As we reported earlier this month, a couple of Kansas City-area technology initiatives have joined forces to form a new group that's taking a more regional approach to representing Kansas City's technology interests. That new group, called KCnext - The Technology Council of Greater Kansas City, is a fusion of the Software and Information Technology Association of Kansas (SITAKS), a group that supported Kansas' software, telecommunications and IT companies, and KCnext, a technology initiative launched by the Kansas City Area Development Council (KCADC).
Per its website, the primary goals of KCnext - the Technology Council of Greater Kansas City are to:
- Recruit and build employment
- Amplify the area's assets
- Educate and network
The new organization's board won't have its first meeting until next month, and the composition of that board, which will feature five representatives apiece from the former SITAKS and KCnext, is still being determined. But last week at the KCnext Fall IT Networking Happy Hour, held at the College Basketball Experience in downtown Kansas City, Mo., we caught up with, Joel Wiggins, the vice-chairman of the old SITAKS board, to talk about the new entity. Wiggins, who is also the president and CEO of the Enterprise Center of Johnson County, answered questions about topics including why the SITAKS-KCnext collaboration made sense, what narrative about the Kansas City tech scene people outside the area should know and what the top priorities are for the new organization.
