Georgia’s technology workforce is made up of highly skilled, talented people and is expected to continue to expand. This type of talent is a fundamental driver of economic development and job creation. Communities must prepare its talent in order to have a robust economy with forward thinking solutions, while embracing the possibilities of the future. STE(A)M education and its integrated approach to learning help build the foundational skills our future leaders need.
At TAG and our Foundation, the TAG Education Collaborative (TAG-Ed), we recognize the opportunity and challenges of preparing the workforce of the future. Strengthening Georgia’s workforce by connecting and engaging tomorrow’s workers today is what we and our partners do. Our work includes advocating for sound educational policies at the state level. Some of our recent successes include partnering with other educational advocates to pass legislation so computer programming can be offered in all Georgia public high schools by 2025. This type of progress compliments legislation we helped pass a few years ago to allow computer programming to serve as an equivalent to foreign language.
TAG-Ed also works to provide experiential education for high school students in STE(A)M related careers. Internships and coding camps are still in demand and provide real world experience highlighting career paths in technology with great industries such as fintech, cybersecurity, data science, digital health and others. Additionally, we produce Georgia Pathways magazine that showcases thought leadership articles from higher learning experts and provides valuable tools for the younger audience. This publication is distributed to all 159 school districts in Georgia with a readership of over 42,000.
The TAG-Ed organization and its programs are supported by the community in many ways and on September 14, 2020 top technology leaders are gathering at Cherokee Country Club (promoting a safe and healthy environment) for TAG-It, our annual golf tournament with proceeds supporting the organization. It will be a great way to get connected to our CIOs and other technology leaders, and I encourage you to join us.
Have a great weekend,
Larry K. Williams
President & CEO
