Global Warming and IT Jobs: A Lose-Win Proposition

Though the deteriorating climate spells bad news for earth, and for all of us, global warming could benefit IT professionals looking for work in the not-too-distant future. That's because government and business will greatly step up the pace of creating systems and networks to more efficiently manage the distribution and use of energy.

It's what New York Times columnist Tom Friedman describes as the energy Internet in his current bestseller Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution And How it Can Renew America. And, it will be built. Mother Nature won't give us any choice but to act.

“‘Mother Nature is just chemistry, biology and physics. That’s all she is.’” Friedman quotes EcoTech International CEO Rob Watson. “And because of that, says Rob, you cannot spin Mother Nature. You cannot bribe Mother Nature. You cannot sweet talk her and you cannot ignore her. She’s going to do with the climate whatever chemistry, biology and physics dictate. And Mother Nature always bats last, and she always bats a thousand.”

With such a batting average, IT pros are set to join Team Mother Nature. But they can't rely just on their tech skills. They must become domain experts. And that domain is the environment.

“The professionals who can effectively understand two or three—or sometimes 10—different core technologies and put them together in an integrated view are going to be the winners in this new marketplace,” Michael Valocchi, global leader for energy and utilities at IBM Global Business Services, recently told me.

It's happening already. A Minnesota company just posted the following job: Senior Developer/Architect to create a new suite of smart grid applications on a Web 2.0 platform. Just check the job boards, and you'll see similar postings.