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| The Business-IT Divide starts with Education |
July 16th 2007 |
Much has been written about the divide between IT and the Business and much more has been experienced by those who have felt compromised by the apparent lack of understanding of those 'on the other side'. Most articles written in the process field rarely look outside the organisation as a means of understanding yet alone addressing the issue.
The truth is that the business issues being suffered today, including those of the dysfunction of Business and IT disciplines, is a function of the way in which those disciplines are taught in secondary and tertiary institutions. While our school education should reflect and support the business environment; the issue is that the dysfunctions of business are also mirrored in the education sector to the point that educational institutions themselves often suffer the same issues such as the Business-IT divide. Whether 'process' should be led from the business (groups or faculty) or the IT (group or faculty) is a key example of this.
A brief article ("Service of science" by Bruce Andrews - BRW July 12-18 2007: p.73) in the latest BRW magazine offers some hope in the form of a "science services" course. The course is the result of a program led by Jay Hannon, University Relations and Development Manager at IBM. It "...offers course materials and guest lecturers to universities for a one-semester course..." Recognizing the gap between industry needs and tertiary training, the course seeks to address the issue that there are "...not enough students with a good fusion of both IT skills and business acumen."
Formal education should both prepare us for managing business realities while, just as importantly, enable us to introduce effective changes to improve the business 'system'. There is evidence that the education sector is starting to make these changes to influence changes toward the business system of tomorrow and not just support its current state. This is great news as the value chain that results in tomorrow's business environment starts in today's education environment.
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