Tech, Business, and Education: Top Trends to Expect in 2020
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The world around us is rapidly being reshaped as new technologies emerge and penetrate different industries. The sector that is perhaps experiencing the most significant impact right now is education. Recently the 1Ci team participated in the Hudson Valley Tech Festival and Hackathon, which gave us a significant insight into tech trends to look for in the near future.
About the event
The HV TechFest took place on October 11–12 in Newburgh, NY. The event gathered more than 250+ professional software developers and around 40 participants who came for the business section.
During the event, the hackathon took place: it was dedicated to solving education problems and the issue of employability. During the competition, participants could use 1C:Enterprise development platform to build their applications.
The event gave us great insight into how technology will reshape education in the near future.
Trend #1: Local authorities striving to attract tech companies
The two-day tech festival itself is an excellent illustration of local authorities trying to show tech investors and businesses the advantages of opening tech companies in specific regions.
Hackathons like those run in Newburgh show that there is local talent that can be accessed by companies. The competition for these young professionals is lower than in big cities, which is beneficial for business.
Also, as there is often a lack of resources to support diverse tech interests, aside from cybersecurity, having more local residents working in tech companies boosts the overall education level in the region. Employees can share their experience at collegiate or adult education level.
Trend #2: more opportunities in home regions
There is an extensive list of critical, regional technology-related issues that young people face nowadays, including:
- Declining higher education student enrollment
- A disconnect between college programs and workforce skill requirements
- Limited local continuing education opportunities
- Retention of top talent and students in specific regions
There are also examples of how programs based on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects in public schools and run by non-profits can prepare youngsters for 21st Century careers. Clayton Banks, one of the keynote speakers at the HV TechFest, has shared his experience in establishing such programs in Upper Manhattan. His company, Silicon Harlem, combines technology and innovation with affordable connectivity that enables a sustainable economic engine in emerging communities across the United States. It has managed to attract over $50 million into upper Manhattan for advanced infrastructure research.
We will see more of these examples in the coming years, none of which would be possible without modern technologies.
Trend #3: The shift from traditional development tools
The traditional tech stack used for application development may be too expensive, too difficult to learn, and may require lots of effort and time to apply. This limits the usage of this tech in education. The hackathon hosted by 1Ci aimed to showcase solutions that can make the whole process a lot easier.
During the competition, participants (current students) had to create a simple app that could be used by employers to post tasks to freelancers. They could use JavaScript or the1C:Enterprise development platform.
The hackathon showed that there is a significant difference in development speed when using the 1C:Enterprise platform. When coding in JS, it took participants at least three hours to build an app, which can be done in only a few minutes via 1C:Enterprise.
Thus, we have a perfect illustration of the potential efficiency of the shift from traditional software development tools. This is extremely important for learning purposes as students rarely have lots of time to navigate with conventional tech. They need to develop their skills and get practical knowledge that can be immediately applied in their careers. Tools like 1C:Enterprise will solve this problem, and we are currently in negotiations regarding the implementation of our solutions for education purposes with local universities.
