Future of the Technician Workforce Study

Job Functions and Business Operations Impacts: Information Technology

 Teaming and decision-making with machines : Ability to make judgments and decisions on team with AI and robotics in the loop; ability to infer meaning from datasets FUTURE FUNCTIONS ENABLED BY i4.0  Advanced AI/ML platforms for IT operations AIOps : Use of AI- and ML-powered solutions for data visualization, data correlation, and pattern detection to identify potential outages, cyber vulnerabilities, and performance issues  Strategic DevSecOps : Evolution of DevOps tactics (i.e., alignment software development and IT operations) that automates security practices into underlying platforms  Edge computing : Technician must skilled in configuring edge computing platforms (i.e., evolution of cloud computing) for businesses requiring low-latency solutions to manage large datasets from IoT device networks  User experience (UX)/user interface (UI) design : Need for technicians capable of creating products, services, and interfaces to satisfy UX/UI design goals  Data transformation : Ability to interpret and convert data formats and structures

IN DECLINE  Administrative functions (reporting, data entry, etc.)  Data center management

 Desktop support/administration  Network and server administration  Manual building and assembly of servers and infrastructural components  On-premises technical support  Operating system (OS) installation  Traditional database engineering (data services, data management) AUGMENTED BY i4.0  Infrastructure automation : Advanced software tools and wireless connectivity will help reduce setup and re-configuration time; need for technicians skilled in setup of plug-and-play IoT sensor networks for in-situ data collection including retrofitting of legacy machines and manufacturing equipment  Application development : Need for technicians skilled in enterprise application development for IoT platforms  DevOps, infrastructure-as-code (IaC), and automation engineering : Technicians must have experience in combined approaches to software development and IT operations; ability to employ IaC concepts and align business operations with application development  Cybersecurity engineering and forensic in- vestigation : Extensive systems knowledge and experience with cybersecurity tools are needed to conduct forensic analyses within IoT networks and protect against critical cyber vulnerabilities  Predictive management : Technicians must demonstrate ability to use predictive analytics for logistics, workflow management, systems integration, and management of IoT devices and networks

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