Computerworld's 2010 Forecast

Six types of technology skills will be most in demand in 2010. Heading the list is . . .

#1 Programming/Application Development

Specifically, companies will look for developers with the following skill sets:

• .Net
• Java
• Web development
• open source
• portal technologies

Demand is growing for people who know specialized programming languages including the following:

• Ruby on Rails
• Ajax

Fewer jobs require these skills, but the number of openings has increased during the past 12 months according to a survey of more than 300 IT executives.

The Others

The remaining five skills most in demand in 2010 are as follows:

#2 Help Desk/Technical Support
#3 Networking
#4 Project Management
#5 Security
#6 Business Intelligence

Details can be found at Computerworld's 6 Hottest Skills for 2010.

Getting Off The Island

If you currently find yourself unemployed, underemployed or otherwise feel lost on a desert island you can't seem to escape from, consider upgrading your skills.

No time travel machine can get you there. It requires discipline, focus and dedication.

Set a five month-goal to upgrade your programming and application development skills to include technologies mentioned above. If you do you will be in better position to shift your career in a new direction.

The journey concludes May 2010.

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Boston Market | December 2009

If you have managerial experience, the four U.S. cities with the most job opportunities per capita are as follows:

1. Washington, DC
2. Boston
3. San Francisco
4. Seattle

Might it be more than just a coincidence that these four cities are major U.S. technology hubs?

Metro areas in the Northeastern U.S. dominate a monthly survey of the best places to look for managerial work. Cities in the Northeast hold six of the top 10 positions:

• Washington, DC | #1
• Boston | #2
• Baltimore | #6
• New York | #7
• Pittsburgh | #8
• Philadelphia | #10

To learn more about the job prospects in your city, access the CareerCast.com/JobSerf Employment Index.

The research confirms the general uptrend in hiring that Beantown Web first noticed in June and highlighted in Boston Market | November 2009.

Top 20 Web Technologies

Red ornaments ( ) outnumber green ornaments ( ) on this month's Holiday tree. Job opportunities declined ( ) in 17 of the Top 20 Web Technologies in Boston. Many of the declines are in the double digit percentages from early November. This short-term trend is the first downturn since May and reflects a normal slowdown in job postings at the end of the year.

Here are the Top 10 Web-related skills that offer the most job opportunities in the Boston metro area:

1. SQL | 600 job opportunities
   
2. Oracle | 455 job opportunities
3. Java | 381 job opportunities
4. XML | 268 job opportunities
5. SQL Server | 238 job opportunities
6. JavaScript | 195 job opportunities
7. C# | 172 job opportunities
8. Web Services | 160 job opportunities
9. Perl | 142 job opportunities
10. HTML + CSS | 109 job opportunities

The complete list of Top 20 Web Technologies appears in the right-hand column.

Two-Step Plan

If you want to improve your prospects for landing a job -- or upgrading to a better job -- in 2010, consider the following two-step plan:

1. highlight managerial or leadership experience in your resume and social profiles
2. upgrade your technology skills and focus on improving one Top 10 Web technology skill
   

The New Year brings hope for improved job prospects. Managerial experience and technology skills will help you stand out among the competition.

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.net Magazine Awards | 2009

The .net Awards celebrate the best in web design and development. Awards are determined via a combination of public opinion and the insights of a leading panel of judges.

The results of the 2009 awards are published in the latest issue (#197) of .net magazine, a U.K. magazine for web designers and developers sold in the U.S. as Practical Web Design.

Best of The Web

Here are the 16 best (and one worst) for 2009:

+ Web application of the year » Dropbox

+ Best community site » Twitter

+ Best API use » TweetDeck beta

+ Interactive site of the year » NVIDIA Speak Visual

+ Blog of the year » Smashing Magazine

+ Podcast of the year » Boagworld

+ Vodcast of the year » Revision3 | Diggnation

+ Design agency of the year » Clearleft

+ Innovation of the year » Google Chrome

+ Web personality of the year » Stephen Fry

+ Viral campaign of the year » Best job in the world

+ Standards champion » Jeffrey Zeldman

+ Open source application of the year » jQuery

+ Redesign of the year » Whitehouse.gov

+ Mobile site of the year » Flickr

+ Mobile app of the year » Shazam

- Infamy award » IE6

Details are available at the .net Magazine Awards website which lists two additional nominees in each category.

