New CompTIA initiative seeks to foster next wave of innovators and trendsetters

Business mentor

A couple of years ago Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg disclosed the astonishing-to-some factoid that he is a longtime admirer of Microsoft godfather Bill Gates. Zuckerberg's exact words: "When I was growing up, Bill Gates was my hero." It actually makes a fair amount of sense, when you think about it.

 

And though it's hard to imagine how Zuckerberg's rise could have been any more meteoric, what if the young Mark Zuckerberg had gotten a face-to-face meeting with his hero just as "Thefacebook" was getting off the ground? That's the sort of seasoned-iconic-peer-to-young-rising-star-peer encounter that CompTIA wants to foster with the launch, announced earlier this week, of its new CompTIA Future Leaders Community.

 

The Future Leaders Community, CompTIA's 10th member community, hopes to act as an incubator of sorts for young IT entrepreneurs building fast-growing tech firms, or at least harboring revolutionary IT aspirations. The idea is to foster and encourage the next generation of IT innovators as they develop game-changing products, or work the kinks out of big ideas.

 

Along the lines of meetings its mentorship goals, the Future Leaders Community will have some big shoes to fill. Literally. CompTIA reports that some industry watchers predict that nearly 40 percent of IT executives will retire at some point in the next decade. In that regard, the community will attempt to help groom its 35-and-under members to fill some of the leadership roles that are about to be vacated.

 

There will also be other issues on the new community's plate. The Future Leaders Community is expected to have an ongoing discussion about bringing various generations together in the workplace to increase productivity. And the community expects to learn from the rising generation as well, gathering critical information about younger consumers. For example, what are the emerging patterns of technology consumption that will drive business in the future?

 

IT executive Ted Roller said in a stament to media members that, more than any of CompTIA's other communities, the Future Leaders Community will be about bringing people together. "The Future Leaders Community is a new breed of community for CompTIA, focused more on relationships than a particular mission or goal, because enhancing relationships is the mission and the goal," said Roller. "We all want to learn, grow and contribute. This group will help foster better relationships, communications and idea sharing between the generations in the IT space."

 

The Future Leaders Community is already up and running. The community is open to registered CompTIA members (basic registration is free). The community will have a prime opportunity to begin transacting its informal business right away: CompTIA's Annual Member Meeting is set to be held March 24-26 in Ponte Vedra, Fla.

MORE HISTORIC HACKS
Would you like more insight into the history of hacking? Check out Calvin's other articles about historical hackery:
About the Author

GoCertify's mission is to help both students and working professionals get IT certifications. GoCertify was founded in 1998 by Anne Martinez.