Focus on the "T" in STEM
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; better known as the STEM Fields, receive a lot of attention in the modern world. This is no doubt a function of the societal returns from the fields themselves, as we collectively seem to desire to progress towards an increasingly technological future. The idea of a scientist or an engineer isn’t far-fetched, and for students like myself, mathematicians are also familiar, if only as the professors of our math classes. So where are the technologists? Where are the professionals that are more than a technician, but not quite to a level that would be considered an engineer or architect?
I’m right here! No seriously, that’s basically what I’ve been calling myself since getting a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology. The technical nature of the degree allowed me to major in Networking and almost minor in Programming. I immediately went into civil service, where my education and experience have been put to good use in a large enterprise environment. Currently pursuing a master’s degree from SUNY Polytechnic in Network Security, really cybersecurity, has honed my perspective on what it means to be a networking professional. After 13 years in the private sector, and now the two I’ve been in the public sector, I’ve taken up the title of Enterprise Technologist. From software, to servers, to networking, to programming, and having just moved into a management role, I’m just one of hundreds of professionals in the field that are rounding out a wide-based skillset as technologists.
For several years, possibly still running, the software giant Oracle had honored a select set of professionals with their Technologist of the Year Awards. IT managers and architects for enterprise solutions were always chief among the nominees and awards recipients.i In her February 4th, 2020 publication, Shelly Kramer explored The Rise of the Technologist in Enterprise Leadership for her Future Tech Podcast. She skirts a concrete definition of technologist, giving instead a duly glamourized list of personal qualities; “charged with driving change, embracing technology, and delivering significant business results — for themselves and for their customers, and personifying the business of digital transformation.” Kramer’s focus on IBM notwithstanding, the entire podcast sounds and reads like an outline for aspiring technologists and professionals alike.ii
The Google Books Ngram Viewer gives the impression of a rich history of use for the word technologist in American English since the 1900’s. Which, by the way, if you’ve never searched for words using this tool, you’re missing out on some serious statistics-nerd happy-time.iii
An additional characteristic that I would humbly add to Shelly Kramer’s list of ephemeral qualities is the impulse to foster entrants into our field. Part of the transformative nature of technology is the ability to teach the next generations about it. Technology, whether a human invention, is part of our evolution no matter what year we start counting from. We teach our children and let the very nature of humans go to work on improving the current iterations of systems they’re presented with. The need to study and improve upon past designs for future intentions is a constant throughout recorded human history, and given that, I don’t see us stopping anytime soon. I can’t wait to see what the yet-to-be-conceived children of the future will have in store for society when I finally reach retirement age something like thirty years from now.
i https://blogs.oracle.com/oraclemagazine/technologist-of-the-year-v2
