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John Foster
The author is a partner and chief impact officer at Fearless, a digital services and software company with offices in Baltimore and Montgomery, Alabama. [email protected].
With the introduction of two new measures, Maryland may have inadvertently created an opportunity the tech industry has been seeking for more than a decade — a way to build a talent pipeline to meet the growing demand for tech workers.
Maryland recently announced actions to transform the digital experience in state government, providing exciting opportunities to improve the state’s workforce.
Maryland’s executive order covers several key areas:
- Develop and implement a comprehensive plan to implement the state’s AI principles and create appropriate guardrails for agencies’ use of AI while promoting AI knowledge, skills, and talent across state government
- Establish an internal team of national product managers, user researchers, designers, and engineers who will support agencies’ website and app redesign and discovery efforts to inform more accurate and agile procurement, with a focus on thoughtful Design and user-centered digital experiences increase trust in government, reduce service costs and support agencies in delivering critical missions
- Publish a digital accessibility policy to ensure equal access to state-procured and developed information technology and services, regardless of whether they provide the highest degree of usability for everyone.
This series of new actions will position Maryland as a leader in providing accessible digital services to voters through advanced technology. However, if Maryland wants to avoid the challenges faced by other states with digital services offices, it must consider recruitment policies and practices.
Policies and practices for hiring within government may limit the effectiveness of these offices. Simply creating new jobs could be a major hurdle – governments would have to create and define new positions.
Overcoming this initial hurdle is often followed by the challenge of filling these roles.
CompTIA, a nonprofit organization that certifies IT professionals, predicted in its annual State of the Technology Workforce report that technology employment in Maryland will increase by 2.3 percent this year, with an estimated net new jobs of 5,100. Maryland is home to one of the most educated workforces in the country, but that’s not enough for the rapidly growing tech industry.
The reality is that without skills training, we will never be able to meet talent needs.
However, Maryland has an ace up its sleeve.
In October, Governor Moore launched the historic Service Year Option, the nation’s first public service year program for high school seniors. One of the program’s goals is to enhance workforce development and promote postsecondary and career education readiness.
Participants earn at least $15 per hour, work at least 30 hours per week, acquire hard and soft skills through service placements aligned with their areas of interest, and work with a support coach to develop and refine their post-employment plans—whether They include college, vocational or continuing service.
This fall, the state also announced a $3 million program to support the growth of registered apprenticeships within Maryland’s public sector. The fund will provide grants to public sector entities to create and expand registered apprenticeship opportunities within state, municipal and local governments.
If the state embeds requirements for companies to train apprentices and upskill into every digital services procurement contract, we can create the talent pool needed to meet the actions outlined by the governor.
Through these new initiatives, countries can leverage assets to invest in the development of their workforce, which will ensure that the digital services movement continues into the future. It’s a long game, and we have to create learning opportunities for people so that when one project ends, technicians can move on to the next one, creating a flywheel in workforce development.
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