NetStandard’s FiberKC Event Creates Community Discussion for Job Growth

NetStandard started an organization called FiberKC to create attention on the opportunity for Kansas City to become a national leader in the field of technology.  The Google network development announcement has created focus on Kansas City as an IT hub.  The number of IT related headquarter companies such as Cerner, Garmin, Perceptive Software and our significant healthcare industry position Kansas City to continue to grow and develop as an IT consuming metro area.  As such, we need to quickly build our IT workforce and ensure that regional educational institutions can keep up with demand.

 

NetStandard’s FiberKC teamed up this month with several other sponsors to create a panel of IT movers and shakers who could address their current and future IT workforce needs and help educational institutions become better aligned with business needs.

 

Jeff Melcher, NetStandard’s CEO and FiberKC Founder, hosted Inside KC-TECH – 2012 and Beyond on Jan. 24^th at Boulevard Brewing Company featuring a panel discussion highlighting the insights from regional tech leaders. The event focused on the ways KC can leverage 1Gbps Fiber to increase the tech workforce pipeline.

 

“The Inside KC-Tech event and panel discussion demonstrated that Kansas City has the attention, assets and desire to be recognized as a world class technology culture,” said Jeff Melcher. “The event got people talking and signified the beginning of a community-wide IT workforce initiative in our area.”

 

The Inside KC-TECH technology panelists included: Jean Anne Breedlove, CIO, Children’s Mercy Hospital; Jeff Geheb, CTO, VML; Bill Graff, senior vice president, Cerner; Kelly Kerns, CIO/COO, GreenTree Technology and AB Pathfinder; and Paul Pauesick, director of IT, Kansas Board of Public Utilities.  The event was moderated by Stacey Cameron, Award Winning Journalist for KCTV 5.

 

Panelists also stressed that in order to position Kansas City as an IT and technology hotspot and to attract top tech companies and talent, Kansas City needs to change its cow town perception by emphasizing the creative and innovative culture.

 

“The Google Fiber project is a much bigger idea for Kansas City than just increased bandwidth. It’s the spark that our city needs to create an authentic culture of innovation that permeates businesses, government, schools, associations and individuals with an interest in technology,” said Jeff Geheb, CTO, VML. “It’s the big idea that gives us all a sense of shared purpose in making Kansas City a primary source for technology thought leadership. In the journey to figure out how best to take advantage of the Google Fiber project, we’ll also figure how to create a sustainable culture of innovation that will last long after gigabit Ethernet is introduced to the home.”

 

Click here to read the post-event press release and visit FiberKC.biz to keep abreast of other developments.