Technology will lead the global economic recovery, helping nations find alternative energy solutions, advance healthcare and develop new educational and employment opportunities for their citizens, the president and CEO of CompTIA, the leading trade association for the information technology (IT) industry, said here today.
In his opening day keynote at the association’s annual Breakaway conference, Todd Thibodeaux announced that CompTIA will launch a series of new initiatives aimed at helping technology companies drive innovation and growth.
“The future is very bright for our industry,” Thibodeaux told Breakaway attendees. “The world counts on your work to make it all happen. New alternative energy sources won’t be developed without IT. Electronic health records are a pipe dream without IT. The next generation of medications and cures won’t happen without IT. And the intelligent transportation and power grids of the future won’t happen without IT.”
Thibodeaux touted Breakaway as “the launch of a whole new chapter in CompTIA’s rich history,” which dates back to 1982 when the association was established.
“When people talk about CompTIA going forward we want them to envision openness, flexibility, effectiveness, transparency and responsiveness,” said Thibodeaux. “We strive to be good listeners, innovators and efficient implementers. There’s a home for every vertical market, vendor or distributor, reseller or solution provider to become part of what’s happening at CompTIA.”
Among the new programs designed to aid the industry and announced today, Thibodeaux said CompTIA will create two new robust online communities for the IT channel.
The CompTIA Channel Community (C3) is intended to be the world’s premier channel-neutral online community.
“C3 will aggregate the best thinking on business solutions, trends, and discussion forums with rich, deep and exclusive content, webinars, whitepapers and business intelligence,” Thibodeaux said. “We’re making this an open platform and we invite other existing forums to become part of C3.”
The CompTIA IT Pro Community will provide a place for those who want to enter or advance an IT career to solicit expert advice, network with peers and find critical tools and resources. One of these resources is the CompTIA Career Center, which will match certified job seekers with employers trying to fill IT jobs.
Thibodeaux said CompTIA will collaborate with Channel Insider, the leading source for IT channel intelligence and analysis, to create the Channel Vanguard Council. Invited executives of IT vendors, distributors and service and solution providers will deliberate on a wide-range of issues including technologies, services, business models and processes and best practices, market influences and conditions and supplier relations.
“The forum will be a collaborative, moderated community exploring issues affecting the IT channel community today and in the future; and producing clear, actionable guidance for the overall channel community,” Thibodeaux explained.
Thibodeaux announced the creation of a new political action committee, CompTIA PAC, which will “focus on the interests of the people in the IT sector as well as the needs of those who own and work for America's 32,000 VARs.” For more information, visit www.comptia.org.
