Stories by Mary K. Pratt

Adaptive technology provides disabled people with technical skills

The Trust for the Americas was witnessing a problem of nearly epidemic proportions: Some 80% to 90% of the 50 million people with disabilities in Latin America were unemployed due to widespread discrimination and limited access to rehabilitation, education and training tailored to their needs. As a result, many disabled individuals were living in poverty.

Harnessing the computing power of low-cost mobile phones

This may be the digital age, but many humanitarian and development workers still rely on paper forms to collect data - an inefficient and often ineffective process that takes precious resources away from their core mission.

Managing Mobile Mania

In the space of just a few years, Art Johnston has gone from thinking of unified communications as optional to viewing it as "a strategy that we need to implement to be competitive."

Up-and-Coming Tech Jobs

Any study of the IT labor market is likely to find that project managers and business analysts are in demand, but what about cloud transformation officers?

Wayne Shurts

In April 2010, when Wayne Shurts stepped into the role of executive vice president and CIO at SuperValu, a U.S. grocery retailer and distributor whose brands include the Albertsons and Shaw's/Star Market chains, he brought skills he had honed as an IT executive at Cadbury, as well as two decades of experience in finance, marketing and sales at Nabisco. Shurts, who has an MBA in marketing from Seton Hall University, also spent several years as head of his own consulting firm, which specialized in transformational technology strategies. He's now working to help the IT department at SuperValu better support the company's overall business.

Tech workers stress over skills gap

Dean Haddock has seen how highly skilled IT workers can be sidelined: He has witnessed more than one colleague develop deep skills in an IT specialty, only to be displaced -- in a flash -- when a new technology comes along.

Melissa P. Dodd

Melissa P. Dodd speaks passionately about children and the importance of their education. That's not surprising, considering Dodd has a master's degree in education from Harvard University. Dodd opted not to teach, however, and instead chose to support teachers and students through technology. She worked as an educational technology administrator at Tufts University before moving in 2003 to the Boston Public Schools, which serve some 56,000 students. There she started as a technology strategic planner before becoming deputy CIO in 2006 and then CIO in October 2010. Here she shares her ideas on running a large school system's IT department.

The Grill: David D. Clark

When the American Academy of Arts and Sciences decided to explore the complex issues of security and privacy in cyberspace for its academic journal Daedalus , it tapped Internet pioneer David D. Clark to serve as guest editor. Clark's credentials certainly made him a worthy selection. He has been involved in the development of the Internet since the 1970s and served as chief protocol architect and chair of the Internet Activities Board from 1981 to 1989.

Mojgan Lefebvre

Mojgan Lefebvre stepped into the senior vice president and CIO job at Liberty Mutual Commercial Markets in July 2010. It was her third stint as a CIO since 2004. She held the top IT posts at BioMerieux from 2007 to 2010 and at Teletech Holdings from 2004 to 2007. Her experience as an IT executive, coupled with the skills she has gained in business-side positions such as company founder and CEO, has given her insights into what it takes for executives to manage their careers. In fact, she recently spoke on that topic at an event sponsored by Women in Technology International. Here she shares her views on running a successful IT shop and managing one's career.

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