Our relative susceptibility, coupled with our increased reliance on technology, have caused politicians and governments to look at the risks, and attempt to find ways to discourage these attacks from affecting the populous. One of the biggest problems with the enforcement of laws and standards is not only is the Internet anonymous, it also crosses geographical boundaries. Good news for the hackers and virus authors, but bad news for law agencies and governments.
For someone pursuing a career in the IT industry, computer security is sure to become one of the fastest growing areas. To many people, it also appears to be an exciting aspect of the industry.
On the Sidelines
As with the rapid advances of technology, the industry that supports it has grown in a similar fashion. Not only are more and more people becoming employed by the IT industry directly, but other industries, such as publishing, have evolved and expanded as part of the IT industry. Because IT is so information-based, magazines and publications fill the newsstand, and the Internet is filled with technically related Web sites and forums.
Education for IT has become big business. In particular, the technical training and certification industry has become massive, with almost every vendor offering some kind of certification and accreditation program. Much of this growth has come from the skills shortages that plague almost every sector of the industry. It is not just commercial education that has seen changes. Secondary school and college curriculums have all been modified to accommodate the new demand for technical skills requirements that will be placed on students.
For those that have completed their studies, the recruitment industry has developed with the IT industry. Recruitment agencies and Web sites that advertise technical jobs compete with each other to offer job opportunities. You may think that being a recruitment agent in an industry that has more jobs than candidates to fill them would be an easy task, but competition between agencies to get the vacancies from the employers is fierce, and equally as fierce to match the right candidates to the jobs. In the past few years, the trend toward Web-based recruitment has accelerated, and many employers and candidates are matched online.
The Way We Work
Technology today does not just affect what we work at, but also how we work. The advances in communications technology have made working from home, or telecommuting to give it its proper name, a practical reality. People are able to dial-in from their spare room and videoconference with people at the office who have struggled through an hour of traffic to do the same thing. In this way, technology not only gives us a new way to work, but may also help to alleviate other societal concerns such as traffic congestion, pollution, and urban crowding. If you don't have to travel to work each morning, then does it really matter how far away you live from the office?
Nowadays, people are as likely to work on projects and collaborate through email and instant messaging, rather than meetings and memos. The use of fax machines, though still popular, is on the decline as people find faster and easier ways to communicate. High-speed networking and Internet access have provided people with the ability to create vast networks that span countries and continents, providing access to information for all.
Cutting the Ties That Bind
Because we can now work practically from home, the next logical step is to be able to work and have access to the office from anywhere. Most recently, big steps toward a truly wireless world have been made with the development and introduction of wireless devices and the communications standards to support them.
The first portable hand-held devices were small versions of desktop computers, with mini versions of the same applications that you had in the office. Now they are fully functional hand-held Internet portals, using new communications technologies such as wireless access protocol (WAP), which will allow you to trade stocks, check email, or read the news from anywhere. When you examine these trends and the rapidity with which they develop, the science fiction idea of a videophone on your wrist doesn't seem too far away.
The Future
Predicting what will come in an industry that evolves on an almost daily basis is a thankless and almost futile task. Things change at such a rapid rate, and many of the technologies are so fluid, that a shift in direction can occur in weeks rather than months.
Of course the easiest thing to do is make sweeping statements such as PCs will get faster, the Internet will grow, and wireless devices will become commonplace. These facts are indisputable, but as someone pursuing a career in technology, you are interested in not just what the future trends will be, but also how they will affect the job market. Detailed below are just a few of the things that will affect the IT industry over the coming years. How they affect you and your career will depend on which field of IT you choose to enter, and how long it will be until you start work.
