DataCulture In The News
DataCulture Co-Founder and CTO Chad Brewbaker was quoted in a wrap up of the Technology Assocation of Iowa's annual survey of tech leader resolutions for the state. Here's Chad's response, along with other folks from Iowa's tech scene. Link to the article here.
What are your 2016 resolutions for Iowa’s tech community?
We asked. Community members from across the state answered.
In the spirit of a new year and a fresh perspective, we asked members of Iowa's technology and STEM communities to share with us what you would like to see change or be accomplished in the coming year. Responses spanned from issues of STEM education and creating a talent pipeline to working with cities to promote their startups and establish a culture of innovation. But of all the submissions we received, each shared a common theme: ambition and passion to make the future of Iowa’s technology community a bright one.
Community Responses
“I would like to see even more kids being introduced to technology and programming at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. It's exciting to see after school programs based on Scratch programming, Hour of Code, and robotics, but having even more computer science and graphic design courses being offered across all schools in Iowa will give our kids a great head start in rewarding and in demand career opportunities.” – Aaron Horn, Director of IT at Iowa Interstate Railroad in Cedar Rapids, Iowa “I want to see widespread literacy of how to code basic story problems. Teaching basic programming alongside Algebra in middle school would make STEM careers universally accessible. To paraphrase Gifford, if Des Moines doesn't become programming literate it will stagnate into the Detroit of the insurance sector.” – Chad Brewbaker, CTO of DataCulture LLC in Clive, Iowa “I'd like the community to place a focus on promoting central Iowa as a place for talented engineers, developers and designers to relocate to. Insurance and government are two of the largest and most stable industries in the U.S. Both industries require a lot of great tech talent, as do new tech startups like Denim. A shortage of technical talent in central Iowa is an issue and will continue to grow as a critical business issue. It seems to me that an alliance between the Greater Des Moines Partnership and TAI could be beneficial to help place a media spotlight on central Iowa as a great place to live and a great place for technical talent to move to.” – Gregory Bailey, Co-founder and CEO at Denim Labs Inc. in Des Moines, Iowa “Iowa and Des Moines continue to receive national attention for the caliber of technology development being done in “flyover country.” We need to continue to share the success stories of Iowa companies, primarily with students, to inspire them to stay in Iowa for their education and career. Iowa is not just a good place to raise kids—it can be a place to deliver extremely innovative, high impact technology solutions in a fulfilling career. Let's inspire young Iowans by letting them see that!” – Ben Lors, President of Tech Journey in Des Moines, Iowa
