Despite the downturn in the U.S. economy, optimism abounded at a Nov. 15 graduation ceremony of Columbia University's Computer Technology Applications (CTA) program, an initiative offered through Continuing Education. Keynote speaker Kathleen Corbet, executive vice president at the global investment firm Alliance Capital Management L.P., told graduates that the success of the financial services industry in the past has depended on productivity gains in technology. She added that the industry's greatest future asset will be knowledge management.

"The challenge facing us today is to harness the power of technology to manage knowledge. In fact, your timing is impeccable," she told graduates. "You have selected the right career at the right moment in this information evolution that began 20 years ago with data processing, [which] is today's information technology and will become knowledge management tomorrow."

Corbet said that the knowledge management industry will not suffer the same demise as the dot-coms, citing a report by the International Data Corporation (IDC), which predicts that from 1999 to 2004 investment in knowledge management software will see a growth of 31 percent per year, from 1.4 billion to $5.4 billion by 2004.

"The dot-coms that failed did so because of a lack of workable business plans, not because of the inability of technology to perform," said Corbet. "These mistakes provide important lessons for the future."

Dennis Green, director of the CTA initiative, said that the programs' instructional staff and advisory board, which are both composed of about 95 percent information technology professionals, are convinced that information technology will remain a steady force, despite gains being put on hold since stock prices fell sharply in March 2000.

"Once [the economy rebounds], and possibly before that, projects that are now on hold and that have been cut back in the industry will be put back in the pipeline," said Green.

Green cited recent comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan during an appearance at Rice University Nov. 14 in which Greenspan talked about the implication of technical projects. "The New York Times" reported that Greenspan referred to numerous surveys of business executives of U.S. companies that reveal that only 50 percent of the new productivity enhancing technologies have been implemented.

Greenspan reportedly said: "That means there is a major unexpected amount of technology which is still out there." Upon reversal of the slump in the economy, "new capital investment, especially the high-tech type, will continue where it left off," he said. Though he did not say when the economy might reverse itself, he said the long-term outlook looks promising. "The long-term outlook for productivity growth as far as I am concerned remains substantially undiminished," he said.

Many of the CTA graduates at the Nov. 15 ceremony had already secured jobs. CTA administrators say that while jobs are not guaranteed even upon graduation, most students who perform at a grade of B and above in their classes are hired for entry-level or higher positions. This may, in part, be due to the program's hallmark feature—students must complete a final project on a real-world or prototype problem in information technology by applying the skills they have learned in their specified concentration of study.

"It is a matter of great pride to all of us at Continuing Education that [while] the CTA program has played a remarkable role in the training of New York's high-tech labor force for more than two decades, it has at the same time made possible substantial upward professional mobility for many ambitious people in the metropolitan area," said Frank Wolf, dean of Continuing Education.

New CTA graduate Yvonne Rabsatt, who grew up in Harlem and has lived in Manhattan all her life, has already begun working as a software engineer for Ericsson Internet Applications. She said she initially entered the CTA program because she wanted a career change from finance. Rabsatt learned programming from scratch through one of the five tracks offered in the program, Database and Design Development (DADD).

"I had zero computer experience," said Rabsatt. "Now I'm using Java programming in the telecommunications industry. So I really changed my life because of this program." She said that while her company has been affected by the economic downturn, Rabsatt herself has not. "Everybody across the board is being affected by it, not just Ericsson. But because I have skills here that they want and need, I'm still employed."

CTA graduate Julien Boucher finished his coursework in the Analysis and Design of Information Systems (ADIS) track last fall and is now a manager of special projects and planning in the communications and technology department at the Associated Press (AP). Following graduation from Columbia University with a degree in project management, Boucher went on to work as a project management consultant and found that he wanted to upgrade his skills.

"I wanted to get the right foundations, and I believe I got that through the ADIS program," said Boucher. "It's a good program because it teaches you how to be an architect for information systems and many many companies need that position."

One graduate who was unable to attend the ceremony was Arnold Lim. He had been an employee of Fiduciary Trust and was among those who perished in the World Trade Center attacks. Lim had completed the coursework for the ADIS track in Spring 2001. Members of his family, his friends and fiancée were present to accept the certificate on his behalf.

Columbia University's Computer Technology Applications program, offered through Continuing Education, is a rigorous four-semester course of study that combines the academic strengths of Columbia with the knowledge of information technology practitioners in a consistently cutting-edge program. Students choose from five tracks of study: Analysis and Design of Information Systems (ADIS); C++ and Java: Programming and Software Development (PROG); Database Application Development and Design (DADD); Java Development for E-commerce (ECOM); and Network Administration and Design (NAAD).