Time to Bring Our Education System in Line with the 21st Century

The most pressing issue facing the innovation community is the lack of a robust tech talent pipeline to support emerging new enterprises and to help legacy industries adapt. While other countries are developing workers with skills to compete in the 21th century, our country’s education system remains stuck in the 20th. Not only do public education programs lack the funding to train teachers to teach students digital skills, public officials lack a strategic vision of how to adapt to the future. The only way for this dynamic to change is for the innovation industries to get involved directly in supporting our schools, advocating for new public policies and funding to change the status quo. Failure to engage in this way risks not only the success of our future businesses but also the future of our communities and our country.

[Editor’s note: To tap the wisdom of our distinguished group of Xconomists, we asked a few of them to answer a question heading into 2016: “What is the most pressing issue for the innovation community?” You can see other questions and answers here.]

Author: Andrew Rasiej

Andrew Rasiej is a civic and social entrepreneur, technology strategist, and Founder of Personal Democracy Media focusing on the intersection of technology, politics, and government. He recently founded Civic Hall, an 18,000-square-foot community center and event space for civic innovation in the Flatiron District of New York City. He is the Chairman of the NY Tech Meetup, a 45,000-member organization of technologists, venture funders, marketers, and more representing startup and more mature companies using technology to transform themselves, New York City, and the world. He is the Founder of MOUSE.org, which focuses on 21st century public education. He is also Senior Technology Advisor to the Sunlight Foundation, a Washington, DC, organization using technology to make government more transparent. Andrew lives and works in New York City.