How the future of IT has changed
IIT alumnus PPankaj Jaloteoffers a students' guide to the changing world of engineering education
When everything in the business world is revolving around big data, artificial intelligence, programmatic, pattern analysis, cloud communication, and IoT, the future of IT is indeed fabulous. Although the last two years were a bit stressful for IT professionals, the next five years of the Indian economy will witness a sharp upsurge in the IT sector in addition to the increased off-shore demand. Moreover, India's job sector is once again regaining the momentum, and the IT industry is amongst the top contributors. Amid an environment of positivity, the massive growth of IoT and Industry 4.0, and unprecedented demand of digital technology in both manufacturing and service sector, will be creating a plethora of job opportunities for IT graduates in the future ahead.
SKILLS IN DEMAND
Uses of new technologies like IoT, data analytics, machine learning, image analysis, text analysis will keep expanding exponentially for the next few years.Use of sensors like cameras, phones etc. will increase, and people will produce large amounts of data. The need to leverage this data is already a challenge, which will increase with time. So, engineers who can handle big data - including structured, text, images, videos and derive knowledge or useful inferences using techniques like machine learning, data analytics, etc - will be in demand for the next few years.
Regular coding jobs will reduce, as platforms to automate some of the routine tasks become stronger and can help the programmers even more, thereby increasing the productivity of programmers, leading to a reduced need for them. However, technology (new products, services, platforms, etc) development will keep increasing, with an expectation of reduced cycle times and quick delivery. This will create more jobs in the high-tech sector where programmers and designers who are well versed with new technologies and platforms, as well as have strong skills in engineering and development, will be in demand.
Platforms will become even more indispensable - and they will, for some time, remain under threat of cyber attacks, and challenges of security and privacy. So, those who have a deep understanding of computer systems, networking, information security and privacy, etc, and have good system programming and management skills, will continue to have employability.
PERSONALITY AND VALUE ADDITION
Apart from technical skills, good communication and coordination skills are the demands of the changing workplace scenario where direct human intervention will be less, and coordinating with the team in a virtual setup would be a challenge for many. In addition, as technology leads to more accountability, one's capacity of understanding the need of the employer as well as the client will affect his/her employability a lot.
Last but not the least, in today's world of fast innovation and change, it is not the degrees or the CGPA that matter - what matters most is the value that one brings to the table. If one expects a fat pay package from a corporation, then his/her skills and capabilities should add value to the organisation.
When everything in the business world is revolving around big data, artificial intelligence, programmatic, pattern analysis, cloud communication, and IoT, the future of IT is indeed fabulous. Although the last two years were a bit stressful for IT professionals, the next five years of the Indian economy will witness a sharp upsurge in the IT sector in addition to the increased off-shore demand. Moreover, India's job sector is once again regaining the momentum, and the IT industry is amongst the top contributors. Amid an environment of positivity, the massive growth of IoT and Industry 4.0, and unprecedented demand of digital technology in both manufacturing and service sector, will be creating a plethora of job opportunities for IT graduates in the future ahead.
SKILLS IN DEMAND
Uses of new technologies like IoT, data analytics, machine learning, image analysis, text analysis will keep expanding exponentially for the next few years.Use of sensors like cameras, phones etc. will increase, and people will produce large amounts of data. The need to leverage this data is already a challenge, which will increase with time. So, engineers who can handle big data - including structured, text, images, videos and derive knowledge or useful inferences using techniques like machine learning, data analytics, etc - will be in demand for the next few years.
Regular coding jobs will reduce, as platforms to automate some of the routine tasks become stronger and can help the programmers even more, thereby increasing the productivity of programmers, leading to a reduced need for them. However, technology (new products, services, platforms, etc) development will keep increasing, with an expectation of reduced cycle times and quick delivery. This will create more jobs in the high-tech sector where programmers and designers who are well versed with new technologies and platforms, as well as have strong skills in engineering and development, will be in demand.
Platforms will become even more indispensable - and they will, for some time, remain under threat of cyber attacks, and challenges of security and privacy. So, those who have a deep understanding of computer systems, networking, information security and privacy, etc, and have good system programming and management skills, will continue to have employability.
PERSONALITY AND VALUE ADDITION
Apart from technical skills, good communication and coordination skills are the demands of the changing workplace scenario where direct human intervention will be less, and coordinating with the team in a virtual setup would be a challenge for many. In addition, as technology leads to more accountability, one's capacity of understanding the need of the employer as well as the client will affect his/her employability a lot.
Last but not the least, in today's world of fast innovation and change, it is not the degrees or the CGPA that matter - what matters most is the value that one brings to the table. If one expects a fat pay package from a corporation, then his/her skills and capabilities should add value to the organisation.
Value will be the key differentiator - those who can solve problems by developing solutions using new technologies and approaches will be valued highly; those who have standard/traditional skills only, may not be valued highly. We will continue seeing a divergence in compensation of high-value engineers for high-tech jobs and regular jobs; it is already a factor of 10, even at entry level engineering jobs.
WHAT WORKS
(The author is the director of IIIT-Delhi)
WHAT WORKS
- Being in business of big data, artificial intelligence, programmatic, pattern analysis, cloud communication, and IoT will be useful
- Engineers who can handle big data, structured, text, images, video, and derive knowledge for useful inferences using machine learning, data analytics will be hugely in demand
- With increasing threat of cyber attacks, security and privacy, engineers with deep understanding of computer systems, networking, information security will be needed
- Need for good communication and coordination skills will be a must
(The author is the director of IIIT-Delhi)
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