Search

Aim/Purpose This paper aims to answer the research question, "What are the development phases of the academic discipline of information technology in the United States?" This is important to understand the reason for the growing talent gap in the information technology (IT) industry by reviewing the evolution of information technology across time, how the discipline was formed, evolved, and gained independence from other information and computing disciplines. Background The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the shortage of IT professionals in the workplace. The root reason for this talent shortage requires understanding from both industry and academic perspectives in order to implement effective initiatives to prepare, recruit, and retain diverse IT professionals at an early stage. Methodology This paper used a systematic literature review methodology and retrieved 143 primary studies from the ACM and IEEE Xplore digital libraries to review the development phases of the IT discipline as a contributing factor in understanding why, when, and how the population of professionals in IT and other relevant computing disciplines has changed and continues to fluctuate. Thematic analysis was applied to the abstracts of the primary studies, which spanned the period of 1982 to 2021. Contribution This paper contributes to the understanding of the discipline of IT in the US and contributes foundations to researchers and educators who are working on strategies to fill the talent gap. Findings Based on the thematic analysis in this paper, the academic discipline of IT has evolved over four phases across a timeline from 1982 to 2021. These phases were: Phase 1 (1982-1991) - Advent of Information Technology; Phase 2 (1992-2001) - Industry IT & DevOps; Phase 3 (2002-2011) - Information Technology and Management in Evolving Industry, Academia, and Research Areas; and Phase 4 (2011-2021) - Information Technology Research & Education. Recommendations for Practitioners IT occupies an independent disciplinary space from computer science, computer engineering, and information systems. The paper suggests that practitioners seeking to fill the talent gap in IT invest in enabling its academic programs. Recommendations for Researchers The depth of the IT disciplinary space and its continued evolution over time is ready for exploration. Continued research in this area may yield a better understanding of its role in society, the skills needed to succeed, and how to build programs to empower students with these skills. Impact on Society Examining the discipline of IT and understanding its independence and interrelated connection with other computing disciplines will help address the shortfalls in academia across the nation by identifying the distinction between each discipline and creating comprehensive programs, degrees, and curricula suitable for various students and professionals across all educational levels. Future Research Future research will integrate papers' introductions and conclusions in addition to abstracts, increase the number of databases and reviewers, as well as incorporate papers that focus on other information and computing disciplines such as computer science and information systems to explore the possibility that IT as a discipline was initially practiced in an existing information or computing discipline before it gained independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel conducting polymer-based electrochromic device is proposed with single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) employment in gel electrolyte. Electrochemical film deposition on indium tin oxide substrates were governed and monitored via cyclic-voltametry. Construction details of the proposed device are presented with its optimized parameters and SWCNT doping caused a noteworthy enhancement in efficiency and stability of the device performance. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 49:1311-1315, 2009. [C]2009 Society of Plastics Engineers, INTRODUCTION Some materials exhibit color variation when they are subject to voltage application. This phenomenon is called as electrochromism (EC) (1). The change in the optical properties of such materials [...]

Purpose: To investigate the effects of vardenafil HCl on testicular germ cell apoptosis and the expressions of iNOS and eNOS within the bilateral testes after unilateral torsion/detorsion (T/D) in a pig model. Methods: 12 male pigs weighing 50-55 kg were divided randomly into three groups (n = 4). Sham operation and T/D was performed in groups 1 and 2, respectively. Group 3 underwent T/D and received vardenafil (0.4 mg/kg) orally 45 min before detorsion. The testes were left in torsion for 2 h. In all groups, both testes were removed 8 h after the operation for histopathological analysis. Results: Except for group 1, the histopathologic parameters of the ipsilateral testes were higher than in the contralateral testes, and this difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05). Testicular ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) (group 2) resulted in marked increases in germ cell apoptosis, iNOS and eNOS in the ischemic testes compared to the sham-operated group. The pigs treated with vardenafil (group 3) also showed significantly increased apoptotic cells, iNOS and eNOS levels compared to the sham-operated group. Conclusions: The results suggest that vardenafil HCl worsened histopathological changes related to oxidative stress in testicular injury and had no protective effect on testicular I/R injury in pigs. Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]