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CAPE FEAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE CLOSURE: UPDATES, RESOURCES, AND CONTEXT

CoastLine: Tech Sector Challenges And Opportunities

The Center for Nanoscale Materials at the Advanced Photon Source. Photo courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory / Matt Howard

North Carolina added more than 10,000 jobs in the tech sector last year alone.  That makes it seventh in the nation for job growth, according to a study by Computing Technology Industry Association, a nonprofit advocacy group.

As part of a tech sector push, the University of North Carolina Wilmington added a new accelerated master’s degree in data science last year. The university also earlier this week hosted its 15th annual WITX – Wilmington Information Technology Exchange. 

On this edition of CoastLine, we explore how the tech sector is growing in the Cape Fear region, why Wilmington continues to become a hot spot for certain tech clusters such as fintech, or financial services technology, and what some of the recurring obstacles seem to be.

Also, as the local economy integrates with tech services, is the local educational system keeping pace with the continually-evolving tech sector?

Guests:

Diane Durance, Director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of North Carolina Wilmington

Sean Ahlum, Senior Director of Innovation for CastleBranch and Senior Director of tekMountain

Rachel hosts and produces CoastLine, an award-winning hourlong conversation featuring artists, humanitarians, scholars, and innovators in North Carolina. The show airs Wednesdays at noon and Sundays at 4 pm on 91.3 FM WHQR Public Media. It's also available as a podcast; just search CoastLine WHQR. You can reach her at rachellh@whqr.org.