Science and math are two areas of education that President Obama and his administration are pushing for right now, reviving the spirit of an initiative that helped to define America’s attitude nearly half a century ago.  And as the nation suffers high unemployment rates and an uncertain economy, jobs are at the center of discussions about our country, its leaders and its citizens.  Earlier this week the topic of jobs was a certain priority for President Obama as he traveled West to California, holding a Town Hall meeting with LinkedIn.  The President has lots of big ideas on how the job market can sustain this era of rapidly shifting industries, and the tech industry is particularly fit for adaptivity.

No one knows that better than Akamai, a web acelleration company that’s survived a decade after a rocky start at MIT.  Already grounded in the math discipline, Akamai’s path to entrepreneurial success was paved by co-founder Daniel “Danny” Mark Lewin, who’s energy and can-do attitude provided the necessary contrast to the startup’s team of engineers.  Growth is imperative to a startup, and Danny played a pivotal role in setting Akamai in the right direction, growing its team and partnerbase.  Losing a leader to murder is something no company should have to endure, but after Danny’s death, Akamai found strength in his spirit, determined to see his vision through.

Persevering after the lose of a leader is something FalconStor can relate to, as the data protection and backup company has been finding its way past a high profile CEO switch last year, and the death of former CEO ReiJane Huai.  Such tragedies can shake a company’s foundation, but Akamai’s been on a steady path of growth, recently changing its structure to encompass four major divisions around its products, services and partnerships.  Speaking with the Senior Vice President for Akamai’s Intelligent Platform Group Harold Prokop, I got to hear a bit more about Akamai’s goals for growing its team of engineers, contributing to the national ethos gaining around math and science.

August 2011 was nothing to be proud of when it comes to job creation in the US, with stagnant consumer activity marking a pain point for President Obama’s re-election campaign.  But as dire as the broad picture looks, the tech sector seems to excite the economy on a few different fronts.  Akamai currently has over 200 job openings, more than half of which are US-based engineering positions.  This begs for qualified workers, able to take on the positions that look to the future of consumer and enterprise needs.  Long-term expectations for the job market determine education, and there’s still a gap between the resources put into higher learning, and the types of employers struggling to find enough viable candidates.

Even during his tenure at Akamai, Prokop recognizes the ways in which education and the job market have changed.  “The move to cloud is driving more towards self-service, and for us that means even more engineering and developer tools, instead of building custom products.  The developers themselves need strong algorithm skills rather than a specific programing language,” he says.  “Change is a constant in our industry and the specific tools are different than what we had ten years ago.  If you have someone with the right education, they can adapt to new tools.”

Adaptability is key during times of economic and industry change, and comprehending the fundamentals of a given expertise is borne of a strong education.  And as corporate structures change around connected technology, employers are more limited by a lack of talent than the jobs themselves.  Leveraging the cloud makes it easier to put jobs into strategic locations, which means job creation can crop up in areas that need the most attention.  The US is one such area, presenting an opportunity for AT&T to sweeten the T-Mobile merger with the promise of new jobs.  IBM will also be investing $3.6 billion in a five-year program based in New York, ramping up its microchip production.

Seeing as education is at the root of job market adaptability, Akamai’s taking measures into their own hands.  “Being a startup coming out of MIT we beleive in a background in science education,” Prokop says.  “We set up a foundation that supports education in the U.S.  We felt there’s not enough focus on math in high school and college.  We very much welcome that push to get more students interested.”