In the advent of this technological world, life-long learning in pursuit of personal development and excellence as IT professionals is a necessity. It helps individuals become active citizens which enhances one’s social inclusion and self-awareness, while as professionals it helps achieve mastery in areas of expertise and other undertakings which enables the individual in becoming more self-sustainable, competitive, and marketable. It’s a fast paced changing technological world, as Cearley (2016) pointed out “our lives are becoming increasingly connected to our devices”, thus life-long learning is crucial in this digital era.

Motivated to Pursue Life-Long Learning as an IT Professional

As an IT professional I find myself very intrigued by the many breakthroughs the industry evolves into every year. In 2016 alone we have seen technologies such as that of SpaceX successfully landing reusable rockets on moving ships, and ‘green’ sustainable cars such as those of Tesla enter mass production. Booton (2016) indicates that it’s going to be a year whereby technologies will surpass previous, and enter new trends that will quickly overtake the market such as that of augmented and virtual reality, drones, artificial intelligence, and smart cars. It’s a galaxy filled with wonder that leaves a voracious appetite for learning. I’m a curious explorer that tries to make sense of everything. Filled with determination, pushing and pulling everything in sight to find out what “it” does. It’s an inclined in-born capacity, which has become my personality characteristic largely determined through the process of learning. It therefore makes it an essential trait that keeps me motivated in learning new skills and talents in the pursuit of life-long learning.

Prepared to Purse Life-Long Learning as an IT Professional

Motivation itself is not sufficient to pursue life-long learning in the profession of IT, rather a strong established firm foundation with preparation to tackle society and problems that arise is essential. This is whereby the overall subjects taught at the university has gradually shaped me into a well-balanced individual with knowledge in the core and general areas which are necessary to continuously keep learning. I feel knowledgeable and capable enough to produce innovations in the profession of IT in the near future. It’s as Denning (2016) puts it, we don’t have to be incredible geniuses to produce rewarding innovations, on the contrary even the smallest of innovations can create the greatest of changes in communities who adapt them (p. 30). He even goes further to state that as IT professionals we are the innovators of tomorrow and we must keep on learning on a daily basis to keep producing innovations. This is exactly what Wadha (2016) reiterates by saying that new emerging technologies will be introduced by entrepreneurs all over the world who are taking up the ‘baton’.

Conclusion

As a result of the strong foundation instilled by the university, and my motivational aspirations to keep on life-long learning I feel prepared to embrace the new technologies that are to enter our future markets. When the non-volatile memory predicted by the IEEE Computer Society (2015) becomes something of the common I will already be prepared for the next big breakthrough, because life-long learning keeps us up to pace with the changes and innovations of tomorrow. It is a necessity as an IT professional to keep on learning because it better prepares us for the future, and as individuals we can better contribute to the rest of society.

References

Booton, J. (2016). 2016 Predictions: The six tech trends that will rule. Retrieved from http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-six-tech-trends-that-will-dominate-2016-2015-12-29

Cearly, D. (2016). Top 10 Technology Trends for 2016. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/gartnergroup/2016/01/15/top-10-technology-trends-for-2016/#4f27dc9c5ae9

Denning, P. (2016). The Profession of IT, How to Produce Innovations. Communications ACM, volume (59, No 60), pp. 28 -30.

IEEE Computer Society. (2015). IEEE Computer Society Predicts Top 9 Technology Trends for 2016. Retrieved from http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ieee-computer-society-predicts-top-9-technology-trends-for-2016-300193210.html

Wadhwa, V. (2015). The Top Technology Stories You’ll Be Reading in 2016. Retrieved from http://singularityhub.com/2016/01/12/these-6-technologies-will-define-2016/