The future of computing as a viable field of study and work has become a major concern. There are daily stories in national and international media describing major shifts in employment that are occurring largely as a result of offshoring. Combined with the impact of the end of the dot.com boom, these reports raised more questions than they answered and there was very little systematic analysis.

Given these concerns, the ACM Council commissioned a Task Force to look at the facts behind the rapid globalization of IT and the migration of jobs resulting from outsourcing and offshoring in the computing and information technology fields. Being an international organization, the ACM expected the task force to look at the issue from a global perspective, as compared to a country-centric one.

Prior to this effort, no report looked at offshoring on a global scale. The report gives a clear, factual picture of IT offshoring and provides a comprehensive list of reports, resources, and papers assembled on the topic. The field of computing and information technology has experienced a dramatic shift in the past five years to a truly global industry. The forces that have driven and shaped this change are still at play and will continue. Full participation in the systems, software, and services portion of the global information technology field will require deep grounding in the fundamentals of computing, new knowledge surrounding business processes and platforms, and a deeper understanding of the global community in which work will be done.

Some of the key findings that emerged from the study include:

• Offshoring between developed and developing countries can benefit both parties.
• Offshore outsourcing is projected to grow over the next decade, but so are IT job opportunities. New tech jobs are being created in the United States as fast, or faster than jobs are being shipped overseas.
• Many new jobs will come from businesses that companies launch as they achieve cost savings from outsourcing.
• The key to job creation is the ability of the economy to rapidly generate and adopt innovations. Innovation is an engine of economic growth.
• US industry is the largest user of IT in the workplace, with several distinct capabilities: Best universities and research institutions, highly efficient capital markets, flexible labor markets, the largest consumer market, business-friendly immigration laws, and a large and deep managerial pool.

The future is one in which the individual will be situated in a more global competition, and the brightness of the future for individuals, companies, or countries is centered on their ability to invest in building the foundations that foster innovation and invention. It is clear that the globalization of software is here to stay. Policymakers, educators, and employers all need to address the realities of offshoring. Some of the recommendations from the report include:

• To stay competitive in a global IT environment and industry, countries must adopt policies that foster innovation. To this end, policies that improve a country’s ability to attract, educate and retain the best IT talent are critical. Education policy and investment is at the core.
• An infrastructure or safety net is needed to provide income and training opportunities for adversely affected workers.

As a result of this study, trends emerged and a realistic picture of the current state and likely future of the information technology field, profession, and industry emerged. For more detailed information on the report, please visit http://www.acm.org/globalizationreport/


(CRITO Research Spotlight, August 2006)

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