating efforts with workforce investment boards, area community colleges and universities, PREP-KC, the STEM Alliance and other partners to develop

IT career pathways. MBIT recommends that these efforts be expanded and taken to scale.

Solutions

  • Help schools counsel students about career pathways and develop curricula that meet IT workforce needs.
  • Help connect high school students to community college classes and virtual labs to support students leaving high school with credits toward associate degrees or technical field credentials.
  • Develop an inclusionary workforce strategy that addresses segments of the population currently not commonly entering the IT workforce, building a jobs/training pipeline for women, minorities and youth.
  • Create and retain a pool of local talent to keep homegrown companies here and attract new businesses and IT professionals.
  • Secure Kansas City’s leadership position as new technology industries emerge.
  • Better define and promote career pathways in the IT industry in cooperation with the region’s workforce development organizations and employers.

Projects in action

Hire KC – College Internships

Hire KC connects college students to Micro-Internships at local nonprofits who need the extra resources, creating a unique opportunity to prepare students for the digital workforce while helping to build up resilient community organizations in Kansas City.

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1 Billion Bits

1 Billion Bits is a monthly gathering of developers, engineers and other gigabit-obsessed technologists interested in the question “what can we do with this much bandwidth?”

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News

Hire KC to Fund Capacity-Building Internships for Nonprofit & Startup Partners

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY This NOFO is open to KC Digital Drive Community Partners and Fellows/Startups in the Solutions Lab Ventures program Question about eligibility or how it works, contact Kari Keefe at kkeefe at kcdigitaldrive dot org  Program Term: JUNE 15, 2023 to MAY 31, 2024 About Hire KC Micro-Internships  We know, first hand, […]

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White House Smart Cities Initiative Paves the Way for KC App Developers

KC Digital Drive was in Washington DC this week for the launch of two initiatives that could help Kansas City’s software developers and entrepreneurs get their apps off the ground while, at the same time, helping the city take more of a leading role in the development of technology for social impact. Hosted on Tuesday, […]

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Partners