Building a Data Technology Professionals Community

We are in unprecedented times. There are no guarantees that technology jobs would be safe or that it would be the same as before ever again. Some of the roles may need to change as shifting towards being remote takes hold, some roles will be in greater demand as distancing becomes more of the norm, and some roles may be eliminated altogether because the way we work will be different. How do we build a community around that?

The good news is data technology is ubiquitous. The other good news is that data technology will continue to be in high demand despite the changes that may result from this pandemic and the way we would work. What we want to do though is to make sure that the community can adjust to the changing landscape and adjust to the changing needs resulting from changes that will come to many sectors of this economy.

Let’s first of all look at that. Businesses that support the gatherings of people would likely need to adjust their model. We would be talking about industries like airlines, hotels, education, theaters, sports, cruises, retail, food, conventions, theme parks, gyms, transportation, gambling, etc. Other businesses that have a relationship with or rely on these would be affected and may also need to adjust. The new norm for these businesses may not return to how it was before the pandemic for at least some time.

What can a community of data technology professionals do? The answer is that we reconstruct. We will be called upon to help revive the economy and to help different sectors adjust to their new reality. Some of us may be asked to apply our skills towards robotics to enhance manufacturing. Some of us may be asked to apply data science for identification of virus or cure. Some of us may be asked to facilitate or enhance distance communication and learning. Some of us may be asked to make organizations completely remote-enabled. And some of us may be asked to help develop and enhance the capabilities of others so that they could also help their organizations.

We’re not being heroic. We are going to do this one brick at a time. Everyone is important in this community and we will get as many people through as we can. Our corporate and organizational partners will be relying on us to provide them the skills to help them get through.