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September 23, 2024
NORTHEASTERN WISCONSIN – To help spread the word about Wisconsin Tech Month held each October, Northeast Wisconsin is getting in on the action.
Aimed at helping innovators collaborate, share knowledge and explore cutting-edge technology, the first-ever Northeast Wisconsin Tech Month Kickoff Social is being held from 3-5 p.m. Sept. 24 in the Fox Club at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton.
Jason Mathwig, industry alliance director for New North Inc. – the regional marketing and economic development organization for the 18 counties of Northeast Wisconsin – said the social is being hosted by the NEW Digital Alliance in collaboration with Women in Technology (WIT) Wisconsin and Amplify Oshkosh and is open to both members and non-members.
“I believe this is maybe the fourth year of Wisconsin Tech Month,” he said. “It was created by a couple of nonprofit organizations in the Milwaukee area, and it’s even been officially designated by the governor that October is Wisconsin Tech Month. It was created to be a statewide initiative to celebrate all the amazing tech things happening in innovation in Wisconsin.”
Mathwig said people don’t necessarily associate Wisconsin with technology and innovation.
“A lot of people think of the East Coast and West Coast where some big-name companies are,” he said.
Mathwig said from his experience, he’d guess Wisconsin ranks somewhere in the middle of the pack nationwide.
“Technology can be defined in many things, especially with the amount of manufacturing we have in our state,” he said. “I think we are the second leading manufacturing state in the country. We recently received the designation of being a biotech hub in Wisconsin between us, Madison and Milwaukee.”
Mathwig said health care also has a lot of technology use.
“We’ve got some pretty substantial healthcare systems throughout our state, and even here in Northeast Wisconsin,” he said. “People are starting to realize Microsoft is also making a base out of Wisconsin at TitletownTech in Green Bay. Also, in the Kenosha/Pleasant Prairie area, they’re doing some AI programming – trying to train employees within the state.”
Mathwig said, “big tech companies are starting to pay attention to us.”
“Some of them are even moving some of their facilities and whatnot here,” he said. “I think we’re finally putting ourselves on the map. We’re also getting a lot of good talent coming into the region, which is what we want and need to continue the growth of technology in our region.”
More on the social
Mathwig said Tech Month Kickoff Social will feature networking and a short presentation highlighting Tech Month opportunities.
Registration is $10 for members of the NEW Digital Alliance, WIT Wisconsin and Amplify Oshkosh – all others are welcome to attend for $20.
Registration is available at t.ly/wtmsocial24.
“It’s meant to be a social networking event,” he said. “At the event, people won’t have to sit and listen to someone talk for an hour. The only kind of programming we have is thanking our sponsors and thanking everyone for being there. We’ll present a quick overview of what the tech month is, pull up the calendar and highlight some of the things happening. People can pop in and pop out as needed.”
Mathwig said talks about hosting a social began earlier this year in January.
“I reached out to WIT Wisconsin and Amplify Oshkosh to ask if they would be interested in partnering on trying to create more buzz around Wisconsin Tech Month here in Northeast Wisconsin,” he said. “We ultimately landed on a couple of things. One of which is this kickoff event and the other was the creation of a calendar housed on our website where people can put events happening that are tech-related, specific to Northeast Wisconsin. We want to show that technology in the state isn’t just happening in Madison and Milwaukee.”
Women in Technology Wisconsin
WIT Wisconsin Executive Director Natalie Nelson said the organization is not affiliated with any other organizations in the state.
“That means, we are truly an independent, one-of-a-kind organization for the state of Wisconsin,” she said. “Our mission is to attract, grow and retain girls and women into the technology workspace. We work with organizations, community partners, community people and educational institutions to work to develop that tech pipeline for girls and women.”
Nelson said October is the biggest month of the year to help technology across the state, “so events like the one being held at Fox Cities Stadium are important.”
“There are all sorts of events in the process of being planned or are already ready to be registered for during October,” she said. “Cybersecurity is a focus of ours, and so in October, we’re in a series of events around the state – everything ranging from cybersecurity awareness, how to protect your organization and family from cyberattacks to master digital safety and credit protections. The point of the social is to get people excited about October.”
Right now, Nelson said roughly “26% of computing jobs are held by women.”
“Unfortunately, that number is not necessarily going up – if anything, it’s staying flat or increasing only slightly,” she said.
The other part of the problem, Nelson said, is retaining women talent in technology.
“We see that 50% of women are leaving their tech careers,” she said. “We spend all this energy to get them there, and then they leave before the age of 35. If we can crack the code and remove some of the barriers, which is what our organization exists to do, we could close that gender gap. We can add roughly $160 billion to the U.S. economy annually because there are so many tech jobs out there – we need to fill them. Essentially, that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Nelson said she’s seeing a big shift in post-secondary education as well.
“My husband and I have this conversation in our house routinely,” she said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how our education system continues to evolve because there are so many amazing tech opportunities where you can just get a certificate, make plenty of money and be successful.”
Nelson said in the next 5-10 years, she expects tech opportunities to evolve even more.
“There is already an evolution of tech opportunities,” she said. “There is no diminishing a four-year institution or a two-year or getting a certificate. It’s like a two-year adventure. Tech schools are amazing, and Wisconsin is unique because we have so much focus on technology with TitletownTech as well.”
More information about Wisconsin Tech Month and a list of related Northeast Wisconsin events and programming can be found at newdigitalalliance.org/wisconsin-tech-month.
