By Jim Baer
Presently, 53,150 persons claim IT as an occupation in the Metro
St. Louis area. That represents
4.01 percent of the overall workforce. The
13 largest IT shops in the area produce cumulative salaries of $4 billion per annum. That figures out to be an average of $70,000 per position. The east and west coasts are gateways for IT technology, but St. Louis has grown by quantum leaps the last few years and is beginning to rival the coasts.
On April 30th, the brightest of the local IT community will gather for the inaugural Gateway to Innovation Conference at the Millennium Hotel in downtown St. Louis.
There are conferences of this nature all over the North American continent and now
St. Louis is stepping up to show its wares, so to speak. Conference Chair, Karlos Bledsoe, business unit leader at Edward Jones Co. explains the importance of this conference. "We need to be asking ourselves what does IT exactly do for the St. Louis region? IT is one of the major economic drivers in the area and this is St. LouisÕ chance to showcase our talents and our innovations. We
will celebrate what we offer and what we publish," says Bledsoe who is an engineer
by trade, and recently came over from Anheuser-Busch.
"This is an opportunity to share our best practices in the industry. Sometimes, simply, we are our own worst promoters. Ours is a knowledge-based economy today (switching from manufacturing to information) and we often do little to promote ourselves. This truly is a grass roots effort on behalf of the IT profession," he states.
Bledsoe, who grew up in the area is bullish on local community business in general. "This is a great place to raise a family, a great place to run and grow a business.
St. Louis needs to be the next step in the growth of this key industry. This industry is rich in knowledge and information and it's still in its infancy. We need to be on the move as much as we can to take advantage of it," says the chair.
The purpose of the conference is highlighting innovation in St. Louis and the resulting opportunities that help drive business growth and improve the quality of life in the
region. The 2008 Conference is hosted by
the Information Technology Coalition and
the Society for information Management. Additional organizers and sponsors include the St. Louis RCGA, Innovate St. Louis, the
St. Louis Science Center and the Coalition
for Plant and Life Sciences.
Keynote speakers are Cathy Lasser,
vice president of Industry Solutions
and Emerging Business IBM Research,
and Dr. Robert Atkinson, president, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation; Washington, D.C.
Lasser believes IBM has much to offer this conference. "We at IBM believe innovation occurs at the intersection of invention and business insight. Creating an atmosphere and ecosystem for innovation requires some new ideas and processes," she says.
Dr. Atkinson will address digital prosperity and understanding the economic benefits of the information technology revolution. "IT is the major driver, not just of improved quality of life, but also of economic growth. Moreover, there are some strong indications that IT has the potential to continue driving growth for the foreseeable future. The reality is that while the benefits of new technologies are often exaggerated at first, they often turn out to exceed initial expectations in the moderate-to-long term," says Dr. Atkinson.
MasterCard and Scottrade will play major roles at the 2008 conference. Ian Patterson, Scottrade's Chief Information Officer had this to say: "People aren't aware of the amazing things happening in IT in St. Louis and I think this conference will help change that. Scottrade is doing some things with technology that few other companies in the world are doing. We have more than 70 IT job openings right now and we really want to raise the awareness that St. Louis is the IT hub of the Midwest," he says.
Mike Manchisi, group executive, Service Delivery and Relationship Manager for MasterCard has this to say about the conference. "The MasterCard global processing headquarters is a driving force at the heart of commerce, making commerce faster, more secure, and more valuable to everyone involved. In O'Fallon, our business technologists use their expertise to innovate and develop solutions that keep MasterCard at the forefront of technology integration to enable anytime, anywhere payments."
The Symposium is the cornerstone event of the program. This symposium will foster the sharing of ideas and best practices among professionals in the region. Symposium speakers and other participants will explore the role of IT innovation and how it creates business success all across the region.
As far as IT goes, St. Louis needs to toot its horn even more, and the Gateway to Innovation one-day conference goes a long way towards meeting that challenge. The chair, Karlos Bledsoe would certainly be in agreement with that concept.
Gateway to Innovation Conference
April 30, 2008
Millennium Hotel
For more information call 1.866.944.0944
www.stlinnovate.com
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