2019 Newsletter Editions

TEACHING THE TEACHERS Meet the guru behind Arkansas‚Äô computer-science-in-schools initiative Daniel Moix,Director, Coding Arkansas‚Äô Future IN 2015, WHEN Arkansas passed Act 187 requiring all high schools to offer computer science, I joined the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and Arts‚ÄĒmy high school alma mater‚ÄĒto launch the program called Coding Arkansas‚Äô Future. Using online learning tools, […]

DOES DATA DRIVE YOUR BUSINESS DECISIONS? If not, you’re falling behind without even knowing it Charles D. Morgan,Chairman, ACDS THERE’S A WELL-KNOWN quote that perfectly captures the impact of data on corporate decision-making. Jim Barksdale, Internet pioneer and former CEO of Netscape, famously told his executive staff, “If we have data, let’s look at data.

Lonnie Emard,Apprenticeship Director,Arkansas Center for Data Sciences (ACDS) WHEN I THINK about apprenticeships, I sometimes imagine two ‚Äúopposing forces,‚ÄĚ if you will. One is the traditional connective tissue of organizations‚ÄĒgovernment, educational, corporate‚ÄĒthat, working together, champion and implement the strategic concept of apprenticeships and their vital impact on the workforce readiness of the 21st century. But

THE ROBOTS ARE COMING! Here’s how you can be ready for them Christopher Hill, Director-Automation Windstream Communications IN CASE YOU haven’t heard, robots are back, and back in a big way. Actually, they never left us, but they’ve definitely surged in popularity and features over the last few years. Today’s robots could give R2-D2 a

LAWRENCE E. WHITMAN, Ph.D., P.E. Dean of Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology University of Arkansas at Little Rock DR. LAWRENCE WHITMAN is an industrial engineer who worked for many years in the defense industry before entering academia. Now in his fifth year as dean of EIT at UA Little Rock, Whitman is a

SUMMER 2019 IS COMING to a close, and it’s back to school for many Arkansans. For ACDS, this summer has been active and eventful, including the launch of what we refer to internally as ACDS “Stage Two.” If you’ve heard our pitch, it stresses the short-run impact of registered apprenticeships, the most efficient, most cost

DO YOU KNOW the difference between an ‚Äúinternship‚ÄĚ and an ‚Äúapprenticeship‚ÄĚ? Many people can‚Äôt distinguish between the two, so this month I want to spend a little time talking about both their differences and their similarities. The first thing to know is that internships are educator driven, while apprenticeships are employer driven. University professors or

Lonnie Emard, Apprenticeship Director WHEN YOU HAVE 10,000 tech jobs to fill and only 700 tech grads in a year‚ÄĒstatewide‚ÄĒyou have to get creative, and that‚Äôs where registered apprenticeships come in. The entire concept of apprenticeships flies in the face of all the tired old patterns of traditional hiring. In the past, when companies wanted

SCOTT SPRADLEY, EVP and Chief Technology Officer, Tyson Foods ARKANSAN SCOTT SPRADLEY spent many years in Silicon Valley, where he distinguished himself in leadership positions at Chevron, Intel, and Hewlett Packard, becoming known in the tech industry as a transformer. Two years ago he returned to his home state to lead the ‚Äúmodernization‚ÄĚ of Tyson

Bill Yoder, Executive Director, presented at the AR NSF EPSCoR Meeting in May. WE HAVE BEEN fortunate over the last few months to be able to meet and work with a number of Computer Science and Engineering leaders, both at our state’s colleges and universities as well as in corporate IT. The common denominators are: