The Connecticut Tech Talent Accelerator

Overview of Initiative

Tech talent is critical for Connecticut’s economic competitiveness and fostering the long-term growth of multiple critical technology-driven industries. In the last year, Connecticut employers posted close to 48,000 unique job openings across 21 information technology-related occupations, according to Lightcast. This is a 25% increase on the number of jobs posted in the previous year. Moreover, 56% of these job postings required a bachelor’s degree.

To meet the burgeoning demand for tech talent and keep Connecticut’s workforce competitive, the state must deploy its entire higher education ecosystem, including community colleges and four-year public and independent colleges and universities. Each sector and institution have a critical role to play in preparing graduates for the workplace, and in reskilling and upskilling incumbent workers. This initiative will support innovative programming by postsecondary institutions to meet current and emerging credential needs by leveraging employer partnerships and harnessing the momentum of the state’s Regional Sector Partnerships.

In 2021, The New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) and the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) were designated by the Connecticut Office of Workforce Strategy (OWS) to direct a higher education innovation challenge: The Connecticut Higher Education Tech Talent Accelerator (TTA). Through the state’s initial investment in TTA, seven partnerships between business and higher education institutions have been built. As a result, new programs and credentials are available to Connecticut’s workers in fields like cybersecurity, mobile application development and game development. With an additional investment from the state, TTA will increase its cohort of grantees and support up to 13 partnerships to increase access to credential pathways leading to in-demand tech jobs and strengthen collaboration between business and higher education institutions.

Upcoming Events

First Friday Community of Practice Session

December 1, 2023 – Register HERE

DESCRIPTION: One of the priorities for the Tech Talent Accelerator is to facilitate collaboration between higher education institutions and industry champions. In the first session of this community practice, we will share best practices and resources to navigate these working relationships.

Another priority of the Tech Talent Accelerator is to assist higher education institutions with embedding industry-recognized credentials (IRCs) and industry-validated knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) into the curriculum to promote learners’ work readiness. Amazon Web Services and Google award industry-recognized credentials that allow individuals to demonstrate attainment of in-demand KSAs for tech roles. These companies provide resources to faculty to understand and leverage IRCs in their content and curriculum. This meeting will highlight the resources and tools that AWS and Google offer for professional and curriculum development.

Past Events

The Connecticut Higher Education Tech Talent Accelerator 2.0 application was due on August 7, 2023. The grant period will run from September 2023 to October 2024. Watch the Request for Proposals Informational Webinar below for more information on this past application process.