California Department of Education Receives IT Innovators Award

State Schools Chief Jack O’Connell Announces California
Department of Education Wins Information Technology Award

SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell today announced the California Department of Education (CDE) received the IT (Information Technology) Innovators Award from the WhyITNow.org initiative based out of Folsom, California.

“California has long been on the cutting edge of innovation thanks to the high tech industry that has made the state a world economic powerhouse,” said O’Connell. “That’s why the California Department of Education places such a high emphasis on IT not only for our staff, but also in the classroom to prepare our students for our hypercompetitive, global economy. I am proud to accept the IT Innovators Award on behalf of the California Department of Education.”

CDE joins a prestigious list of awardees, including the White House, Amazon, HP, IBM, Microsoft Bing, Mid-Pacific ICT Center, and Interop Las Vegas that were announced winners of the inaugural IT Innovator Awards during the Interop Las Vegas 2010 convention last week in Nevada. The Award is given to industry organizations, government agencies, and educational institutions that exemplify excellence in IT education and innovation. CDE was selected for innovation in education by improving IT education pathways and resources for students and teachers in the classroom through partnerships and strategic alliances.

“Great things are happening in the California education and tech community and recognizing individuals and corporations that support IT education and innovation is a nice way to shine a spotlight on innovation in California” said Bill Cullifer, Executive Director of WebProfessionals.org and the Chair of the WhyITNow.org initiative. “In order for the United States to continue to lead the world in innovation and creativity, we must develop an advanced information technology ecosystem that is able to refresh itself with IT talent and creative thinkers.”

CDE has a long history of forming partnerships with business and community organizations to foster education excellence. The state agency won the National Network of Partnership Schools award five years in a row between 2004-08 for demonstrating excellent leadership in developing family, school, and community partnership programs designed to help students succeed in school. O’Connell also called for an expansion of California Partnership Academies that join together schools, districts, and local business industries to provide integrated academic and career technical instruction to students who are unmotivated by traditional curriculum or at risk of dropping out of school.

The WhyITNow.org initiative is a grass-root, California-based effort to promote the state’s IT job opportunity pipeline. WhyITNow.org is supported by a consortium of IT industry professionals, publishers, educators, government agencies, and groups coming together for the benefit of promoting awareness and jobs within the information technology profession. For more information, please visit Why IT Now – Where IT and Creative Job Opportunities, Education and Government Intersect [http://whyITnow.org/] (Outside Source).

Editor’s Note: For a picture of O’Connell accepting the WhyITNow.org Innovator’s Award, please visit Year 2010 – Multimedia.