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Deloitte Technology Fast 500 | 2009

The 500 most promising technology companies in North America have been identified. This 16th annual list ranks companies based on five-year revenue growth and includes both public and private companies.

The Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ covers companies in the following business sectors:

• technology
• media
• telecommunications
• life sciences
• clean technology

The average growth rate for these 500 companies over a five-year period was an outstanding 2,486 percent!

A press release provides highlights. The Fast 500 website provides access to a printable list of companies.

Fast 500 | Massachusetts

Listed below are the fastest growing technology companies in Massachusetts. Fast growing companies are most likely to be hiring as the economy emerges from recession.

1. CombinatoRx, Inc. | Cambridge
2. NxStage Medical, Inc. | Lawrence
3. LiveWire Mobile, Inc. | Littleton
4. Wave Systems Corp. | Lee
5. Airvana, Inc. | Chelmsford
6. Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Cambridge
7. Rapid7 | Boston
8. Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Cambridge
9. LogMeIn, Inc. | Woburn
   
10. Mediaspectrum | Burlington
11. IneoQuest | Mansfield
    
12. Acronis | Burlington
13. Constant Contact, Inc. | Waltham
14. ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Cambridge
15. Netezza Corporation | Marlborough
16. Vertical Communications, Inc. | Cambridge
17. Starent Networks Corp. | Tewksbury
18. Hologic, Inc. | Bedford
19. Acme Packet, Inc. | Burlington
20. Bullhorn | Boston
21. Nuance Communications, Inc. | Burlington
22. Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Lexington
23. Alkermes, Inc. | Cambridge
    
24. SoundBite Communications, Inc. | Bedford
25. Averion International Corp. | Southborough
26. Salary.com, Inc. | Waltham
    
27. BirdDog Solutions, Inc. | Andover
    
28. Evergreen Solar, Inc. | Marlboro
29. Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. | Waltham
30. Satcon Technology Corp. | Boston
    
31. Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc. | Waltham
32. Spire Corporation | Bedford
33. Virtusa Corporation | Westborough
34. IPG Photonics Corporation | Oxford
35. Akamai Technologies, Inc. | Cambridge
    
36. DUSA Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Wilmington
37. athenahealth, Inc. | Watertown
    
38. Grandstream Networks, Inc. | Brookline
39. Sepracor, Inc. | Marlborough
    
40. Cynosure, Inc. | Westford
41. iRobot Corporation | Bedford
42. Double-Take Software, Inc. | Southborough
43. Picis, Inc. | Wakefield

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Web Innovators Group | WebInno24

If you are interested in previewing the latest innovations on the Internet and mobile devices, check out the next gathering of the Web Innovators Group.

This 24th installment (WebInno24) will feature the following presentations:

Main Dishes

• On The Spot Systems | develops mobile and web products to enable businesses to provide their customers with information, coupons and rewards that they access while they are on your premises.


• thredUP | exchange the clothes that you are bored of (old-to-you) for new ones (new-to-you).


• ZoomAtlas | a geo-social networking site that allows you to reconnect with people and places from your past.

Side Dishes

• Blank Label | provider of custom dress shirts for the trendy male


• Dympol | ("dim-ple") Discounting Your Music Purchases On-Line


• KangoGift | send gifts as text message vouchers to your friends' cell phones


• KartMe | shareable, mobile lists you create on your computer


• Present.ly | a microblogging platform that keeps your company connected in real-time


• Sponty | create and discover real social activity feeds

Details

Monday, December 7, 2009, 6:30 pm

Royal Sonesta Cambridge

Registration is FREE and the networking could prove invaluable! Check out the Attendee List of more than 900 hundred pre-registrants to determine if this networking event is right for you.

Registrants are encouraged to join the Boston Web Innovators Group on LinkedIn and connect with more than 1,000 members.

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