OKLAHOMA CITY (KSWO) – A new report is detailing why Oklahoma is struggling to compete with other states in the tech industry.
According to a recent study commissioned by the Oklahoma Technology Alliance, the Sooner State is losing over half of its STEM graduates, with 17 percent heading to Texas.
As industries such as aerospace, defense, drone technology, healthcare, and agricultural technology continue to grow… experts say Oklahoma has to do a better job of investing, educating, and retaining skilled talent to build the future workforce.
We have a lot of work to do now. Now we start really moving forward and convening leaders across the state, and trying to raise, raise some new tech talent up in the state, and really move… move us forward to be more competitive.
“We need engineers. We should be targeting juniors and seniors at high school that want to get embedded in these types of programs and have them matriculate into OU and OSU and as we align them with industry that needs that type of talent… You know, the national labs have been outstanding at cultivating that pipeline from high school to college,” Matthew Hulver said.
We need engineers. We should be targeting juniors and seniors at high school that want to get embedded in these types of programs and have them matriculate into OU and OSU and as we align them with industry that needs that type of talent… You know, the national labs have been outstanding at cultivating that pipeline from high school to college.
Chad Warmington, the CEO of the State Chamber, suggests that Oklahoma should follow in the footsteps of neighboring states when it comes to prioritizing innovation, venture capital, and specialized workforce programs to accelerate growth in the tech industry.
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