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Project Overview

This project aimed to increase the development, attraction, and retention of ICT talent in Windsor-Essex through 3 different initiatives. Information and Communication Technology is defined as producing goods or services, or supplying technologies used to process, transmit, or receive information.

First, Workforce WindsorEssex hosted an ICT Leadership Table each quarter for employers, educators, students, workers, and community partners in ICT to meet and discuss local ICT issues and develop actions to address these issues. Second, we worked with local ICT companies to develop 6 profile videos to showcase ICT opportunities in Windsor-Essex. Third, we are surveyed students, workers, employers, and educators to gain their perspective on ICT in Windsor-Essex and used these results along with existing data to write a report on the state of ICT in Windsor-Essex as well as a bulletin with recommendations to create an ICT “brain gain” in Windsor-Essex.

Project Status – COMPLETED

To learn more about each of the components of the Decoding the ICT Workforce Project, click below:

  1. ICT Leadership Table
  2. Video Profiles of Local ICT Companies
  3. Decoding the ICT Workforce Report & Bulletin
Watch the Tech in the City podcast featuring our former Researcher and Lead Methodologist, Katie Renaud, as she sits down to discuss the project with host Yvonne Pilon

ICT Leadership Table

The third and final ICT Leadership Table meeting was held on April 3rd, 2018. As a result of the ICT Leadership Table discussions, Workforce WindsorEssex has worked with 10 employer partners to produce ICT Services Brochures to highlight the services of local ICT companies and help businesses realize opportunities to integrate technology into their operations.

The ICT Leadership Table is comprised of:

  1. Windsor Essex Economic Development Corporation
  2. Imaginative Group
  3. New Canadians’ Centre of Excellence Inc.
  4. Red Piston
  5. University of Windsor
  6. Windsor Essex Catholic District School Board
  7. Connecting Windsor-Essex
  8. The Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County
  9. Splice Digital
  10. TriOS College
  11. Next Dimension
  12. AlphaKOR
  13. WEtech Alliance
  14. I Dream Interactive
  15. Hackforge
  16. Mitacs
  17. The City of Windsor
  18. Green Shield Canada
  19. Clair College
  20. Parallel 42 Systems
  21. CSC Providence
  22. MC Business Solutions
  23. YMCA of Western Ontario

Video Profiles of Local ICT Companies

Video profiles of 6 local ICT companies were created to help ICT students gain a better awareness of local ICT companies. Our research found that 1 out of 2 students graduating from St. Clair College and University of Windsor’s ICT-related programs were planning on leaving the region for work. We expect that these videos will help them choose to start their careers locally. The 6 companies featured in the videos are:

  1. AlphaKor
  2. Alteris Group
  3. iDream Interactive
  4. Pareto Business Group
  5. Red Piston
  6. Splice Digital

Meet Tech

Check out our Spotlight on Tech video series that features local Information…

 

Decoding the ICT Report & Bulletin

The Decoding the ICT Workforce report and bulletin were released in July 2018. The report shares survey findings, outlines challenges, and proposes opportunities that could be used to addressed stubborn issues like the out-migration of ICT graduates, the need for curriculum updates, as well as wage concerns and the need to hire more women. The bulletin summarizes the report.

Between June and October 2017, Workforce WindsorEssex met with 69 employers and 4 employment service providers to delve deeper into challenges hiring ICT talent. Of the employers, 10 can be considered to be direct ICT employers who employ a substantial amount of ICT staff in their facility. We also surveyed 32 students in local ICT programs and 51 local ICT workers to gain their perspective on ICT challenges in Windsor-Essex.