Rotary Career Symposium

Call 204.989.6500 or visit us online at mitt.ca Discover why nearly 90% of MITT graduates get careers in their chosen fields. MITT offers more than just theory: This is the training that gets you hired. SEE US AT BOOTH 629 AT THE ROTARY SYMPOSIUM Get Started. | 03 careersymposium.ca Supported by CAREER SYMPOSIUM EXPLORE YOUR OPTIONS MARCH 14–16, 2017 TUES 6PM–8PM • WED & THURS 9AM–3PM RBC CONVENTION CENTRE #RCS2017 #CAREERSYMPOSIUM Look into your tech future BY SHANE GIBSON Canada's information and communications technology industry (ICT) will hire an estimated 182,000 people over the next two years, and Cori Krut hopes something as seemingly low-tech as a cardboard box can inspire Manitoba students to be the ones with the skills needed to land those high-tech jobs. But there's more than meets the eye in the little brown boxes Krut is bringing to this year's Rotary Career Symposium in Winnipeg — they're Google Cardboard, Google's inexpensive and very simple device that allows everyday smartphones to become immersive virtual reality (VR) machines. "The whole point of this is to introduce kids to virtual reality, but also to discuss with them the different careers that go into making that kind of tech," explains Krut, program manager with the Information and Communication Technologies Association of Manitoba (ICTAM). "Right now, for a lot of kids, when they think about tech, they think about computer science, but it's a lot more than that and it spans all the different sectors. "We want to get younger kids thinking about that as a career." Built literally out of a cardboard box, Google Cardboard uses a similar technology to a View-Master toy to create a virtual 3D world for users who pop in their phones and strap the device to their heads. The VR worlds are created in apps (many of which are free) that can be downloaded for Androids and iPhones and the devices can be bought online for around $10 or built out of a few simple parts. This is the second year ICTAM has partnered with Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters to bring 12 Google Cardboards to the symposium's Career Discovery area, and Krut hopes letting students stare into the box will help them look outside the box when it comes to a career in ICT. "We want to introduce kids to tech and talk to them about how things like the phone they have in their pocket can be used for lots of different things," she says, adding the story of how Google Cardboards came to be can also be inspiring for creative types considering a career in science and technology. "Google has a program where their employees can spend 20 per cent of their time on projects not related to their job and that's how the Cardboard was invented. "Someone was just taking the time to fiddle with different ideas and out came the Cardboard." Krut has a list of five downloadable apps that she'll be recommending students try out this year, including a new one she says shows just how quickly the technology has advanced in 12 months. "It lets you use the panorama feature on your phone's camera to take a photo and then use the Cardboard to basically enter that photo later," she explains. "So if you take a picture on a beach on vacation you can come back home and be right back on the beach through the Cardboard." While students check out the virtual worlds at ICTAM's activity station they'll also have the chance to find out about local programs where they can learn about things like coding and robotics, and get more information on the steps they'll need to take to get started towards a career in ICT. "It's a broad field — which is pretty cool — a lot of them can be software developers, specialists, program managers or business analysts," says Krut of the high-paying and in-demand jobs available in ITC. "They're not necessarily the super technical computer science jobs. There are a lot of other jobs like managerial positions and graphic design jobs that need to get filled too." Manitoba's ICT industry currently employs about 17,400, says Krut. CORI KRUT, PROGRAM MANAGER WITH THE INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES ASSOCIATION OF MANITOBA, SAYS GOOGLE CARDBOARD AND ITS VIRTUAL REALITY TECH CAN SPARK DISCUSSION ABOUT THE DIFFERENT CAREERS IN THE ICT SECTOR. Photo by Darcy Finley

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