Sec. 31-11aa. Information technology workforce development plan. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 31-11aa. Information technology workforce development plan. (a) The Connecticut Employment and Training Commission within the Office of Workforce Competitiveness shall produce, within available appropriations, a report on information technology workforce development, including a long-range strategic plan, that addresses Connecticut's workforce and research needs as they relate to information technology and electronic commerce. The commission shall work with the Commissioners of Economic and Community Development, Education and Higher Education and any business-related association or organization that the commission deems appropriate in creating a planning structure, no later than July 5, 2000, to develop the plan. The planning structure shall include representation from the Connecticut Employment and Training Commission, the General Assembly, the Departments of Education, Higher Education and Economic and Community Development, Connecticut Innovations, Incorporated, information technology and software companies, the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, the Connecticut Economic Resource Center, the Connecticut Technology Council, The University of Connecticut, the Connecticut State University System, the community-technical colleges, Charter Oak State College, the Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium, the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges and any other representatives including regional and state-wide business and technology associations the Connecticut Employment and Training Commission and commissioners deem necessary.

      (b) The report shall specify: (1) The number and job descriptions of workers in information technology intensive occupations and the associated occupational codes for those occupations as identified through the Standard Occupational Code classification system of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor, (2) a forecast assessment of demand by Connecticut employers in those occupations for two, five and ten years from July 1, 2000, (3) methods to generate a sufficient number of information technology graduates to fill identified needs, including, but not limited to, scholarship, school-to-career and internship programs, (4) methods to effectively link appropriate and trained graduates to information technology jobs in this state, including, but not limited to, loan reimbursement programs, (5) what programmatic and curricular emphasis should be developed to support the growth of electronic commerce, software and information technology industries, (6) methods secondary and higher education and private industry can use to continue to address information technology workforce needs as they change and evolve over time, and (7) an assessment of existing state initiatives directed at improving workforce development in Connecticut's information technology and software industries and a method for ensuring such industries are informed, on a continual basis, of these and other workforce development options as they are implemented.

      (c) The commission shall report, in accordance with section 11-4a, to the General Assembly and the Governor by October 16, 2000. The report shall include the specifications of the plan. The commission may, prior to the completion of the report, release findings, data, conclusions or other content on an ongoing basis.

      (P.A. 00-187, S. 28, 75; P.A. 01-173, S. 46, 67.)

      History: P.A. 00-187 effective July 1, 2000; P.A. 01-173 made technical changes in Subsecs. (a) and (b), effective July 1, 2001.