If you’re thinking about your New Year’s resolutions for 2016, allow some of the most popular stories on IT World Canada this past year to inspire you.
Given that you work in IT, your list might look like this:
- Brush up on IT skills to become a more valuable – and wanted – asset on today’s job market.
- Seek to better connect your users while they’re mobile – through the best LTE networks available or with hot spots.
- Plan for a Windows 10 migration.
- Improve civic engagement.
- Don’t get arrested.
Yes, our top stories for 2015 touched upon all these wide-ranging topics. By order of pageviews, we bring you the most popular stories that you read this past year on our site. From government corruption involving IT contracts to a skills crisis and a new operating system, here’s what our readers were most interested in.
The “IT skills shortage” seems to be a perennial issue in our coverage at IT World Canada, and judging by a report released in July by the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC), that’s not going to change any time soon. Between now and 2019, there will be demand to hire 182,00 skilled ICT positions across the country, outpacing the pipeline of new workers available in this area. The good news is if you happen to be working in this field, you’ll be in high demand. The bad news is that Canada’s economy will lag as a result of the talent shortage. This story included a province-by-province breakdown showing where ICT workers will be needed most.
Another related story focusing on reader comments about the IT skills shortage – many with the underlying sentiment of “then why can’t I get a job” – was also very popular this year.
Announced in April, Google Fi is a vision of permanent connectivity from the search giant that has a lot to gain from everyone using the Internet a whole lot more. By making carrier deals with two different LTE networks in the U.S. and assembling a network of hundreds of open hotspots, Google Fi can keep your handset connected and working at the fastest speed possible just about everywhere you go – south of the border. Of course, the new take on wireless service that included unlimited use for talk and text and a reasonable $10 per GB per month for data isn’t available in Canada. Don’t count on Google hammering out an agreement with carriers here any time soon either. It remains invite-only in the U.S. at this point.
There was a lot of interest in Windows 10 leading up to its launch and roll-out to many devices this past year. With many enterprises looking for the perfect way to test Windows 10 in their environment without too much heavy lifting, Windows to Go offered an answer. Brought over from Windows 8, the self-contained OS environment on a bootable USB drive proved a good way to try Windows 10 with select users. If you’re still looking for a way to get started with a Windows 10 roll-out, this is worth a try.
Rarely does an IT publication get to run a photo of someone in handcuffs on the top of a story, but when Revenue Quebec employees were arrested for providing inside information to IT contractors, that’s what we got. The story is complete with details of police raids carried out by Quebec’s anti-corruption police squad, shocked statements from executives, and big companies under the legal microscope. Here’s an update on the resulting court case from French language media.
When the new government swept into power on election night, it meant a new political agenda for Canada – including on the technology policy front. On the eve of the Liberals victory, we took a look at what the party said in its platform and on the campaign trail to get a sense of how various technology issues might be affected in Canada. From the IT skills shortage to telecommunications industry regulation to open data, a new government could make a huge difference in the technology services and content Canadians have available to them.